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I saw as a vampire (
). It was as if I had only just been able to see colors and shapes for the first time. I was so enthralled with the buttons on Lestats black coat that I looked at nothing else for a long time. Then Lestat began to laugh, and I heard his laughter as I had never heard anything before. - Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
The cinematic Dracula is the perfect epitome of style over substance, a pure image: This vampire is above all a monster to be looked at, or gazed upon, with his slick black hair, eloquent hands, handsome top hat, dazzling shirt, and magnificent cape wrote Cynthia Freeland on Bela Lugosi as Dracula. When Dracula himself appears in Sunnydale in an episode called Buffy vs. Dracula (5.1), it is comparable to a visit from an undead superstar: in terms of vampire hierarchy he is the crème de la crème and arrives to Buffyverse in grand style, complete with traditional Dracula garb: a long, flowing black cape with scarlet lining, a coffin, ominous music, and a Gothic castle with thunderstorms.
Buffys Dracula is everything we expect him to be, only more so: he is handsomer and more sophisticated than any other vampire we have ever seen on the show. Being a visitor from another aesthetic dimension, he creates an effect comparable to Bela Lugosi showing up in a Hammer film. He represents the original ideal that everyone copies and aspires to and consequently a vampface becomes unnecessary: it is not required because Dracula represents the essence of vampirism of mythic proportions, there is no need to hide or pass for a human. Subversion of that ideal happens by extreme tongue-in-cheek comedic exaggeration. As the definite star of this episode, Dracula gets the classic Hollywood close-up treatment, with shots making an homage to old creature of the night features, campily exaggerated in saturated colours, similar the Hammer movies aesthetic. All that said, in Buffyverse Dracula has to convince everyone he is the real thing.
Camp Dracula, or how to wear a cape
The Dark Prince is chivalrous, assured and charming and has a distinct foreign accent, which Buffy immediately parodies, mimicking it perfectly. He introduces himself: I apologize. I assumed you knew. Im Dracula, but Buffys reaction implies that to her this might be just some old guy pretending to be Dracula: Get out! I fought more than a couple of overweight, pimply vamps that call themselves Lestat. This undercutting approach serves to subvert both the stereotypes of horror and awe that the monster usually induces, and viewer expectations: the audience immediately knew who he was. Dracula is not shaken by this non-response, his attitude is of amused superiority and refinement. He hovers over the Sunnydale scene, dominating it with his undeniable tongue-in-cheek presence, elegance and old world sophistication. His mannered attempts at flattery bore Buffy at first, but after her fighting skills turn out to be ineffective against his shape-shifting gypsy tricks she eventually gives in and is swept off her feet: Count Famous heard of me! After all we are in California and fame becomes a new attribute of the vampire in Buffyverse.
Buffy and the Scooby gang are familiar with the vampire theme from the cinema, but they research him to separate fact from fiction, diving into and revamping the lore (pun intended). This aspect of the vampire narrative is partly what invites cult following of the series, which engages in an interactive dialogue with the viewer. In Buffy it is Buffyverse that is new and needs to face up to Dracula. The show analyzes itself in relation to the classics and Dracula gets a history inbuilt into its world: he apparently shared an erotic episode with Anya and was Spikes rival: Pansy bugger owes me 11 pounds for one thing. Everyone refined, including Dracula and of course Angel, is a poofter to Spike, who exhibits classic working class homophobia as part of his persona; he claims to be Draculas old rival, yet he has no intention of getting his money back. In addition, he blames Dracula for selling out and betraying subcultural secrets to the general public: That glory house has done more harm to vampires than any slayer. His story gets out and suddenly everybody knows how to kill us. The mirror bit? Dracula however does not share the frame with other vampires, as they tend to keep their distance.
