Vampires and the Effect of the Medium

In my post on Monday I talked about Vampires and how I am fed up with them being portrayed as love-sick puppies. If you haven't read it, you can check it our here. May I suggest you also check out the comments, because it was thanks to them that this post came to be.

I spent a little while thinking through these above mentioned comments and came to the definite conclusion that vampires need romance. They need that lovelorn look to them. However, it must not hide the fact, or even worse, the fact must not be ignored, that they are monsters.

This got me thinking that maybe there are two kinds of vampires. Maybe the Medium is what really determines who the vampire is. I have often mentioned in conversations – and a couple of times on this blog – that in my view, short stories make the best movies, and a well made TV series trumps even the biggest grossing box office hit.

I have applied the same reasoning to my vampire theory. I feel that Novels and TV series (such as the Vampire Diaries) allow a much greater range in characters, and afford the reader / viewer and creators the freedom to develop characters. Whereby a movie, even one of three hours in length, just cannot achieve the same. Therefore I think maybe my views on vampires is further broken down into Movie Vampires and TV – and novels – Vampires.

Movie Vampires: Due to the time constraints to a movie, and the fact that the plot needs to be developed fully and thus moving the importance away from a truly detailed character development, movie vampires are far more evil than their novel based tv loving cousins. These guys are mean motherfuckers and are primarily the villain. The are interested in death, and spreading their kind. I feel it is much easier to define a villain in a movie than it is to fully discuss the hero.

TV (Novel) Vampires: I have long since ranted that novels should be turned into series rather than movies and this is echoed in the biography of these vampires. Related to their blood sucking cousins by medium alone, these characters are far more developed and have often already acquired the skills needed to integrate into society. They have the ability to interact on a range of social levels and have the necessary background scenarios ready to explain their actions to the reader / viewer. These character have, thanks for the increased time limit and large number of words in a novel compared to a short story, a much more detailed history and range of emotions. They are killers at heart but have mastered all the requirements that will allow them to exist in a form a symbiosis with mankind. They can go about their business whatever it may be, but still hold all of the tools to avoid not only detection but suspicion.

Of course as is always the case, these are but my own personal guidelines. There are exceptions to every rule, and the of course the skill of the writer / creator always plays a part. A short story can be powerful and convey a lot of information. A novel can be filled with drivel and make you wonder why the vampire doesn't just end it's boring poorly edited life. Go out with a nice sunset or sunrise view rather than plod along waiting for whatever the writer has in store for it to happen.