Vampires - Anyone Else Not Get the Sex Appeal?

[Lapis Exilis]

Dracula, Interview with the Vampire/ Lestat, Buffy/ Angel, Blade, Twilight, True Blood.

I sort of don't get it - particularly the sexy part.

I mean Dracula's an okay book, a horror classic and so forth. Interview with the Vampire was mildly intriguing (though Louis and his constant angsting got annoying, but from The Vampire Lestat on that series of books was ridiculous) mostly because of Claudia and the idea of an immortal being trapped in the body of five year old. And don't get me wrong, I liked Angel - but the vampire concept wasn't particularly active in that story so much as being a damned or evil being with no soul. Blade's fun, I suppose, but mostly in a superhero way. Now we're down to Twilight and True Blood both of which largely function on the ideas Anne Rice made popular - vampires as sexy, beautiful immortals banging humans and each other while drinking blood.

What is so sexy about that? I watched True Blood recently, a show I mostly find to be sort of silly but that is being touted as this super hot series and I finally caught a Sookie/ Bill sex scene that was going along okay until he bites her and kisses her with blood running out of his mouth, which just struck me as gross.

Am I missing something? I get the immortal/ mortal romantic angst angle - and that's all well and good - it kept me going on Highlander even as bad as that franchise generally was. But the blood sucking. All I can say is...

Ew.

Someone please explain!!

 

[SeerSGB]

Hot Goth chicks that suck and swallow...come on, what's not to get?

 

[Trent Roman]

Aesthetics can't always be explained away. I personally find the whole canine teeth vampire chicks alluring, but then I think the same of women with long, graceful arms, so I might just be a freak. But there's also imagistic context. The whole notion of vampires, and particularly blood sucking/exchange, has been read metaphorically for sex, and this going back at least to the nineteenth century. So vampires have connotations of sensuality, of hedonism, combined with the appeal of the forbidden (as 'evil' or at least disapproved, to varying degrees depending on the setting), particularly to genre nerds who aren't renowned for their social prowess and tend to be drawn to fantasies of aggressive, dissolute 'bad girls'.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Aesthetics can't always be explained away. I personally find the whole canine teeth vampire chicks alluring, but then I think the same of women with long, graceful arms, so I might just be a freak. But there's also imagistic context. The whole notion of vampires, and particularly blood sucking/exchange, has been read metaphorically for sex, and this going back at least to the nineteenth century. So vampires have connotations of sensuality, of hedonism, combined with the appeal of the forbidden (as 'evil' or at least disapproved, to varying degrees depending on the setting), particularly to genre nerds who aren't renowned for their social prowess and tend to be drawn to fantasies of aggressive, dissolute 'bad girls'.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Blood sucking standing in for sex was well and good for the repressed Victorian era, but Anne Rice made a fortune off "sexy" (and male) vampires starting well after the sexual revolution so I'm not sure that popularity can be attributed to vamps representing sensuality and hedonism because these things are now accepted and rampant in society at large. Why do you need True Blood when you've got the OC? The Buffy-verse, Twilight and True Blood all work on a center romance between a human female and a vampire male (though all these series have hot chick vamps as side characters as well). Still, as far as major pop culture versions of vampires, pretty much the only one that works in the way you're describing at the end there is Vampirella.

Lapis, still not getting it...

 

[SeerSGB]

Aesthetics can't always be explained away. I personally find the whole canine teeth vampire chicks alluring, but then I think the same of women with long, graceful arms, so I might just be a freak. But there's also imagistic context. The whole notion of vampires, and particularly blood sucking/exchange, has been read metaphorically for sex, and this going back at least to the nineteenth century. So vampires have connotations of sensuality, of hedonism, combined with the appeal of the forbidden (as 'evil' or at least disapproved, to varying degrees depending on the setting), particularly to genre nerds who aren't renowned for their social prowess and tend to be drawn to fantasies of aggressive, dissolute 'bad girls'.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Blood sucking standing in for sex was well and good for the repressed Victorian era, but Anne Rice made a fortune off "sexy" (and male) vampires starting well after the sexual revolution so I'm not sure that popularity can be attributed to vamps representing sensuality and hedonism because these things are now accepted and rampant in society at large. Why do you need True Blood when you've got the OC? The Buffy-verse, Twilight and True Blood all work on a center romance between a human female and a vampire male (though all these series have hot chick vamps as side characters as well). Still, as far as major pop culture versions of vampires, pretty much the only one that works in the way you're describing at the end there is Vampirella.

