The Analysis Namespace.

Okay, well...

I would like to work on it, but I can't do too much due to having an exam in a couple of days. I would be willing to help with an expansion though.

So far we have:

This actually goes back pretty far, since vampirism has long been a metaphor for sexual activity in legends. (If we could get an early example here, that would be cool.) (The very term "vamp" is an evolution of this metaphor.) Vampires' need for blood makes them animalistic predators (A quick explanation on why this is seen to be so?); therefore, their sexual needs are more basic and rougher, which can be something of a Fetish for some people, hence the expression, "necking". The other part of the Trope goes to the Victorian ideals of womanhood: pale, frail and bloodless, which was the effect of tuberculosis, aka "consumption", on women, which is part of where the vampire myth originated. Certainly a lot of vampires are Black And White Beauties. (A quick summary on which parts evolved here, and how they influenced media?)

The question of how vampires can be sexually active despite being clinically dead (in most settings), and what it says about the people attracted to them anyway, tends to be handwaved or played for squicky laughs (An example, the more popular the better, would be awesome here.). Other Undead such as Zombies tend not to get this treatment because it involves Squick (An explanation on why vampires don't, relating to earlier points could go here), and it's rare in a Fur Against Fang scenario or Vampire Werewolf Love Triangle for Werewolves to get the same treatment, as having a pale, nubile corset-clad young lady sip from your vein is sexy, whilst werewolves tend tp be associated more with the idea of being mauled to death and torn into tiny pieces and eaten by a Big Badass Wolf, rather than the idea of giving in to animalistic urges (especially sex) (And now an analysis on why the rougher aspects of vampires are played for sex, while other rough-and-tumble types, like Werewolves, don't.)

After that, just a quick examination of popular stories that use this- e.g. Dracula, Anne Rice and Twilight, and how it's evolved from there- would fit in nicely and provide perspective on how it's evolved and how society influenced this change.

Early example: Carmilla?

Hm. Was she played for sexiness, though?

[1]

Now, I don't think that Cracked is the best source of all time, but it can be pretty useful. At least, I found it informative enough to be used, anyway.

You can go for other sources, if you want, of course.

But what did that have to do with anything?

You asked for examples and explanations about vampires' portrayal as animalistic.

Sure, the article could use a lot of in depth stuff, but...um...yeah, I just thought it'd be useful.

Don't mind me, I'll go elsewhere. >_>

6 Famously Terrible Movies That Were Almost Awesome

X-Men: The Last Stand

Alien: Resurrection

Wild Wild West

Cool World

Robin Hood

The Godfather: Part III

Remind me how this has anything to do with vampires?

[1]

Try this one. >_>

Stupid uni computers

Vampires were considered a separate species from the zombie thanks to the fact that no two corpses rot in exactly the same way. Sometimes the skin flakes off in such a way as to leave the remaining skin looking smooth and undamaged and gases from decomposition can cause the body to inflate, giving the appearance of being fat or healthier than they were at death. Also, skin tightens around fingernails and hair, so it looks like it has grown. Dig one up and you'd get the impression it had just spent the night roaming the countryside.

But why would they dig it up in the first place? Diseases like tuberculosis and bubonic plague were rampant. They would rip apart the lungs and make the corpse bleed at the mouth. So you have a village where suddenly everyone is dying of the same symptoms, seemingly "drained" of their life or energy, and here's this bastard in his coffin, obviously faking death, with goddamned blood around his mouth! Put a stake through his heart already!

But then, in an awesome twist that no one could have predicted, the idea of the vampire kind of gave people a boner. Sexy stories emerged of handsome, powerful vampires exchanging body fluids by sucking on the necks of hot women. There's another few centuries of popularity for you. Today you can watch an episode of True Blood right until the screen is obscured by your erection.

Followed by:

Hey, remember how they tended to blame diseases on vampires? It turns out many of our superstitions stem from the first rule of human dickery: Everything bad has to be someone's fault. Thus you have the 18th Century vampire panics—the vampire version of the witch hunts when a whole lot of accused vampires were hunted and killed (though the body count was not as high as the witch hunts, thanks to the somewhat hilarious fact that many of the accused were corpses).

Of course they have the same "humans as predators" appeal as zombies, but with the added twist that it makes being a vampire seem kind of awesome. The message of the vampire is that in order to achieve absolute power, we must treat our fellow humans as prey. And as others have brilliantly pointed out, most of us only hate the idea if we think we're on the "prey" side of that equation.

Wait... what does it say about us that the vampire is now pretty much our main pop culture hero?

I really do not feel comfortable using Cracked as a legitimate resource for anything though, so let's check its' sources-

Dammit.

Yes, having taken a course on Vampire lore, cracked is pretty accurate in this case. They were the original Slavic boogey men, generally a bloated corpse that cursed the village and anyone who tried to change things.

Carmilla struck me as one of those titillating style PSA about the dangers of lesbian vampires seducing English women.

O_o

Speaking of analysis versus wild mass guessing, there's currently a very long essay in the Analysis section of Silent Hill 4 that accuses Henry of being the true killer. I haven't played the game, so I wouldn't be able to tell you if that's something truly supported by the text, or that it's a WMG.

It's a WMG. It offers very little to support itself.

I would call it WMG because its conclusions are a plot point, rather than a conclusion about the work's deeper meaning.

Yes, move it. Silent Hill 2 too.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:37:45 AM by SomeSortOfTroper

I copied the SH 2 one over, someone else did the SH 4. I cutlisted both pages, as they contained no analysis.

edited 12th Aug '11 10:21:41 AM by INUH

Doesn't cutlisting lead to locking the pages as well?

Er...yeah, yeah it does.

There's a thread to request an unlock for a cut page that might be useful if written properly. I'll stop by that immediately after the cut goes through to explain that they should be open for legitimate use.

edited 12th Aug '11 10:30:54 AM by INUH

Ah, goodie, because Silent Hill 2 is really a work deserving of analysis.

On the subject of Trope Analyses, I had an idea that I put on Yack Fest, not knowing that this thread exists. After reading this thread, it seems that it's quite similar to what Cygan already said, but anyway, here's a copy of the relevant part of the post:

Sounds like a pretty good breakdown, as long as the people writing the analysis are from the subset of Tropers who actually know what deconstruction means, rather than the subset that thinks it means Darker and Edgier.

What would be great is if we could also add the history of the trope on thes very wiki; I.e. Where the name comes from, who ykttwed it, who launched it. It would be so much easier then searching through the history page.

I am in full support of the idea you proposed. Would it have a specific form, like playing with entries? That could make it easier. Anyone want to draw that up?

Ideas for formatting:

Etymology of the Title. Including things like where the name drew inspiration from and how it relates to the trope.

History of the Trope. This should include things like the earliest known straight example of the trope, notable examples of the trope throughout history, notable deconstructions and/or reconstructions, and how this may have influenced works.

Why the Trope evolved. Looking at what factors in society and/or history may have caused the trope to evolve, and how this trope has evolved due to these factors.

Anything more?

All of those can be !!barred, and added as someone feels like it. I think we'll get the best results if we don't make the way the page has to be made too rigid.

But they're all valid parts of an analysis entry.

Yeah, these are just ideas for things that could go in the analyses, but are not necessary.

Should I provide examples of each?