The notion of demonic presence is as old as humanity. Likewise, the idea that man can be changed into a demonic creature is similarly as old as humanity. The most prominent of these creatures that man may be changed into is the Vampire. Traditionally, the vampire has been a creature of the night, generally grotesque looking and sometimes in the form of an incubus or succubus. With the rise of Christianity those legends were often morphed to fit Christian understanding of evil in the world. And while the stories of vampires have spanned every epoch in human history, none have had the effect of Bram Stocker’s Dracula. This late Romantic period novel brought to the forefront the legends of the Romanian vampire in the person of Romania’s most prominent hero Vlad Dracula. American obsession with vampires is no less than that of Europeans. Our own understanding of vampires has been influenced by themes in American history dating back to the earliest explorers of our shores. Spanish and French obsession with finding the fountain of youth, English religious fears of eternal damnation and in particular those demands of society in regards to sexuality have all influenced our understanding as Americans, and directly influenced our view of Vampires. From Dracula’s earliest appearances on American cinema in 1931, to the present-day vampires of TV/Book/Movies such as Interview with the Vampire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Vampire Diaries and Twilight we have seen vampires as young, vibrant, and gorgeous creatures akin to angels.
When Spanish and French explorers first reached our shores in the early part of the 16th century they were told stories of wondrous things by the Native Americans whom they encountered. Among those stories were things such as the City of Gold, and the Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon, a Spanish conquistador, heard stories of the Fountain of Youth from the inhabitants of Puerto Rico. He eventually found himself on the American mainland in Florida searching for the famed fountain. Unfortunately, he died in vain trying to find the source of eternal youth and beauty. That search has never stopped for Americans, as the billion dollar a year industry of plastic surgery promises to make the old look young, the ugly look beautiful. Somewhere down the long line of Vampire legend, a creature that began in some cultures as an incubus or succubus and later became corporal in the form of a demonic ugly creature became the angelic, youthful looking creature we know and love today. As late as the 1920’s, the German movie Nosferatu showed the famed Count Dracula in the form of something akin to Joss Whedon’s “Uber Vamp” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7.
Yet when America released Dracula in 1931 Bela Lugosi was far from the creature portrayed in century old myths. That trend has continued to this day, rarely is an American movie or television show depicting vampires willing to show us a Nosferatu vampire. If they do, then the vampire is typically a bad guy or at least not American. Our representation of vampires as young, typically no older than 30 and beautiful demonstrates a trend in American history. As a nation we are young compared to our European counterparts, and even our colonization began after most of the Latin American countries or even Canada was colonized. We see ourselves as a young, vibrant people capable of those same exploits that are common among the young. This is especially true since the 1960’s and the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. In particular, the vampires of the more popular legends of recent times have almost unanimously been turned in their early 20s. This is especially true for Louis in Interview with the Vampire, Angel and Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Edward from the Twilight Saga to name just a few.
Yet, Vampires in American popular culture also represent another theme found consistently in American history. When the territory of what are now the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut were first colonized by Englishmen, those settles came with the express desire to worship God according to their own religious beliefs. Coming from the same vein as religious reformer John Calvin, the English settlers of those present-day states believed in double predestination, the belief that one is either damned to Hell or saved, and lead to a string of thought concerning salvation. This is most evident in Nathanial Hawthrone’s epic work The Scarlet Letter, where the main characters struggle with their decision to commit adultery and how to regain God’s favor after committing such a grievous sin. In part, Hawthrone was attempting to exercise his own demons and regain God’s favor for his family who had participated in the Salem Witch Trials (his ancestor was one of the Judges.) This theme of redemption and salvation has continued in American culture in the popular form of vampires. Anne Rice’s Louis struggles with questions concerning his own status of whether he is damned or saved, and strives to live a life worthy of salvation. Joss Whedon’s Angel and Spike go a step further than any other vampire in lore by regaining their immortal soul. Even other vampires such as those found in the Twilight Saga, the Vampire Diaries and the Southern Vampire (Sookie Stackhouse) books all struggle with their own impending damnation in the same manner as Hawthrone’s characters do in The Scarlet Letter.
Whether explicitly religious or not, the question of salvation continuously comes up throughout American culture. For example, in a speech given on board the ship that would take the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop delivered what is possibly the most well known lines, “For we shall be as a city upon a hill…” These lines have been present in the American conscience and even appeared over three hundred years later, this time uttered by President Ronald Reagan. The idea that America was to be a New Jerusalem, that example for all other nations to esteem to and receive salvation is important to understanding America. The vampire went from being a creature of the devil, devoid of any and all chance of forgiveness and salvation in old world myths to the American example of the utterly damned creature defying his nature and attaining salvation. In particular, this theme is found since Anne Rice first published her tale Interview with the Vampire. Since then Joss Whedon introduced not one but two vampires who are able to regain the one thing that makes humans unique amongst all other creatures: their souls. The vampire has become for Americans a vehicle for working out or problems with our future after we die.
America, the land of infinite possibilities, has found itself also as the place where one can find eternal youth and final salvation. The old world struggle for eternal beauty and salvation have been personified by the American vampire and intrinsically woven into the very character of America. These two themes are so interwoven into the American Dream that they are the basis upon which we strive for the flashy car, the expensive house, the beautiful spouse and everything else that goes into the American Dream. The myth of the Vampire is as old as man himself; and in contemporary America we have made the vampire the archetype by which we can work out our unfulfilled desires for ever lasting life.
