Complete Crap = Twilight

This week in class we talked about good crap versus bad crap. Now since i've been sick for the last 2 weeks, that’s all I remember talking about, so I will write about that. The general consensus in our class is that Twilight is bad crap. Some of the reasons being given is that while it’s supposed to be about vampires, all the typical vampire traits are either dulled down or completely gone. For example, vampires are supposed to be these bad ass, sex loving, free beings. But in twilight, they act as a symbolic figure for abstinence. Throughout maybe the first 3 movies in the franchise, Bella, the main character in the movie, tries to have sex with Edward, her vampire boyfriend, with no luck. Edward is a 108 year old vampire virgin who refuses sex because he doesn’t want to hurt/kill Bella. What kind of message is this sending to the target audience, these 10 to 15 year old girls?

Angel And Buffy

In every other vampire movie, sex has never been an issue. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example, Buffy and Angel have sex, and while it does end up turning Angel into Angelus, the evil part of him, it still shows that it isn’t impossible for humans and vampires to have sex, like they make it seem in twilight. And even after that, Buffy has sex with another vampire, Spike and nothing goes wrong then.

Sookie and Bill from True Blood

True Blood is another example. That show is basically all about sex with maybe some plot thrown in. true Blood is quite possibly the complete opposite of what twilight is. They have different target audiences (one teenagers, the other adults). Also in True Blood, the Vampires just don’t sparkle, and they actually have fangs. In twilight, they try so hard to keep them being vampires a secret, but in True Blood it’s really no big deal. All of this probably has a lot to do with who the writers of the books/movies/TV shows actually are. The writer of Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, is a Mormon, which is more than likely the reason why she decided to do vampires as a symbol of abstinence thing. The writer of True Blood, the TV show, Alan Ball, is an openly gay man, whose previous shows include Six Feet Under.

Off the sex subject, Twilight is just bad. Yes, I did subject myself to reading the books (back in high school). I’m not saying that other vampire movies are great in comparison, like say Underworld, Blade, Queen Of The Damned, Interview With A Vampire, etc. but they certainly have what I would consider traditional vampires, and they also have better actors, dialogue and are just plain old better than the crap called Twilight. Well I guess what I am saying is that that they are all better than Twilight.

Will The Original Vampire Please Stand Up?

According to Walter Benjamin, who we read about in class this week, " In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. manmade artifacts could always be imitated by men. replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain."


at the present moment, we could say that the Twilight Saga is the beginning of the vampire craze in recent years. Following in its footsteps, trying to make money aka "..... third parties in the pursuit of gain." would be Vampire Diaries, True Blood and definitely the parody, Vampires Suck since it was made to make fun of Twilight, and profit out off of it.

Wannabe Dracula

but no, Twilight is not the beginning. it is not what is being reproduced, as there have been many shows, movies, books, comics, etc. made about vampires that came long before Twilight was even a thought in Stephanie Meyers' mind. Hell, vampire myths and legends go all the way back to 5000 BC, before Christ was even born. but the original bad ass vampire who everyone after tried to copy, was Dracula. Dracula was published a little more than a hundred years ago by Bram Stoker. it was the first book about a vampire that was popular. his book started the whole vampires being popular craze, back in the early 1930's, when the movie dracula was released and following that, even more movies and books were made, all using the name Dracula.

The beginning of all things vampire

After Bram Stoker, probably the most famous author of vampire novels, is Anne Rice. Almost everyone can say that they have either read one of her books or seen the movies based on them. Interview with a Vampire being one of the most famous, with the movie adaptation including both BRad Pitt and Tom Cruise or Queen of The Damned, starring the now deceased Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend.

So while many people would like to credit(or blame) Twilight for making people vampire freaks, that is simply not true, as Twilight is just a replica, a ripoff of Dracula and all the other current movies/ tv shows/ books about vampires are just bad imitations of the real OG, or should I say OV( Original Vampire).

Vampire's recent popularity

Mass culture- meaning culture that’s for everyone. Everyone being the common people. We learned about mass culture in class this week and it made me think about the recent influx of vampire related things.


Not even a couple years ago, back when Buffy the Vampire Slayer had just gone off air, and the spin-off series, Angel had too, movies and TV shows about vampires had relatively simmered down. Even books about vampires stopped being so popular. Then came Twilight. Twilight is about a girl who falls in love with a boy. But not just any boy. A sparkly, 108 year old vampire boy. Twilight immediately becomes a big hit, getting on bestseller lists and making Stephanie Meyer rich. But why is Twilight such a big hit? Is it because the books are so well written and are literary masterpieces? Certainly not, and I say this from experience having read the books.

Twilight is probably as big as it is today because it appeals to the masses. Who doesn't want to read a love story, especially one with mythical beings in it? In today’s culture of anything supernatural being immediately big with teenage girls, its no wonder Twilight is what it is today. The first movie made millions, as did the second and third ones. And ever since people in Hollywood realized just how into vampires people in today’s society are, they have been cranking out TV shows, movies and books by the minute.

True Blood is an example of a TV show that came after the Twilight saga did. While they were books before Stephanie Meyer ever released Twilight, they were never as big and kind of just flew under the radar. That is, until vampires became the next big thing. I personally don't watch the show, but according to my friends, its basically glorified porn, with vampires and somewhat of a plot. Back to what the professor was talking about where you have this big idea and the network executive’s just change it up until it will appeal to the masses. True blood is like that. While it was a book to begin with, they deviate from the plot and since it’s on HBO, they can get away with showing whatever they want, and boy do they do just that.

Vampire Diaries, another TV show, this time on CW, is another example of books that were out before Twilight and did not get big until after the success of Twilight the movie, and books. This show basically has the same plot as twilight- girl falls in love with a vampire, drama ensues. Just goes to show that there really is no originality left. It’s the same formula, different plot sometimes, and in this case vampires are added just to make it appeal to the teens more.