Considering all that we have learned about monsters over the course of the semester, what are your final thoughts? How do vampires and monsters represent the times in which they are created and what do you feel are the correct monsters of our time?
The true monsters of our time are those who, as the world is slowly opening its eyes to the deep roots of inequality embedded in the earth, oppress and exploit others for greed. Their disregard for the rest of humanity effectively makes them monsters. Our once traditional monsters such as vampires have become synonymous for being both a misfit in modern society, someone who has lost their way and needs redemption, and someone who is still capable of humanity and love. As discussed in class, Blacula is a product of the Blaxploitation genre of film that followed the civil rights movement. The wealthy, educated African Prince still fell prey to racism. Mamuwalde was turned into a vampire against his will as a metaphor for slavery, but used his power to fight back against oppressive system that has restrained and harmed him and the woman he loves. Another contemporary film The Lost Boys, besides being referenced in its successors Buffy the Vampire Slayer and What We Do in the Shadows, was a response to rising divorce rates and socio-politics of the Reagan Era. The monsters represented the fear of losing nuclear family bonds. Director Joel Schumacher has said the film “is, in a way, about the fear we have of the Other—those who live outside of the mainstream.” The vampires are attractive, unruly, gay teenage boys whose codependence and relationships with each other is literally blown up by the proper, stable parental dynamic. But the current wave of vampire cinema has given us Twilight, showing a protective, albeit possessive, nature a monster can have for a human. What We Do in the Shadows portrays vampires as foolish, campy, admittedly reckless, but ultimately harmless. The Transfiguration maintains an element of horror with an introverted outcast vampire than can still take on gangs to save his love. The monsters we have are not traditional, because our society no longer fears the unknown. We aren't being told to conform to society's standards, as was the purpose of the folkloric vampire. We aren't afraid of losing cultural values, like the Eastern immigrant Dracula said we should. We are not even afraid of homosexuality or independent women or immigrants. So what are we afraid of? Considering the state of the world and monster fiction today, we are most afraid of forgetting how to love one another and losing the thread of humanity that binds all people together.
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April 2021
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