Comments on: Defanged

By: Kit

Kit — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:25:00 +0000

I would like to defend DAYBREAKERS as its portrayal of vampires and vampirism itself is not as appealing as you make it out to be.

In the movie vampirism is depicted as a curse disguised as a blessing.
It grants you immortality but you must feed on your fellow man in order to remain immortal or you become a disgusting bat-like creature who will feed on themselves out of desperation (perhaps a reflection of what the vampires really are). The vampire society views these bat-like creatures, once fellow men, like pests and exterminates them.
Because they must feed on fellow people humanity is losing its soul.

The greatness of the main character is his struggle to keep his humanity despite his vampirism, something the rest of his kind has given up on.

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT, when he is given the chance to regain his humanity, he embraces it. Fully.

Vampirism in the movie is clearly evil, or, rather, has an evil effect that must be gotten rid of.

By: Stoney deGeyter

Stoney deGeyter — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:43:54 +0000

I… I’m speechless.

By: Andrew J.

Andrew J. — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:24:18 +0000

Mr. DeGeyter is in trouble, I fear. Do a search for “Battle Of The Network Zombies” on Amazon or B&N.com, and weep.

I frankly can’t understand how anyone could *not* want their daughter to date a hundred-year old draft-dodging undead child stalker, but maybe that’s just me.

By: Stoney deGeyter

Stoney deGeyter — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:02:11 +0000

I love a good horror flick (though they are few and far between.) Several years ago however I noticed that I tended to not like certain horror movies and I realized what they all had in common. Vampires. I don’t know what it is but vampires bore me. I think the current trend of making them “understandable” is the culprit.

Lucky for me, zombies are still the bad guys. If they ever try to make them sexy and datable then we are in real serious trouble.

By: Andy Freeman

Andy Freeman — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:46:56 +0000

> At one point in their progression through pop culture, it took a purveyor of arcane wisdom like Abraham Van Helsing to defeat them.

Umm, no.

In “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”, A&C defeat Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, and the Wolfman.

By: On How to Train Your Dragon « Sapphire Sky

On How to Train Your Dragon « Sapphire Sky — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:38:51 +0000

[...] on How to Train Your Dragon is enjoyable and provoking, for example, see here and related article here. The criticism being raised is that the work reflects the increasingly popular worldview [...]

By: Once upon a time, the living dead were scary « Jim’s Blog

Once upon a time, the living dead were scary « Jim’s Blog — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:21:50 +0000

[...] Miller tells us that a society that has difficulty recognizing monsters in its art, will probably have trou…. [...]

By: DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » DEFANGED

DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » DEFANGED — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:42:02 +0000

[...] Read it. I dig vampires as much as the next guy who has read Bram Stoker’s Dracula three or four times, goes out of his way to watch monster movies, and thinks “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus is one of the coolest songs ever recorded. Yet the present ubiquity of vampires is too much, even for me. Once upon a time, vampires were creepy and haunting. Now they’re yawn-inducing bores. Perhaps they’ve finally reached their cultural expiration date. At the very least, they should crawl back into their coffins and give the rest of us a break. The evolution of vampires, Grinches, and witches is a variation on the theme of defining deviancy down. There was a time when we knew a monster when we saw one — and understood that some nasties need to have their heads chopped off and their mouths stuffed with garlic. Nowadays, however, vampirism and its related maladies are just alternative lifestyles. Condemning them is an unforgivable rendering of judgment and a crime against the imperatives of moral relativism. A society that has trouble recognizing monsters in its art probably will have difficulty identifying terrorists at its airports. [...]

By: Freddie

Freddie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:23:10 +0000

There was an episode (“Lie to Me”) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which illustrated your point. There was a group of young people who romanticized and excused vampire behavior. The regular viewer of the series knew the behavior of vampires, and expected this to not work out positively for the young people.

In an episode (“Disharmony”) of the Buffy spinoff Angel, Harmony, the valley girl turned vampire, makes an effort to not be evil, but it turns out badly.

However one of the themes of Buffy/Angel was vampires turning good, sometimes voluntarily, and sometimes involuntarily. So while the vast majority of vampires are irretrievably evil, there are a small number who are not.

By: Defanged / Steinblóm

Defanged / Steinblóm — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:49:56 +0000

[...] thanks to movies like ‘Twilight’. John J. Miller, a correspondent for National Review, comments on the demise of a world icon at his own blog. Share | Posted 14 Mar 2010 in Culture, Film, Vampire Moviesby admin previousPOEM: [...]