Their mocking attitude (He totally looks shorter in person) doesnt protect the Scoobies from falling under Draculas thrall. He does not inspire outright terror and has a sexy, penetrating gaze and an erotic aura, which arouses excitement, nostalgia and jealousy among the Scooby gang, who are threatened by his allure and the visible effect he has, especially on the fair sex. The obligatory seduction scene is typical of all cinematic Dracula movies, up to a point of course: Buffy is sleeping all serenity and moonlight, when Dracula seeps in through the window in the form of blue mist, with the accompaniment of melancholy chamber music in the background: Do you know why you cannot resist? Buffys feminist image is played with here, we expect her to regain her footing any minute now, as she responds: Cause your famous? Hes slightly disappointed however at the unexpected fact, that another vampire had tasted her already: there are visible scars on her neck.
The ultimate seducer, master of mystery, manner and pose, Dracula uses self-assured, proven methods of seduction from the Anne Rice dandy vampire lore, which ultimately backfire on him: Buffys power turns out to be an exact primal antidote to his charms. He inadvertently puts her in direct touch with it by making her taste his own blood, but it disagrees with Buffys pink lipstick. Their fighting invariably creates associations with kinky sexual practices: after all they are wearing matching leather trousers and the weapons are mostly phallic. The fight is inconsequential, because Buffy simply cannot lose, her aim is to debunk Dracula as an authority figure, and he is impossible to kill: You think I dont watch your movies? You always come back. Their romantic meeting can be dismissed as a trivial affair.
Joss Whedon admits that the show is overwrought and over the top (6.7, Once More with Feeling, DVD commentary). One of the reasons Buffy appeals to us is because it takes camp glee in itself. It is filmed through a consciously camp lens, inviting camp recognition. Self-referentiality, open-endedness, incongruity and intertextual awareness, which require pop culture expertise from the audience, are all part of the camp appeal, which contributes to Buffys cult following. The pervading aesthetic of Buffyverse is that of postmodern version of camp, comprised of nostalgic referencing of classic themes and characters from different genres and their simultaneous constant undercutting, thereby creating a subversive effect.
Stylistic excess is present in every aspect of the show, from the prevailing colorful kitsch aesthetic, the double entendre and witty repartee type of dialogue and Buffys ironic punning, to the tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated Gothic and Christian iconography of pseudo-medieval weapons, books and crucifixes. Last, but not least, the vampires, the transgressive superheroes with fangs and attitude, contribute largely to the element of gender ambiguity, polymorphously perverse desire and sexual transgressions. Buffys California outfits deserve a special mention, notoriously in the scene when she breaks up with Angel while wearing a matching blouse and purse in a ludicrous snake skin pattern, which diverts our attention and completely undercuts the pathos of the scene (3.20, The Prom). The show does not shy from the use of corny aesthetics associated with Harlequin novel covers to portray Buffy and Angels doomed romance: in Band Candy (3.6) for example, we observe Angel from Buffys desiring perspective, which focuses on his half naked, anointed body, practicing tai chi amongst fallen leaves and marble statues. This inherent cheesiness is played out for its humour and the camp objectification of the male body. In Angel the aesthetic approach is generally much darker, but occasionally the series camps it up, tapping into comic-book sensibilities, as when Spike parodies Angel from a distance, likening him to Batman, the classic camp icon: Evils still afoot! And Im almost out of that Nancy-boy hair gel that I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile, away! (A1.3, In the Dark). The use of subcultural imagery and signifiers in the Buffy franchise is very clever; these aesthetics are employed unpretentiously, avoiding the audiences eye rolling by undercutting serious emotion and sentimentality and parodying itself constantly, in short, by keeping its attitude in check.
Article by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2010
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Vampire Hip Part 5 Mainstreamed subcultures? (Coming Soon)
If Angel is the ultimate outsider, Spike is the ultimate rebel among Buffyverses vampires. His entrance to Sunnydale inaugurates the advent of the super hip, young villain. Marking his new territory, he smashes the Welcome to Sunnydale sign with his 1950s deanmobile. Together with Drusilla they are a pair of unabashed hedonists of a goth/punk and slightly sadomasochistic persuasion. The mission of Spikes unlife is looking for fun: I mean, if youre looking for fun, theres death, theres glory, and sod all else, right? (2.3, School Hard). He is the epitome of youth subculture seen in terms of trouble-as-fun, fun-as-trouble as described by Dick Hebdige.
