FIRST DRAFT - How are contemporary media texts featuring Vampires constructed to appeal to the young female audience and why might this be?
In this essay I will be exploring how the contemporary Vampire films; Twilight and True Blood have been constructed to appeal to the young female audience and why this might be so. It has been made apparent that 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” . A reason for the rapid increase in popularity of Vampire films today “is the artistic creativity that writers are taking with this character” . The traditional Vampire has radically turned around and has developed different traits and characteristics over time. The fascinations for Vampires have risen from the fantasy rather than an actual belief in vampires which raises the theories on escapism and sexual gratifications. In today’s culture, Vampires have been constructed in a way to specifically attract the young female audience and allow the target audience to conform to the characters, causing a huge uproar in fame for Vampires.
Vampires in modern society have established widely developed traditions for males and masculinity. The dominant representations of males predominantly seen in Vampire films show portrayals of the “impossibly beautiful, porcelain-skinned teen with a loving soul who refuses to drink human blood.” In The Twilight Series, the male protagonist possesses these dominant characteristics and attracts many young females with ease. Throughout the Twilight Series, Edward Cullen seems to enter in a sensual and exotic manner, which immediately connotes his charismatic and stunning persona. Within the first few minutes of watching Edward, we become aware of the attractiveness and give him an increased sense of masculinity which allures the “female gaze” which “sets up a relationship between the male body as an object of erotic visual pleasure” producing a bold expression of the female desire. There are many close up shots of Edward Cullen’s face to emphasise his good looks, as well as high key lighting to highlight his perfect features. This makes him desirable and irresistible. His frightening, yet vulnerable approach and powering but yet seem overpowered, invite the female audience in and draw them into becoming obsessed. Edward Cullen is also immortal; this ideology allows him to forever young and pretty making him mature and cynical; a combination of the “bad boy attitude” which young girls are fascinated to. Chris Weitz, the director of The Twilight Saga; Eclipse, reinforces the new traits of a Vampire and allow the main target audience to be drawn into the looks, powers and personalities of the new Vampire.
The Hypodermic Needle Theory suggests audiences are completely passive to their surroundings, “Uniformly controlled by their biologically based 'instincts' and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever 'stimuli' came along" . Female characters in Vampire series, such as Vampire Diaries, are seen to be strong, wise and powerful, which are characteristics for young girls to admire to and creates the ideology that they have the idealistic lives that girls would admire too, hence drawing in a larger female audience. In Vampire Diaries, the female protagonists are successful of painting the image of strong love, but it not at the expense of character portrayal. The women of Mystic Falls are independent, physically powerful, well written characters and they’ve developed their personalities throughout the seasons. By addressing these characteristics, females tend to conform to typical stereotypes and make the audiences strive to become like the protagonists, influence them to fulfil their aspirations and copy their looks and attitudes. "People are becoming inspired by the characteristics of the vampire, and see them as a source of fulfilling their potential and inner abilities.” There are also negative impacts to the Hypodermic Needle Theory where young girls have gone around biting other young girls to act as Vampires. Vampire films also contain a lot of sexual connotations, “The act of vampirism is an intimate one: the mouth [...] pressed against the victim's skin, biting and sucking” this allows the gothic genre to explore new meanings of sex and allow audiences to relate to this. Sex in Vampire films could act as a sexual awakening for young females and suggest adult themes which they are not yet aware of. This content draws in a younger audience as they seem to be curious and interested in the topic.
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” Pluralists would disagree with this statement and declare audiences can be more intelligent and active. Therefore, meaning the target audience can make their own minds up and not always follow the crowd.
Over the years, Vampires have become adjusted to adhere to social issues and relate to people. In various Vampire films, "Vampires are no longer lonely creatures hiding in the underground of our cities; they live with us in the daylight in our towns and suburbs" . This is apparent in The Twilight Series, where all the Vampire characters live among the usual lifestyle of others and remain following the rules of human society, “The vampire is no longer a monster that needs to be exclusively destroyed” . Vampires are the story of many folklore and fantasy novels, dating all the way back to the famous classic 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre. Nosferatu the Vampyre was a tall, cadaverous old man with no hair. His fingers, ears and teeth all formed points and his skin was pale white. This vampire, as immortalized by Bram Stoker in 1897, was not the handsome, idealistic figure that vampires have become in modern film and literature. “This foul creature is far removed from the face of vampires today” . The new dark Vampire romance genre has created an intense hunger by young females today that these new books and films are quickly covering film and television adaptations.
The media can be seen to perpetuate the hype of Vampires, writing and churning out article after article about Vampires and “Who is the Sexiest Male Vampire”. Magazines such as Seventeen Magazine pose questions like, '”Would you like to get caught under the mistletoe this year with a hot vampire?” Vampire films and books use the media like any brand or agency and have taken over out internet and magazine covers. From news articles to perfume adverts, Vampire fanatics have promoted movies such as Twilight over the media and have overdone things a little too much for young female audiences to become obsessed with such films and books.
It is believed that when institutions create such films they are produced for a reason. Vampires have become increasingly popular and this has generated a large target audience and profit. As the Vampire phase came in our lives, more and more Vampire related media texts were being produced due to the current trend. Institutions understood the popularity of Vampires and decided to capitalise on the present fashion. This also enabled them to feel safe and secure for a guaranteed profit. “As sequel New Moon continues to smash box office records, adult movie company Devil's Film is capitalizing on Vampire mania” . We can see the sheer volume of Vampire films being made and brought into our movie culture. Today we are aware of the different stereotypes created in society. “Emo culture” is relatively new and is based upon a rebellious, anti-social, cult-like nature. “The popularity of the vampire today [...] being a "vampire" (or a Goth, for that matter) is for today's youth what being a "hippie" was for the youth of the 60s” . Emos and Goths tend to follow dark films and aspire to horror movies involving Vampires, ghosts and death etc. Their culture has followed around the Vampire phase and has made it become even more popular.
The increase in Vampire film popularity suggests people feed of the excitement and deeply rooted fears of the themes and characters we see on the cinema screens. There are many factors which are the cause of the rapid rise for fame; the attraction to the dark side and the desire for eternal youth and immortality, the Vampire traits; sexual seductiveness and power that have come to be a part of the new Vampire image. As well as the aspiration of young females to live this alternative lifestyle Vampires can be shaped and re-shaped to fit any artist's own vision. The horror genre has become a chance for escapism “With the global recession, people have been wanting to escape and go to a place where imagination goes.” The vampire period shows no sign of slowing but reaching it ultimate peak.
