Why is there a widespread fascination of the Vampire genre, with particular focus on The Twilight Saga's, and how influential is this in youth culture?
The word ‘genre’ cannot be completely defined due to the fact that many aspects have combined together to “blur genre definitions[1]”. There are overall definitions however “Genres can be defined as patterns/forms/styles/structures which transcend individual art products, and which supervise both their construction by artist and their reading by audiences.”[2] However over time every ‘fixed’ genre has been twisted and turned to create new genres which we now call hybrids. The vampire genre has been around since the 19th century and is a ‘sub genre’ element of the genre; Horror. Over the last four years the vampire genre has become increasingly popular once again, hitting its peak with the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. The saga is series of four novels which have been been converted into five Hollywood films (one of which is still to be realised). I will be focusing more on the films with slight a reference to the novels. The saga looks at the “unorthodox romance between human Bella and vampire Edward, as well as the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob, a werewolf.”It portrays the struggles they go through to finally be together in harmony. The primary audience for this particular text are, young teenage girls, aged 12-18, from a C1C2D social economic group. The course of this essay will explore why there was a rapid demand for this genre and how it’s affected today’s youth culture, through the ideologies being portrayed.
To understand why the vampire genre is so popular in today’s society, we first need to understand what it is, its codes and conventions, and how and/or why it has changed over decades. Dracula is a horror film which can be “categorised as a vampire film”[3], because it has typical convention that are presented in the horror genre but the sub genre “has conventions specific to itself”[4], which involve “vampire’s aversion to garlic, sunlight and crucifixes”[5]. Before the outbreak of the Twilight Saga when we heard the term ‘vampire’ we immediately thought of someone like Dracula. An immortal deadly creature of the nights that was vicious. The vampire genre has gone through drastic changes and “has been far from static, as vampire narratives changed and evolved with the appetites of their viewing public.”[6] and the character of “the vampire has undergone many transformations in recent years” [7]from bad to good. Edward in comparison to Dracula is more of a ‘tragic hero’ rather than what a vampire used to be, ‘perfect villain’. Vampires like Dracula enjoyed being inhuman, causing and inflicting pain onto their pray however in today’s world vampires like Edward are becoming opposites and wanting to fight the urge to drink human blood. One could say that "vampires themselves change so much, and reflect contemporary society". Today’s vampires are glamorous and sexy, and have an emotional side thus making them more appealing to the female audience. As society has changed it has forced “genre to adapt” thus making the vampire fiction less frightening and there has been a growth in “paranormal romance” across this popular culture. The change in codes and conventions of the genre connote to why audiences are now so attracted to the genre. The main consumer of these vampire texts are females, so stereotypically we associate the genre of romance and fantasy with them thus creating a greater appeal to the vampire genre. The genre now romanticises the vampires and puts them on an unreadable pedestal which creates an image of so called perfection amongst impressionable teens.
After years of having ‘scary’ vampires, we were blown away when the Twilight Saga hit the screens. The novels became more popular between the younger audiences through the mass coverage of the films. Elements of different genres where brought together through the film, from genres such as fantasy, horror, romance. Genre is “constantly evolving”[8] trying to fit the zeitgeist today, so no wonder when Twilight came out it started a moral panic within teenage girls. The genre calmed down after films like Dracula and Interview with a vampire, but then was brought back in the 21st century as there was little recognition of the genre. For example when Twilight was realised it was a reinvigorated genre as it was bring back the idea of vampires and the undead, this was through the novels and films but then as they became to gain popularity. “With all the recent interest in vampires, it seems essential to note that the vampire character is one of the most ubiquitous in the history of cinema, extending from the earliest days of cinema to present-day manifestations.”[9]There was an outburst from the vampire genre; more text from the same genre became to gain popularity and the genre as a whole entered its second stage of the genre cycle, where other institutions were able to re use their old texts like Vampire Dairies and True Blood to increase capital for themselves. Even though the young female audience can be seen as passive viewers where Vampire films “brainwash its audience with base, deceptive promises and appeals, designed to promote materialism”[10]After hitting its peak the genre begun to die down and to keep it alive then genre itself was turn on itself and entered into a new genre of comedy, for example Vampires Suck. Parodies are an important part of the genre cycle as it allows the genre to be kept alive to a certain extent and thus still creating a need for it. Some may argue that the genre has died down again like it first did and is nor waiting for new reinvigoration. The reinvigoration captures the zeitgeist, like it did back in the 1980’s, vampire genre was used to warn audiences from aids and the transferring of blood through sex. The genre has played on moral panic back then and in today’s society reflecting virginity/sexuality and adulthood with the Twilight saga.