Lapis, still not getting it...

When I was younger I used to love Anne Rice's Vampire Series-- still like "Interview With The A Vampire". But nowadays I lay the teenie-booper Vampire genre that's filled the market squarely on her and her copy-cats shoulders.

 

[Jono]

The only sexy vampire is a puppet vampire.

 

[sojourner]

Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old, never die. It's fun to be a vampire!

 

[Shazam!]

I don't think Buffy / Angel promoted vampire sex appeal. In vamp form, they were hideous.

 

[Holoaddict]

Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old, never die. It's fun to be a vampire!

Ok, put the Lost Boys DVD down and back a.way You must resist. Be strong.

As for me, I am somewhat conflicted. I have always loved vampire stories. But I have no desire to be one or be "loved" by one. I am reminded of a commercial for Forever Knight. Nick poses the question of why he would want to be human again.

His answer: "Try living eight hundred years without being able to make love below the neck."

Superstrength and immortality aside, that sounds like Hell to me.

 

[Trent Roman]

Blood sucking standing in for sex was well and good for the repressed Victorian era, but Anne Rice made a fortune off "sexy" (and male) vampires starting well after the sexual revolution so I'm not sure that popularity can be attributed to vamps representing sensuality and hedonism because these things are now accepted and rampant in society at large. Why do you need True Blood when you've got the OC?

Because we still are a massively repressed theocracy. Not as much as in the Victorian era, certainly, but the very fact that something like "True Blood" has to be confined to 'risqué' cable channels and is considered something that 'pushes the envelope' when it comes to sexuality, or that a national emergency is declared if a nipple should slip into more traditional broadcasts, shows that there's still the need for outlets, and symbols, of human impulses considered, by society's self-appointed, so-called moral guardians, improper to express in more open and direct fashion.

The Buffy-verse, Twilight and True Blood all work on a center romance between a human female and a vampire male (though all these series have hot chick vamps as side characters as well).

I think you got the appeal down pretty good in your opening post. To that, however, I would add that the attraction of male vampires is much like the attraction of Tarzan or related figures: there an element of the wild and the bestial, strength and perserverance that very masculine, yet at the same time he's a tragic figure with a lacuna that can only be fulfilled by the companionship and civilizing influence of a woman's love. The appeal of the wounded animal, strong yet in need of nurture. Vampires are like this, only since their power and predatory appeal are inherent rather than developmental, they can also be, behaviorally, softer, more sensitive, more feminine or 'emo' as some would say. The vampire's dual nature permits it to hit more fantasies than a single individual could, both powerfully masculine and vulnerably emotive; again, he is simultaneously a protector and something that needs caring for (even if the character doesn't overtly admit it).

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[davejames]

Yeah I've never understood the sex appeal thing either. I'm always seeing these newspaper and magazine articles talking about that, and I just don't get it. For me it's probably just more about their powers, and the dark, supernatural aspect of the vampire world.

Although to be honest, probably the biggest reason I love Interview and Angel is just because of the cool characters and great storytelling.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

The vampire, male or female, represents in us all we desire, yet are unable to accomplish. Forever young, graceful, agile, unable to be hurt. There is an attraction to someone who looks as we do, yet is totally and forever NOT human.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Why are vampires sexy? Exibit A: http://media.photobucket.com/image/underworld selene/Pomak78/Underworld-Selene.jpg

I don't think Buffy / Angel promoted vampire sex appeal. In vamp form, they were hideous.

