Titus Hjelm - From Demonic to Genetic: The Rise and Fall of Religion in Vampire Film - 0 views
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Basically my thesis is that in recent vampire fiction (both film and books) the vampire has undergone a change from a religious figure into a scientifically defined villain. In other words, whereas the crucifix used to be the best weapon against Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, the likes of Wesley Snipes and Kate Beckinsale are more concerned about biological weapons used against them. These are what I call the ‘old paradigm’ and ‘new paradigm’ celluloid vampires, respectively.
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In contrast, the modern vampires are represented explicitly as an outcome of a gene mutation. Their main motivation is not to spread ‘evil’ in itself, but to survive, and for some, to rule humans. Therefore, it is not a question of satanic vampires vs. good Christians, but a question of racial supremacy. Finally, as I mentioned above, the new films often employ metafiction in reference to religious symbolism, saying that unlike popular culture teaches us, ‘crosses don’t do squat.’
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I think the first rule of cultural analysis is not to read too much meaning into the text itself, so answering that question is notoriously difficult. One plausible thesis would be that religious symbols have lost at least some of the common resonance ground they once had, therefore making the religious, ‘old paradigm’ vampire somewhat obsolete in contemporary culture. On the other hand, the need for ‘enchantment’ has not disappeared, now we’re just enchanted by the possibilities of science gone awry rather than religious evil.