You play the bloodlust kinda cool (Willow to Spike in 4.51 The Initiative)
Spike is a punk with just enough edge to be classified as cool by the mainstream audience. His coolness is assured by a constructed look that visually evokes a combination of the legendary public images of Sid Vicious and Billy Idol, complemented by the gesture repertoire of James Dean, the cinematic rebel par excellence: when told he looks familiar, Spike replies: Yeah, I get that a lot. (4.62, Where the Wild Things Are). In his trademark jeans and leather, a bottle of booze and a cig in his mouth, Spike embodies teenage transgressions: Buffys teenage little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) explains to Buffy why she likes to hang with Spike, he has cool hair and cool leather coats and stuff, and he doesnt treat me like an alien (5.14), in other words he has the right look and the right attitude. Smoking seems to be a requirement for all cool villains, who are designed to relate to youth culture. Always in style, Spikes rebellion is summed up by the rather childish defiant gesture of smoking right in front of the no smoking sign in the hospital (5.21, The Weight of the World), exemplifying the perception that subcultural attitude is primarily that of insubordination.
As a vampire, Spike is indeed presented as very young and immature, finding delight in all the wrong things, much like a teenager on rampage. This image subverts the more classic vampire style exemplified by Angel. Spike acquires the features of his personal image one by one: his nickname refers to his bad poetry or the way he killed his victims depending on who is telling the story. Contrary to Angel/Liams humbler Irish origins, William the Bloody was an upperclass poet and a salon dandy, as we find out in Fool for Love (5.7). After being turned into a vampire, Spike rejected his former dandified self and reinvented his persona as a working class thug. He affected a working class accent in opposition to his own background and to Angelus aristocratic pretensions (the latter dropped his Irish lingo altogether). This affectation, quite the reverse to Angelus more refined image, continues to develop through the act of killing two slayers, whereby Spike acquires the two remaining elements of his reinvented self: the scar over his left eye, inflicted by the Chinese slayer at the turn of the century, and the black leather coat after defeating Nikki, an Afro-American slayer, in 1970s New York. His personal style traces and illustrates a journey through experience represented by hard-gained trophies. The killing of a slayer validates Spikes status in the vampire gang and makes him feel empowered and confident enough to sexually conquer Drusilla.
Spike in full bloom: is it more Sid or more Billy Idol, can't decide...
Spikes stylish act often tends to be visually undermined, in the tradition of Buffyverses camp humour. When Spike tells Buffy Ive always been bad there is a cut to the poet William, in 19th century London, in a beige suit and tie, his honey coloured hair in comely locks, laboriously trying to find a rhyme for another bad poem (I am the very spirit of vexation. Whats another word for gleaming?), and presented as the ultimate sissy. Parody and play on Spikes self-constructed tough image is a permanent feature of the show similarly to the on-going deconstructing of Angels macho affectations.
Before there was Spike: William the Bloody, a very bad Victorian poet
Ridiculed by society for his lack of talent as a poet and humiliated by his chosen lady, Spike readily accepted Drusillas gift of combined pain and pleasure and embraced his new vampiric identity. He tells Buffy: Becoming a vampire is a profound and powerful experience. I could feel this new strength coursing through me. Being killed made me feel alive for the very first time. I was through living by societys rules. Decided to make a few of my own. Gaining this new subcultural status gives Spike strength and drive for his one man/demon revolt, in line with the Sex Pistols version of My Way. After the restraints and humiliations of his human life in the repressed Victorian age, vampirism liberates him. Leashing out, Spike seeks brawls and fights and tests himself ever further to prove his worth. The vampire gang is a source of self-esteem, constituting an inverted incestuous notion of a family, and a source of challenge through constant rivalry with Angelus. For the latter, being a vampire and thus automatically assuming the elite position on top of the food chain is a reason to use a certain amount of finesse. To Spike this is bollocks, he can choose his own status now: That stuffs for the frilly cuffs and collars crowd, the crowd he used to be an outsider in before his turning, Ill take a good brawl any day (5.7).
