We’ve examined the tradition of gothic literature which is primarily responsible for widespread popularity of the vampire in American culture. Our image of the vampire can be traced back to these stories, and in particular to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, which has been adapted into film and television dozens of times.
But as we saw in Carmilla, vampire stories in this tradition have often centered around the victimization of young women in ways that some scholars have worried reflect rape culture, and Dracula may be a particularly potent example of this. So let’s take a closer look at how that famous nineteenth-century vampire story has influenced our cultural conception of the vampire, adding another layer to our discussion of the cultural significance of vampire stories.
Complete the following 4 parts:
1
???? Watch Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
You can find the complete film available on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/M1eEE3-kgVY
BUT for the purposes of this assignment, you don’t need to watch the entire film if you don’t want to. The following scenes provide an effective example of how vampire narratives tend to bleed together sex and violence:
https://youtu.be/M1eEE3-kgVY?start=2401 (watch through 43:39)
AND
https://youtu.be/M1eEE3-kgVY?start=3447 (watch through 1:01:00)
(The video is age-restricted, so it can’t be embedded here, and needs to be watched on YouTube.)
2
????Write a brief paragraph (75 word minimum) noting your observations about the depiction of vampires in the scenes above (and the rest of the film, if you choose to watch it), and how it compares to other examples of vampires we’ve studied in our course. Be sure to include specific details from the film.
Post your response to the forum below.
3
????Watch the talk by Prof. Trevor Holmes on rape culture and vampire stories:
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKhAESVEnn4&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=UniversityofWaterlooFacultyofArts
Post a reply (75-word minimum) to your original response discussing something specific you learned from the talk, and whether/how it supports the observations in your initial response to the film, or whether it adds something new and/or causes you to reevaluate your initial reaction to the film. Conversely, you might argue that your viewing of the film leads you to different conclusions than Prof. Holmes.
