Vampires: Sexy or Sexual Predator

Last week I re-watched a few episodes of True Blood where they blatantly explore the nature of sexuality. This is an evolution. In the gothic Dracula sex is never mentioned. The closest Stoker gets is describing the woman-turned-vampire as having become "voluptuously wanton." Any references to blood lust as a stand in for sexual desire are buried in code.

That was the 1890s. By 1922, we have Nosferatu. Nothing but monstrous. In 1931, along comes Bela Lugosi. A bit more alluring due to an exoticism. He has an aristocratic air and the ability to charm. He hypnotizes Mina into his embrace. Still, all for horror. No redeeming qualities.

By 1958 , we get Christopher Lee as Dracula and a display of charismatic attraction. In 1973 he plays Dracula again with more reference to sexual desire. Then in 1979, all pretense is swept away. Frank Langella plays a very romantic Dracula. The character has more depth. He is not just a monster of bloodlust, he is brooding. Centuries of existence has wizened him. He is cosmopolitan and knows how to woo a woman. This is perhaps the first time that the women in the audience are meant to swoon over Dracula. So, now, we can start talking about this. Why are women attracted? What makes him sexy?

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer and True Blood, we get some insight. In both stories the female leads have powers. They are not ordinary women. Their powers leave them lonely. Not because no one is attracted to them. They have admirers. Neither of them are drawn to these men, though. Why? Because the relationship feels inequitable. The men are looking up to them in admiration which is different than feeling attracted to them as peers. You could say that the women feel they haven't met their match. They would have to hold themselves back in order not to dominate the relationship. They would have to be satisfied, and not judgmental or disappointed, with someone who can never rise to their level. (I'm simply depicting their perception here. In this perception there is a lot to be examined.) In the case of Sookie, she can hear people's thoughts. This makes her more aware of the true nature of people than most. They can't hide anything from her. She is never blessed with the naiveté that let's us blindly trust others in that falling in love stage.

Then along come vampires. Not just any vampires, though. These women aren't self-destructive, per se. (Well, Buffy is at one point and it's a plot device used visually depict self-loathing.) Sookie doesn't dislike herself. She's lonely. She's felt ostracized by her fellow humans for being different. What powerful women have experienced this? So, she's not going be drawn to a vampire just because he's powerful. Still, she falls for one. Bill. What is it about Bill?

Bill knows he's a predator. He's very clear with Sookie that he's not human. (A point about which he sulks.)  The way he walks, shoulders swaying with intent,  leading his body toward you, reminds you of a cat on the hunt. But, Bill is "mainstreaming". That is, he rejects the feral vampire lifestyle. He doesn't feed on humans. Here's where we get in the blurry distinctions between sexual predator and sexually powerful. He's very aware of his power and he's made a decision to keep it in check so that he's not destructive. Still, he's very comfortable with his power. When it comes to being with Sookie he's fearless. He's unambiguos about his interest. He's comfortable with whatever she brings to the table. He looks her directly in the eye. More importantly, he has the self-confidence to be open and respectful. He may be a predator, but never once pushes past her boundaries. At the same time, he's willing to reveal his vulnerabilities to her. He demonstrates his trustworthiness and gives her his trust. Sexual predators know how compelling these traits are and are masterful at setting up their victims by presenting themselves this way. Is Bill drawing Sookie in as a victim or really connecting in relationship?

As a viewer, I find myself constantly assessing him. I started with a lot of wariness. Sookie has a fair bit of her own. He's a vampire after all, so I expect the dark side to be revealed. So does Sookie. At one point, after having two near-death experiences due to associating with him, she asks, "why would I keep seeing you?" He responds with the most compelling answer of all, "Because you could never fully be yourself with any human man." Over time, my questions about him are shifting. Eventually, in one episode the character Tara voices a question on my mind, "Do you think they're capable of love?" That question is the key to whether he's being predatorial or not. Bill is behaving like someone in love? But he's a vampire! Even if he thinks he's in love, it must be twisted, right? Can he truly love?

True Blood is designed to push up against all your quaint assumptions of who's good and who's bad, what's a healthy relationship and what's not. Humans are just not that clear cut. In one episode, 3 parallel scenes of 3 couples engaged in sex exemplify this. Jason (Sookie's brother) and a woman whose name he can't recall are having overly physical, almost but not quite violent sex. They are so detached that they are not even facing one another. While she's declaring that she loves him, he is practically crying in pain. They are each in their own world. In previous sex scenes with Jason, he is always gymnastic and at one point he even looks in the mirror to admire himself. What is sex about for Jason? It would appear that his inability to express himself emotionally has numbed him and the only time he feels anything is with some pretty extreme sexual behavior. For him, the intense stimulation is how he affirms he's alive.

Meanwhile, Sam (Sookie's boss and rebuffed admirer) and Tara (Sookie's best friend) have gotten together. They aren't really shown in the act itself, the scene is about the prelude and the postlude. They are both suffering and they don't want to be alone. Unlike Jason, they can express their feelings, but they find them overwhelming. They make life seem insurmountably bleak. After sex, Tara says something like, "It's amazing how the world disappears..." For them, it's an injection of escapism.

Those are the human couples. Now let's pan over to Sookie and Bill. Sookie is in shock from the death of her grandmother, along with other traumas. Bill has saved her life once. She has saved his. They've been learning about one another. They are each impervious to a power the other has. Sookie is not susceptilbe to be "glamoured." Bill thoughts are not transmitted to Sookie. They each have to build the relationship the way anyone else would. They have bonded. Since her grandmother's death, no one has been able to connect to Sookie. Her grandmother was the closest, most intimate relationship she had and she's gone. It's a huge vaccuum. Nature abhors a vaccuum. Though she's been wary, Sookie, at twilight, dons a white nightgown (um, wedding dress?) and runs through the forest. Bill senses her emotional intensity and knows she's coming. He heads to the door to wait for her and they meet with a deep passion of connection. As his passionate energy flows, he turns away from her because his fangs emerge. She gently touches his face and pulls him in for the lightest of kisses. She accepts his power and trusts him to control it. They're lovemaking is intimate.

That's right. The only couple actually engaging in bonding through intimacy is the one with the vampire. As a viewer, you're watching this beautifully emotional scene. It's a romantic high that you're riding into euphoria. The partnership experience we all say we're looking for. Then Sookie says, "Do it. I want you, too," and in one ferocious stroke, Bill bites her neck and we're subjected to a larger than life image of a tongue licking blood on the surface of skin. End of episode. Snap. Back to the reality of this fantasy.

It's never simple, is it? We are talking a vampire here. Why is it, though, that we so often need fantasy worlds in order to explore our realities? We create entire universes with exotic creatures and science fiction, just so we can ponder a relationship between a woman and a member of the undead and say, "That's life."

As I watched and was jolted by the final image, I found myself questioning mechanics. "So, why wouldn't she just bleed to death when he bites her in the neck? Why isn't it exruciatingly painful?" It wasn't until later that I pondered the question I didn't want to ask as I've grown attached to the character, "Well, is he just a sophisticated sexual predator, or not?" We don't have the answer, yet. We'll have to keep watching and talking. I can tell you this. He's damn sexy and I couldn't even describe one physical attribute that makes him that way. It's his character. It wouldn't matter what he looked like. Of course, he's safely tucked into a TV screen, so we can ponder those lines between powerful and predator without risking our lives. Which we'll do more of soon.