Particularly the really ancient ones like the Master & Kakistos.

I think Buffy did tap into some aspects of vampire sex appeal. As has already been said here, they're both masculine & vulnerable, which I think is why Buffy (and the show's female fans) responded to both Angel & Spike. Thankfully, this wasn't an aspect that was dealt with on Angel. That's probably why I prefer Angel over Buffy. To Angel, being a vampire isn't sexy. As he said to Darla, "You damned me."

There also wasn't much in the way of sexy vampires in the Blade movies (particularly with the Reapers in Blade II). Those were just an excuse to see Wesley Snipes in the midst of some kickass swordfights & gunbattles!

As for me, I am somewhat conflicted. I have always loved vampire stories. But I have no desire to be one or be "loved" by one. I am reminded of a commercial for Forever Knight. Nick poses the question of why he would want to be human again.

His answer: "Try living eight hundred years without being able to make love below the neck."

Superstrength and immortality aside, that sounds like Hell to me.

True, but as undeads go, they still get a slightly better deal than Owen Harper during the 2nd half of Torchwood Season 2.

 

[Checkmate]

They're sexy because they leave you vulnerable which triggers a a very primal, sexual reaction. Especially for women. Then there's the more direct sexual innuendo that goes along with it; the flirtation and chasing of your prey, luring them into a secluded area, and finally penetrating them in the most intimate of acts as bodily fluids are exchanged.

Couple that with vampires traditionally being very confident, predatory "bad boys" and it's not hard at all to see the sexual appeal. You'd have to be pretty daft not to see it, even if you don't share it.

 

[Christopher]

I'm with Lapis. Vampires are walking corpses who drink blood and kill people. Everything about that is offensive. There's nothing romantic or sexy about it, it's just gross.

And consider: Vampires have no reflection -- how do they maintain their personal hygiene and perfect hairdos? How sexy can a person look if they can never see themselves in the mirror? Vampires should be scruffy and unkempt, not perfectly coiffed and made up. Not to mention the whole being-dead thing; they couldn't exactly be warm to the touch, and what about the smell?

 

[Trent Roman]

There also wasn't much in the way of sexy vampires in the Blade movies (particularly with the Reapers in Blade II). Those were just an excuse to see Wesley Snipes in the midst of some kickass swordfights & gunbattles!

It wasn't the priority, but there were some. I thought Arly Jover's female minion captured that wild, bad girl vibe I was talking about well enough. There was also Blade's mother, who was protayed seductively in her vampire form later in the film. Plus, infamous former underage porn star Traci Lords makes a vampire cameo at the beginning. The second film had a romantic subplot about Blade being attracted to the female lead, a vampire. I, thankfully, don't remember enough about the third to comment.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Gepard]

I'm with Lapis. Vampires are walking corpses who drink blood and kill people. Everything about that is offensive. There's nothing romantic or sexy about it, it's just gross.

And consider: Vampires have no reflection -- how do they maintain their personal hygiene and perfect hairdos? How sexy can a person look if they can never see themselves in the mirror? Vampires should be scruffy and unkempt, not perfectly coiffed and made up. Not to mention the whole being-dead thing; they couldn't exactly be warm to the touch, and what about the smell?

This is awesome. And true.

 

[pookha]

most of them no....
the only one i ever was ever midly attracted to was grr martin's jousha york from
fevre dream.
and it would be more to spend time with then really become romantically involved.
but then york wasnt your common vampire.

 

[captcalhoun]

vampires are undead fiends from the pits of Hell. they are NOT sparkly, sexy things. They'll rip your freaking face off and suck your corpse dry!

 

[Rii]

Vampire adulation is the exaltation of male sexuality, more broadly it concerns concepts of dominance/submission and the roles traditionally ascribed to men and women within that framework. At the most visceral level, the vampire, usually male, penetrates his victim, usually female. It's no coincidence that most vampire fiction is written by women, and read by women.