Publication details
Vampire Consuming and Consumed
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2010 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | True Blood, the HBO channel TV 'vampire' series, brings to the screen social motives, reflects pop-culture, and works as a perfect allegory of consumer culture. The metaphysical, ethical, and social ramifications were pointed out among others in the anthology True Blood and Philosophy from the Blackwell publishers (edition The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series), which unfortunately did not deal with the characteristic artistic reflection of the consumer world and consumerism that is specific for the series. The aim of this text is an aesthetic analysis of the product of consumer culture, which reflects the behavior of consumers and also helps to shape their habits and preferences. In this series, there is the question of beauty, desire for eternal youth, perfect appearance, attractiveness, and fascination for otherness, which significantly connect the idea of a vampire to the world of commercials and consumer culture. The figure of the vampire in the True Blood series is closely linked to the world of fashion and elegance. Vampires seem to be mere objects whose sole function is to be consumed (sex with a vampire as a maximization of delight, drinking vampire blood in order to escape everydayness). Aesthetics of the unfinished, as described by Peter Lunnenfeld, is the third important parallel to the world of consumer culture. Constant delaying of the definitive consummation of the product so it can be offered and sold further (the life of the series and a vampire can be eternal). The True Blood series itself is based on the creation of a perfect product of fake vampire blood. Emphasis on the brand, nonexistence of competition, and symbolic importance of the invention are refined to perfection by the idea of linking consumer behavior and politics. In this case, the creation of a new product and its consumption leads to a change in the American Constitution. |