In this way Spike recreated himself as a creature of darkness, ultimately arriving at the punk look, as described by Hebdige in his book on punk: the truth behind punk rock, what all non-punks had feared, that underneath the outrage there lurked real violence, real perversion, a real threat of death. Punk is an offensive and violent aesthetic, translated literally in the show, which allowed Spike the luxury of covering his clothes in real human blood, instead of fake one used symbolically in that subculture. Punks agenda drenched in Apocalyptic imagery, profanity and nihilism, encouraging perverse sexuality and obsessive individualism, suited Spikes image of contestation perfectly. According to Dick Hebdige, in punk the perverse and the abnormal were valued intrinsically. In particular, the illicit iconography of sexual fetishism (107-8). This sheds light on Spikes motto, I may be loves bitch, but at least Im man enough to admit it (3.30 Lovers Walk) and the romantic undercurrent of the contradictory nature of punk. Spikes main concern and weakness is the love of the fair sex. His TV preferences for Passions and Dawsons Creek betray his inner truly romantic sensibilities. Yet despite all his transformations he still gets humiliated and rejected by all the girls he loves. He has subcultural dilemmas: he is either too much or too little of a demon to satisfy them.
Drusilla, Spikes sire and great love, is described by Angel as a classicist: she has a grotesque, desolate, vaguely Victorian aura (she was turned in 1860) and an emotionally focused Gothic personality, which according to Alicia Porter is characterized by introspection, interest in the spiritual and otherworldly (manifested through Drus visions), theatrical gestures and movements, and surreal moods. Her character introduces goth elements of the macabre, such as talking to dead birds and playing with mutilated dolls. As a vampire Drusilla enjoys being hurt and tortured. She possesses an undeniable chemistry with Spike, projecting a dark, eerie romanticism, and sharing a perverse sensibility along the same twisted wavelength.
Historically goth developed from the post-punk school of gloomy introspection (Thompson and Greene). Spike and Drusilla are an iconic subcultural item, a yin and yang coupling of goth and punk: Punk represents rebellion, Goth represents sadness (Porter). The intimacy between them manifests itself in small telling gestures and rituals, which imply a kinky eroticism and insinuate images of bondage: Drusilla kisses Spikes cheek after purposefully scratching it with her fingernail (2.5, Halloween) and licks a slayers blood, a supposed aphrodisiac, off his finger in Fool for Love (5.7). They always caress and touch each other and in a romantic gesture of reunion they go to Bronze, Sunnydales only nightclub, to feed on lovers (5.14, Crush). Spike calls Drusilla his Black Beauty, claiming she delivered him from mediocrity: Im nothing without her. Having a penchant for grand gestures, he nonetheless later offers to kill Drusilla in order to prove his love for Buffy, demonstrating the contradictory nature of punk.
Rrrrromancing the slayer
Spikes relationship with Buffy also includes a sexually transgressive ingredient, as his obsession with the slayer has a fetishistic aspect: Buffys on/off boyfriend Riley (Marc Blucas) discovers Spike in Buffys bedroom smelling her pink sweater. He also repeatedly steals her underwear. With Buffy Spike becomes the passive and masochistic partner, her soddin sex slave (6.17, Normal Again). They engage in the unconventional practice of rough sex in public places and Buffy sums up their relationship nicely: I beat him up a lot. For Spike its like third base (5.4, Out of My Mind). Spike ultimately inverts the stereotype of the vampire as the seductive force, he is the seduced love fool.
