Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire seems to hold true to what vampires were meant to be from the beginning of their creation. Monsters. This is why I found it so interesting that Louis, the newly "born" vampire tried to maintain "human" morals for as long as he could. This means he drank the blood of animals, like rats, as opposed to murdering humans.
Lestat, Louie's creator, gave a sharp contrast in that he seemed to revel in his monstrous ability. He saw himself as superior to humans in every way and therefore had no problem killing them or playing with his food. A striking example of this being his hunting style, which often used seduction. Lestat never does come to an understanding of why Louie thinks it is immoral to kill, because as far as he is concerned it is in their nature and therefore "correct".
It would be remiss not to mention Claudia. Claudia is a five year old girl who Louie, after starving himself to avoid killing, cannot resist to drink from. Lestat is excited that Louie drank from her, because he thinks it is Louie becoming true to his nature and he changes Claudia into a vampire. So, now there is a chilling, eternal child that develops the mind of a woman but is trapped in a five year old body. Vampires are already abominations, but Claudia is a special issue, because she conflicts with the idea of childhood being an innocent state of being. This is largely because she takes to killing quite easily, often using her childlike appeal to lure her prey to death. Lestat is quite pleased with this outcome.
The idea of something being in your nature directly conflicts with learned morality in this book. For example, at first Claudia kills because she is hungry and as a child her immediate needs are most important, but later, under Lestat's influence, her killing becomes more of an entertainment. Likewise, Louie never fully comes to terms with his vampire state though he does come to understand that he must drink blood or die and he would much rather not die.
It seems that Anne Rice prefers the idea that while free to like or dislike your true nature one can not avoid it. The vampire seems to represent this as they must again and again return to drinking blood and unavoidably killing some kind of life form to do it.
Are some things in human nature? Yes. It is in human nature to entertain, to problem solve, to eat, etc. Does that mean that it is unavoidable to at some point in life entertain yourself and solve problems. Pretty much, yes. Luckily for us the average person does not have to kill to survive and encounter the moral decisions that Louie does.
Another definition for vampire: "a person who preys ruthlessly upon others; extortionist"
Hopefully, humanity will never get to the point where a vampire state of being is necessary for survival. As of right now, it definitely exists today in regard to the above definition.
On another note entirely, Anne Rice's vampires are still different from the original version. When vampires first started to haunt human imagination they were reanimated corpses, sometimes "alive" through a demon, and always evil. They had no inner turmoil or desire outside of their drive to kill. Rice's vampires are distinctly human in that they have a great desire to belong to a group, make connections, develop, change, tell their story, wage war with their inner emotions, and feel human passions. This is what really makes them different and appealing.
Louie and Lestat are forever entwined, because, as Lestat says, he is the "creator" of Louie. Louie loves Claudia as a daughter, because she reminds him of what he has lost in becoming a vampire. Their love and hatred is in some cases as immortal as their undead bodies.
Required Movie:
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) dir. Jim Jarmusch
A realistic look at what vampires could be like in the modern world, this movie used color, sound, and imagery beautifully to describe ancient beings that time does not affect.
The color used around Eve was often a bright yellow ochre. This brought to mind an antique sepia appropriate for her immense age and the lightness of her personality. She is immortal and tries to love every minute of life she is given, even having a positive outlook on skunks. This also probably has some influence on why she lives in Tangier, a place to tantalize the senses.
Adam's music, antique collection of instruments, choice of deserted living area, and dark atmosphere speak of all he's seen and in his opinion endured. His surroundings compliment his negative mindset and are immediately lightened by Eve's presence.
Outside of color, the music, and long, slow moving shots allude to the ages these two beings have lived. It is as if the director Jarmusch is asking his audience to forget their busy lives and allow themselves to be sucked into a luxurious world where time does not matter.
The most interesting or new aspect of the movie to me was the mention of the need to stay away from "infected" blood. The idea that future may hold undesirable consequences, even for immortal creatures was quite thought provoking. Not only do you have to drink blood to survive, but doing what comes naturally to you as a vampire could potentially result in an abrupt end to your borrowed life. Their next lowly humane meal could be the death of them.
The strong love between Eve and Adam, the way they choose to see immortality as a gift that must be cherished (mostly Eve's viewpoint), and their attempt to not drink directly from humans are all elements that seduce the viewer into forgetting what exactly they are.
It isn't until the very end of the movie, when the characters realize they will die if they do not drink blood that the viewer is reminded of the "nature" of vampires. They drink the blood of a couple and say they will change them into vampires, so that it is more romantic or humane.
The movie effectively represented vampires as intelligent, elegant, and loving beings, while at the same time reminding the viewer that it was a sugar coating for the price of their immortality, an immortality that they were now going to force on an unsuspecting couple, according to the last few seconds of the movie.
Required Movie 2:
Let the Right One In (2008)
A look at two disturbed children, only one of them is a vampire.
Oscar is a boy constantly bullied and in desperate need of human connection. He finds this connection in Eli, a vampire in the body of an adolescent.
There is much going on in the movie outside of the character's relationship, but I am deciding to focus on relationship as it is the movie's backbone.
What separates this movie from Anne Rice's book and from Only Lover's Left Behind is it's focus on relationship development.
In Interview With a Vampire, Louie's relationships are pretty much only concerning vampires except for the interviewer and his human victims. With this being said his negative opinion of Lestat is set early on. In Only Lover's Left Behind the only true relationships are between vampires as well and are set before the movie even starts.
Let the Right One In is interesting, because it watches the development of a relationship between Oscar and Eli. Eli encourages Oscar to stand up for himself against the bullies and shows an interest in Oscar when no one else does, not even his parents. Oscar gives Eli the benefit of his calm acceptance of all things strange. For example, Oscar only says "Oh" in regard to Eli saying, "Yes" to the question, "Are you a vampire?" There is no revulsion or fear from Oscar, because he already trusts Eli.
Obviously Eli is still dangerous. This can be seen in the scene where Oscar tries to do a blood pact with Eli, before it is revealed that Eli is a vampire. In order to avoid attacking Oscar, whose hand is dripping with blood, Eli laps up the blood that has spilled on the floor and tells Oscar to run.
The scene in which their relationship is sealed occurs when Oscar refuses to invite Eli into his house. It seemed Oscar did this out of doubt and the idea of a "dare" not spite. Eli steps inside and begins to bleed all over as if about to fall apart. Oscar quickly invite's Eli inside clearly terrified of the idea of loosing his one friend. After this Oscar accepts the reality of Eli being a vampire as a whole, even the fact that murder is required.
After Eli saves Oscar's life from the sadistic bullies, they run away together.The lighting of this scene is warm and inviting unlike the rest of the movie.
Let the Right One In's icy setting complemented the character's loneliness and isolation~ Oscar because of his home and social situation, and Eli because being a vampire obviously makes it hard to have a normal life. The closeup, over the shoulder, and very wide shots are dominantly used in the film in a very dramatic way.
Unlike in Interview With a Vampire, where Louie decides he can only be an immortal vampire alone, Oscar and Eli are determined to stay together. The viewer is inclined to be happy for them, but I also felt sad since it appears Oscar will inevitably become a willing provider for Eli's hunger. He may even stoop to the act of murder eventually.
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