Near Dark

I thoroughly enjoyed the film "Near Dark" that we watched in class. It is interesting how vampires are portrayed in many different ways. With this movie in particular, it is interesting to compare your typical "vampire" to a normal human being and the ways that they both go about their lives.

I feel that a vampire is an exaggerated interpretation of how we as humans interact. We look at vampires as a very driven, passionate and aggressive 'creature.' I believe we are the same way. We all have a drive to be loved, to pursue a desire that is within us. For vampires, it is blood. Blood for them fulfills not only their basic physical needs such as food and energy, but also some sort of an emotional connection to their world. In the movie "Near Dark," when Mae bites into Kaleb to satisfy her physical need in food, she also seems to make a connection to Kaleb in doing so. Similarly to how we humans interact by taking a loved one out to dinner to satisfy our physical need for food, Mae takes Kaleb out to hunt to eat. In both situations, there is an emotional connection involved as well. For us, dinner usually turns into an evening at home, and a romantic scene. Same with Kaleb and Mae. They both become closer to one another throughout this process and become emotionally attracted to each other.

We look at vampires as different, however I simply believe it is an exaggerated representation of how we go about our lives on a day-to-day basis.