Style tragedy finally strikes in the form of a...humble Hawaiian T-shirt
The most serious crisis in Spikes unlife however, one that makes him contemplate suicide, occurs when in addition to his inability to perform as a vampire, because of the anti-violence chip inserted by the Initiative, he also loses his cultivated image: in Doomed (4.55) he shrinks his clothes in an attempt to do the laundry and is forced to wear Xanders khaki shorts and a colourful hawaiian t-shirt: Dont look at me! (
) Im beyond pathetic. I dont want pity from geeks more useless than I am. In Spikes case his punk vampirism is the very epitome of a revolt into style. He embodies the irreverent, anarchic and antiestablishment themes of punk in his love of chaos and trouble. Punk, like vampirism, is both attractive and repulsive. It is a paradoxical, ambiguous and narcissistic subcultural attitude characterized by a wicked, dark and dry sense of humour: when confronted by a group of vampires about his penchant for killing his own kind, Spike answers a blokes gotta have a hobby and gleefully engages in a bashing.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Vampire Hip Part 4 Buffy vs. Dracula
Article by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2009
September 27th 2009 09:42
Angel (David Boreanaz) represents a visually updated version of the classic vampire image associated with Dracula, that of the 19th century dandy as popularized by Hollywood. He looks as impeccable as if he just stepped out of a Hugo Boss commercial. Albert Camus writing on the figure of dandy as a rebel could be describing Angel: Exquisite sensibilities evoke the elementary furies of the beast. The Byronic hero, incapable of love, or capable only of an impossible love, suffers endlessly. He is solitary, languid, his condition exhausts him. Thus we enter the classical, brooding realm of goth iconography, which in a vampire fantasy genre is only to be expected. Angels image is that of a fallen, well, angel: tall, dark, handsome and vulnerable, because of the fact that he is a vampire, yet possesses a soul.
David Boreanaz as Angel: What a poster child for soulfullness you are (Darla in Angel 2.5, Dear Boy)
According to Alicia Porter, a member of the subculture, The stereotypical Goth never smiles and always broods. Surrounded by an aura of impending gloom, sadness and mystery, Angel appropriately wears timeless sleek black, simple and sexy, with a hint of European old-world feel. He is the quintessential tortured (super)hero on a moral mission of redemption and is represented as character with depth, prone to existential musings and associated with intellect and beauty. His reading includes Sartres Nausea in French and most of his time is spent on an internal struggle with his demon nature and the pursuit of good and humanity. He has access to ancient secret knowledge and experiences that fascinate the teenage Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who tells him: When you kiss me I wanna die (2.5, Reptile boy), verbalizing the transgressive sexual desire provoked by the vampire, linked to the death wish. Buffys vampires transcend the debt owed to the imaginary world of Anne Rice and her Vampire Chronicles, as they are sexual beings in all the traditional ways as well.
Angel spent a lot of his time on Buffy quite...shirtless. Kinky much?
Angel is portrayed as the doom and gloom type of goth, who tends to be focused on morbid, depressing or apocalyptic themes. In order to mock his pervasive attitude Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) does an impression of him by sitting in his chair, getting a book and brooding: Oh no, I cant do anything fun tonight, I have to count my past sins, then alphabetize them. Oh, by the way, Im thinking of snapping on Friday (Angel 2.6). This constructed image of Angel is explored in-depth and reflexively toyed with in Buffys spin off series, Angel. In Guise will be Guise (2.6) the swami to whom Angel reaches out for advice analyzes the heros immaculate image through his car, a slick black chick magnet convertible with a personalized license plate that says Irony. He concludes that appearances are important to the self-loathing Angel, who finally admits: Well, maybe my persona is a little affected. His pretentious and narcissistic wooden-faced manner and lack of an apparent sense of humour are openly mocked, as is his sense of dress. Angels lame explanations that he dresses all in black, so he doesnt have to worry about matching, which helps because he doesnt have a reflection, are dismissed as a pose.
The series updates the iconic black cape of the vampire to a long black detective coat: Love the coat, its all about the coat explains the mind-reading demon Lorne (Andy Hallett). Even the down-to-earth Doyle (Glenn Quinn) admits he is strangely attracted to the way that coat tends to float behind Angel (A1.4). This concept is interpreted literally in Judgement (A2.1) through humorous visual discrepancy, which results from the inversion of established character roles: when Wesley (Alexis Denisof) puts Angels coat on in an emergency, while pretending to be him, he adopts his whole image. Bafflingly, he gains all the superhero powers and attributes, including an aura of mystery, the ability to scare off enemies by sheer force of gaze and reputation, his fighting skills improve like magic and he even manages to romance a damsel in distress. When Wesley utters the archetypal hero line: Release her or die, the surprised Angel weakly tries to claim his identity back: Dont I say that? Wesley, can I please have my coat back? The tongue-in-cheek fun culminates in Angel being called an eunuch by the episodes villain.
