Week Two : Vampires

A few years ago, I had watched the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s, Interview with a Vampire, and had never considered reading the novel until now. I’d never gone through the Twilight phase in my teen years so I had little interest in vampires, although, as a lesbian and advocate for the LGBT+ community, I couldn’t help but be enraptured with the homoeroticism of the work. I truly appreciate how Anne Rice’s novel, Interview with a Vampire, reinvented the depiction of vampires within literature, particularly, becoming a prime figure within gothic fiction. She was brave to alter and evolve the basic expectations of a love story, a vampire love story no less. Only upon watching the screen adaptation and reading the novel was I able to recognize the drastic cinematic changes made. For instance, the toned-down queerness within the film was a bit upsetting.

One moment that surprised me was when Louis is talking about his and Claudia’s move to Paris, and them trying to find the Théâtre des Vampires.

Claudia asks Louis, “What can the dammed really say to the damned?”

In other words, ‘How do you expect to find the Old World vampires, what do you expect to do when we find them and how do you plan to negotiate with vampires sooo much stronger than you?’

Louis contemplates this question. There is a cycle of grief. He’s often shown trying to run from his problems. He has a hard time speaking out about his problems. But I think that it's here where he truly comes to terms with his eternal existence.

Also, the subject of power exchange can be recognized through the novel, as well as, within the film. The power dynamic is centered mostly on Louis, outlining his journey of running from his troubled past. The struggling relationship between Louis and Armand enables Louis’s loss of control with his painful existence. It's assumed by me, the reader, that Louis yearns for death. Then, further within the novel, a member of the Théâtre, Santiago, grows suspicious of Louis and Claudia. He suspects that they killed Lestat, their creator. Santiago concocts a plan to put Louis and Claudia to death. Ultimately, his plan backfires. Unfortunately, Claudia is put to death by sunlight, but Louis and Armand are able to run back to America and live a calm life for some time before leaving each other.

On another note, I really enjoyed watching A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. The car scene vividly reminded me of a similar shot car scene from the movie It Follows directed by David Robert Mitchell. I also enjoyed watching Nosferatu (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau. It was pretty funny.

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Here are some other ‘generic’ vampire-inspired readings/shows/movies/musicals that I like besides ‘Interview with a Vampire’ and ‘Dracula’: Twilight (The Movie Series), Vampire Girlfriends (Webtoon), Underworld series, Vampire Academy (The Movie Series), Hotel Transylvania, The Little Vampire, Vampirina (Disney), Bunnicula (Warner Bros.) AND finally Mina and The Count.