“Another possible reason why vampires have become more popular in recent years is the artistic creativity that writers are taking with this character.”[11] The idea of sex and sexuality in now present in everyday life, surrounding young adults through every form of media; music videos, TV programmes, internet etc. Twilight was able to put into question the idea of abstinence and has been able to promote it through the two main characters Bella and Edward. “Ideologically, Edward Cullen’s passion for blood is a metaphor for the sexual urge.”[12] This becomes clearer when we see Edward does not pressure Bella to lose her virginity, infact he refuses to take it until after marriage, thus putting traditionalist views into place and embedding the idea in young females today. The abstinence allows audience to feel better about themselves and gives them a sense of escapism from pressure in today’s society about pre martial sex. “Although vampires are generally associated with the horror genre, vampire films may also fall into the science fiction, romance, comedy or fantasy genres, among others.”[13] Twilight fits nearly all these genres with the romance between characters and tom foolery. The character of Edward Cullen creates the image of an ideal boyfriend amongst the female audience thus attracting them to the genre. The idea of a strong loving male figure gives the female audience a false sense of security that there are partners out there who resemble “an impossibly beautiful, porcelain-skinned teen with a loving soul who refuses to drink human blood.”[14] Twilight imports Bathes cultural myth theory as we assume the females watching the text are ‘waiting to be rescued from their miserable life by the love of a rich, handsome man.’ Twilight plays on the idea as Bella is ‘rescued’ from her life by the love of a ‘handsome man’- Edward, who even though he is a vampire, he is still rich. It is not only the personality of the ‘vampire character’ but also their physical appearance. The text gives its female audience sexual pleasure by seeing attractive actors in roles which fit thus attracting them to the genre. Instead of being scary and revolting like Dracula, todays “vampire became humanised”[15] and more physically appealing. Twilight puts into question Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze, as it emphases the male characters more so than the female. For example, when we see the ‘wolf pack’ we see them topless and it is usual a medium shot. We can see again with Edward and Jacob, the two most appealing male characters, the camera lingers on them longer than the other male characters. However it is not completely thrown away as the male gaze theory is reinforced when we see the female vampire characters. This is done to keep the male audience entertained as well as the female as they would aspire to be like them. It allows both female and male audiences to connote to the character, only the male on a more sexual level where as the female on a mental level. Twilight further implies Lacan’s theory- psychoanalysis and ‘the mirror’- as audiences, especially females, would become a lot more fearful of the way they look, just to attract partners like Edward or Jacob.
If we take a closer look we can see that the institution has helped to be a catalyst in the widespread for the vampire genre. “Twilight are blunted and represented in a more generic way to avoid disengaging a mass audience, while the codes and conventions of romance are promoted to attract them. This also has the effect of making the film’s ideological messages more far-reaching.”[16] Institutions change the genre to constantly fit the audience’s preference which sells. Twilight was created by an American institution and immediately we can know that there will be vast amount of American values within the film and example of capital imperialism. The main aim for institutions are to make money so be rein acting the novels into books and only concentrating on the most impacting parts it attracts the audiences to come to watch. Furthermore the institution has picked out certain characters who would be appealing to the younger audience, physically. This is done so to allow merchandise of the text to be sold. For instance, the Twilight saga has created a divide between the audiences and categorised them in ‘teams’. Team Edward and Team Jacob. Most of the merchandise such as t shirt and bags has the actor’s appearance on them thus look more appealing to its target audience. We also see that America at the time Twilight was realised and as the saga continues to do so, the economy is currently struggling. Therefore it allows older audience a sense of “escapism from dark economics times”[17] which is lead to a “boom in vampire themed entertainment”[18]. Furthermore there has been a moral panic within America about growing old and cosmetics have been created to try and keep people younger, such as botox. "Current vampires – like the eternally teenage Edward of Twilight – reflect the scientific debate about preserving youth and living forever. It's no surprise that vampires tend to become prominent during times of social change – like last year's recession – because they are escapist and let you think about society in a very different setting.”[19]
In conclusion we can see that the genre we now call vampire genre/fiction has adapted from its original horror genre and has become its own separate hybrid genre with its own conventions. Genre is a forever changing concept within media and as the society changes it will continue to do so too. The fact it changes is to relate to its audience and to capture the spirit of society thus the only way in which institutions are able to gain profit as the feed off audience’s preferences. As this is a text targeted at younger audience, institutions want to gain loyalty from the audience so as they grow older they will still continue to watch film created from the same company as they would know it is catered to their liking.
" University conference sinks its teeth into vampire fiction | Education | The Guardian ." Latest US and world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | The Guardian . N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/06/vampire-conference-literature-hertfordshire>.
Fulton, Helen. Narrative and media. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.
Kane, Tim. The changing vampire of film and television: a critical study of the growth of a genre. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006. Print.
Lacey, Nick. Narrative and genre: key concepts in media studies. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Print.
Sanders, John. The film genre book. Leighton Buzzard [England: Auteur, 2009. Print.
"The Vampire Genre: Fangs Ain’t What They Used To Be « Flash Fiction Chronicles." Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/the-vampire-genre-fangs-aint-what-they-used-to-be/>.
"Why Vampires Are So Popular in Today's Culture." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Vampires-Are-So-Popular-in-Todays-Culture&id=4344366>.
[1] Sanders, J. (2009). p.7.
[2] Ryall. (1975). p.28
[3] Lacey, N. (2000). P. 135
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] Kane, T. (2006)
[7] Aldiss, B. Gordon, J. Veronica, H. (1997)
[8] Lacey, N. (2000). P. 142
[10] James C. (1997)
[11] Thomas, E. (2010)
[12] Media Mag
[13] Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. (2011)
[14] Ruberto, T. (2010)
[15] Media mag website
[16] Media mag website
[17] Hill, A. (2010) p. 14
[18] abid
[19] Tobin, L (2010)
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