Angelus, Angel's evil yet charismatic alter ego
Both series explore Angels history both as a human being and a vampire. His soulless vampire version, Angelus, is presented as darker, more charismatic, frightening and transgressive than his mellower incarnation. Angel confides in Buffy: For a hundred years I offered an ugly death to everyone I met and I did it with a song in my heart
no conscience, no remorse, its an easy way to live. Youve no idea what its like to have done the things Ive done and to care. I can walk like a man, but I am not one (1.7, Angel). Angelus does not care, has more fun and arouses even more interest and excitement as a character: according to Giles, since Angel lost his soul, hes regained his sense of whimsy (2.17, Passion). Angelus tone is mocking and he laughs a lot in a drastic change from the stone-faced, tormented Angel. A ruthless, self-centered narcissist, he displays no trace of humanity, leading a degenerate existence in pursuit of ever more refined dark pleasures, which is reflected by a more flashy and exuberant fashion sense. His style is effortless and much less of a conscious preoccupation: he simply puts on the black leather pants with their fetish/bondage connotations, which Angel seems to save for special occasions.
Liam the Irish rogue soon to become Angelus
We are informed that before becoming Angelus, The Scourge of Europe, young Liam, a tall and dark Irish rogue born in the early 1700s, was a worthless being, a drunken, whoring layabout and a disappointment to his parents (A3.32, Amends). Darla (Julie Benz) sired him, choosing an attractive scoundrel as her mate for his beauty and intellectual inferiority. Like Lord Ruthven, the hero of Dr. John William Polidoris The Vampyre (1819), based on Lord George Byron, Angelus evolves as a vampire, taking a subtly perverse pleasure in tormenting those close to him. He is the Fatal Man, an archetypal anti-hero from the Gothic romance school of literature.
Angelus exhibits disdain for authority as exemplified in his early confrontation in 1760 London with the Master (Hans Teuscher), the oldest ruling vampire of Buffyverse and the sire of Darla. Mystical religious missions bore Angelus. He considers himself aesthetically superior to the Master, a red eyed Nosferatu with a penchant for mannered theatricality, and convinces Darla to leave with him with the following argument: Tell the truth, whose face do you want to look at for all eternity, his or mine? (A2.5). Angelus is a hedonist and leads a reckless high life among humans with Darla, leaving a bloody trace of bodies wherever they go. As Cordelia sums it up: Imagine Bonnie and Clyde if they had 150 years to get it right (A2.5). Becoming a part of the vampire elite infuses his style of assured confidence, exemplifying a typically subcultural attitude rooted in the conviction of his superiority over the rest of the human race.
Julie Benz as the seductive and cruel Darla
Darla is set on survival and remains loyal primarily to herself, although frivolous fun and pleasure are a priority as well, foremost the exhilarating chase, the central part of her transgressive lifestyle with Angelus, whom she treats as her stallion, an alpha male toy. She is a professional seductress, and embodies experience in an innocent looking body, making an incongruous whole: to Buffy that hair on top of that outfit is the saddest thing in the world (1.7). Manipulative and perfidious, she evokes a high-class courtesan, whose purpose is to play the game and win. As Angelus sire, she has power over him both as a mother and a lover, subverting the conventional notion of family relations. Their vampire sex is shown to be controversially transgressive: it is performed with vampfaces on, and includes biting and sucking each others blood (A2.4, Untouched). As a subcultural practice, goth has been defined in terms of sexual subversions and in opposition to taboos relating to perverse sexual practices, such as sadomasochism, fetishism and bondage, which are implicitly present in all vampire relationships in Buffyverse.
