Reaction to Vampire Gentlemen and Zombie Beasts

Initially when I began reading this article, my first reaction was, 'why is this guy dissecting the social meanings behind vampires and zombies so much?' But upon finishing the article, he makes some valid points! Vampires have taken the more 'human' role of atrocities. Wanting love, but being unlovable. Attractive, but mysterious. Scary, but human. I think the main point of this article is to show us how our favorite monsters have evolved. Vampires have gone from being a bloodthirsty villain of the night (Nosferatu, