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Ok. Time to try to grapple with Complex Vampire Feels. Everybody strap in for some pretty blunt discussion of antisemitism, ok? https://twitter.com/loudpenitent/status/902928895577427968
I am going to be saying some very Problematic things. Which is to say I'm not gonna mince words abt Christendom or antisemitic stereotypes.
You have, as they say, been warned.
Ok so basically the modern vampire, when played for horror, is tied to the spiritual and cultural trappings of Christian urban society.
Dracula is described as rooted in all Good. His aversion is not to Holiness, generically, but the cross and the Host.
This is Important. Dracula (vampires) is a product of sanctity. He can rest only in holy ground. He maims and mocks scripture & communion.
He is a lost soul possessed by Satanic power but must nonetheless acknowledge faith. He is also urban, a creature of ruin and civilization.
Importantly, he *looks just like one of us*, and acts mostly like us. Whether Creepy, or darkly lovely, he is Uncanny Valley.
He (& his brides) are highly sexually charged, sensual even when he's portrayed as ugly. A cosmopolitan, quick to blend in.
And - last of all - he's pointedly described as potentially capable of great good, if only he knew/could serve the true God.
Now, my Gentile friends, *have you put two plus two together yet*? What is this mold of vampire? Traditional Christendom's *view of Jews*
"Penitent, just bc vampires are blood libel, the age old accusation against Jews doesn't make them intrinsically antisemitic!" you say.
Yes, Hypothetical Gentile Friend, vampires *aren't* intrinsically antisemitic, you're right! In truth the blood libel baggage is secondary.
No, the actual point that makes vampires in Christian-derived media crypto-Jewish coded is the spiritual Uncanny Valley & cosmopolitanism.
Now - pause. I like vampires. I like vampires in fantasy a LOT. No accusations are being thrown, no tropes damned as irredeemable.
In fact I like vampirism - primarily sympathetic - in fiction so much it makes me feel kind of weird given the antisemitic baggage.
With that said, let's continue.
See, vampirism is not, itself, very scary. It may be dangerous! But vampirism *itself* is less deadly than say, werewolves.
Blood and maiming imagery is after all endemic to Christian tradition. Communion IS an act of divine vampirism. No offense.
The juxtaposition of beauty or sanctity and blood is absolutely written into the religion whose holy symbol is a torture device.
But strangely, antisemitic Christianity seems to push that elsewhere - among other places, to Jews, despite our religion focused on LIFE.
See, the actual unease of the vampire is dissonance. Open acknowledgement of the paradox Christianity has sublimated in cross & communion.
Angelic beauty smeared with blood, sacred made profane, light in the dark - THAT'S the European vampire. Christianity's Uncanny Valley.
And traditional Christianity saw Judaism as that - a common heritage, a shared origin, but strangely "off" - a mockery of Christ.
It's redoubled w/vampire's associations with urban & aristocratic decadence - bc ofc a faith without Christ could only go thus in their eyes
And so the vampire has to be rooted in common symbols. She has to draw on the same traditions. He has to be recognizably Like Us.
(That is to say, they "have" to be white passing, Christian-adjacent, religion & civilization gone awry & lost to superficial faith.)
The vampire, like the antisemite's conception of Judaism, is fixated upon symbols, aesthetic loveliness, but barred from higher truth.
(Needless to say this is one of the things you need to ditch if you want to use the concept in a more interesting fashion.)
In rejecting/being barred from Christ/god, this view of the vampire is lost to empty hedonism and hollow, ruinous attempts at civilization.
Again this should sound VERY FAMILIAR if you've studied antisemitism.
Gonna pause here for thought, but I open the floor to questions. I'll continue in a bit. But are we all mostly agreed on the parallels?
Ha "open the floor to questions," as if I was a lecturer. How pretentious. Comments.