In Angel Darla is revealed to be a feminist as well: Cant a woman wreak a little havoc without there being a man involved? (A2.11, Redefinition). It is Darla who discovers Drusilla (Juliet Landau) and points her out to Angelus, who lacks the sophistication and brains that Darla possesses (2.5). They have to find new ways to amuse themselves throughout eternity and Drusilla becomes their next pet project. Angelus takes delight in corrupting innocent young women by first tormenting them to insanity. He turns Drusilla into a vampire when shes about to take her vows in a convent: Convents theyre just big cookie jars (A2.5, Dear Boy) and thus irresistible to Angelus. The sweet, pure, chaste Drusilla becomes his obsession (2.7, Lie to Me). She is an exceptionally alluring victim because of her fragility, innocence and unique psychic abilities, which add another dimension to her terror at the fate that awaits her and her family. She is turned into a vampire to make her torment last throughout eternity and she subsequently takes revenge for it on Angel, who unlike Angelus is able to suffer in remorse, by chaining him to a bed and burning his exposed torso with holy water (2.9, Whats my line p.1), one of many implicitly kinky rituals depicted on the show.
Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) complete Angelus' vampire family
Spike (James Marsters) is in turn sired by Drusilla, who was lonely and simply followed Darlas suggestion for making herself a mate: You could just take the first drooling idiot that comes along (A2.7, Darla). Angelus is the typical alpha male leader of this newly created vampire family. After regaining his demon self when Angel loses his soul, he immediately returns to the clan to challenge Spikes status and easily reclaims his primary position and Drusillas affections (2.16). The Gothic romance interrelationships in their vampire family contain Byronic allusions of illicit passions, incest, tormenting loved ones, struggle for domination and power between strong individuals of extreme physical beauty and desirability: appearances are important to vampires, as they need to be known and recognized, especially by their victims.
The Fanged Four wreaking havoc
After regaining his soul Angel wandered for a century seeking Darla and a way to return to his vampire family. He desperately wanted to recover his status and belong to the group again, but could not prove himself as a vampire and became an outcast in both the human and the vampire worlds. He never lost his style though: when the demon Whistler (Max Perlich) offered to help in adjusting to the soul situation, Angels response was: I want to learn from you, but I dont wanna dress like you (2.21, Becoming Part 1).
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Vampire Hip Part 3 Spike
Article by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2009
The media have a long history of using subcultural imagery for its sheer spectacularity factor. It tends to add an aesthetic edge to any program and such constructed images are easily marketable to the mainstream public, always insatiate for something shocking, titillating and new, which would allow the process of slumming to take place and make ordinary citizens feel hip too. John Leland, who wrote a whole book on the subject, claims that hip brings the intelligence of the troublemakers and outsiders into the loop, saving the mainstream from its own limits. Like a vampire, it requires an audience which defines it. The prime time television series is the case in point, television being a medium rarely allowed to be innovative and subversive in itself, and governed by executive laws and censorship. Putting across messages that might normally be considered too controversial for prime time can be tricky and may require a guise. The fantasy genre, which is by definition not taken seriously, offers such a guise. In this way a phenomenon like Buffy the Vampire Slayer can arise (pun intended). The silliness of the title itself ensures instant dismissal from most non-teenage audience members and is non-threatening, but at the same time it reflects the postmodern bricolage nature of the show: it is hardly original, Varney the Vampire was a popular magazine serial published weekly as early as 1896, however, the juxtaposition of various elements and a specific attitude is what gives Buffy its fresh slant. The series turned out to be a cult favorite, specifically due to the layering of meanings, discourses and genres, a foremost feature of the show. The very surface layer, the specific look promoted by Buffy (1997-2003) and its spinoff series Angel (1999-2004), draws on subcultural aesthetics of goth, punk and camp.
Joss Whedon and his vamp buddies
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For all fangophiles out there the departure of Buffy left a gap in TV watching pleasures, but lo and behold Alan Ball came to the rescue! The lore goes that the Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty (1999) and Six Feet Under, stumbled onto Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mystery books at a second-hand bookshop while waiting for a meeting, and got an epiphany. Ball claims he's never seen "Buffy" or read any of the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicle books but admits Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987) is "the best vampire movie ever made, in my opinion." The Bigelow influence makes sense, as the vampires in True Blood are fully integrated into the storylines without overtaking them, embodying just another aspect of life in the Deep South to be dealt with. The fantasy themes are not just an excuse to explore the darkest aspects of human nature, as some critics have implied, but give Ball the artistic license to engage in such explorations with gusto and without the limiting constraints of censorship within the seductive world of "True Blood," where anything is possible.
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Q: Who does not love a good fairytale? Especially one that features pure, incorruptible love between an amiable prince and a pretty princess, who trapped by ruthless fate, experience a series of many cruel and unexpected turns of events and yet still manage, against all odds, to reach a happy ending? Come in Danny Boyle, the one of Trainspotting (1996) fame, who brings the same raw vividness, an acute power of observation and an exhilarating pace into the Indian slums taking us on an entirely different trip. Slumdogs pauper-to-prince hero Jamal Malik is an everyman and an underdog, brilliantly channelled by newcomer British-born Dev Patel, whose mother dragged him to an audition in London. As a young boy Jamal meets Latika (Freida Pinto), like himself just another orphan on the streets of Mumbai. Against the wishes of his wicked older brother Salim (Madhur Mittal), he invites her to share their shelter away from the rain - in a dunny can. Thus a triangle of affections forms and its tensions are explored throughout the film, the plot of which is framed by a TV gameshow scenario, where Jamal ends up in a desperate attempt to reconnect with Latika after many years of separation.
Love it or hate it, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire it is with all its sweat and tacky gore, adding an irresistible element of suspense and mcfamiliarity to an otherwise exotic reality for mainstream Western eyes. The catchy and timeless story was based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's debut novel Q and A, written in England over 2 months to kill time while wrapping up his official post: I'm not one of those writers who wants to spend four pages describing a sunrise. There are so many of them in India. I'm a sucker for thrillers and I wanted to write one. I'm much more influenced by Alastair MacLean and James Hadley Chase. I'm no Arundhati Roy. Boyles cinematic adaptation seems to share these sensibilities, and is strangely reminiscent of the visceral imagery and favela themes of City of God (2002) and the magic realism of Emir Kusturicas Time of the Gypsies (1988), combined to form an emotionally affecting tale, which effectively draws the viewer into its characters world
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The Academy has not disappointed this year with its occasionally offbeat choices, political stands, the obligatory glitz and glamour and the singing and dancing Hugh.
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The Academy is known for its excessess and notorious unpredictability due to the political campaign tactics involved in the trophy race. Obviously not all deserving parties are awarded each year, however the worthwhile films are remembered long after - regardless of the actual results. I kind of wish money was involved in this betting! Oh wait. There is. In the meantime play we may, with a degree of wishful thinking. My bets are highlighted below. Feel free to comment, especially if you violently disagree  An update discussion will follow after the awards.
Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees:
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Director Sam Mendes burst into the scene in 1999 with his directorial feature debut American Beauty, an instant crossover success with viewers of various ages, nationalities, creeds and degrees of snobbism, the film won a best picture Oscar and (for once) deservedly so. It was a confrontational black comedy that revealed lifes magic alongside its banalities and the ever-present possibility of redemption. These qualities are sorely missing from Revolutionary Road, which is best described as a disappointing 1950s version of Desperate Housewives without an ounce of humour added to the cake mix. Unlike Mike Nichols Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) with Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton or Stanley Donens Two for the Road (1967) starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, films tackling the theme of marriage with insight and psychological nuance, Maddens newest project, inspired by a cult 1961 Richard Yates novel, documents lives of quiet desperation by shortcuts, giving the title an ironic resonance on many levels. Apparently, contrary to the myth, there were no happy, functional people in the 1950s. At all.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play it one more time in Revolutionary Road
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The Paper Dolls are gay Filipino expats deemed half women half men. Marginal amongst societys margins, their complex lives are open-heartedly revealed to us. Working in Tel Aviv as caretakers for the elderly in Orthodox Jewish communities, their temporary visas expire the moment they lose their jobs, and as a result, they are constantly hiding from officials eager to deport them. After work they get dismissed by prettier, more mainstream drag queens, who regard them as amateurs, and by club owners, who find new ways to humiliate and exploit them. Homophobia is expected in this environment so any sign of interest and acceptance is treated as a wonderful gift, rewarded with unfailing devotion and care. Despite the general stance of spirited naïveté this documentary enthuses, it stumbles on uncharted territory, much like the director Tomer Heymann, who came across the amateur cabaret troupe The Paper Dolls in an alley, after one of their shows.
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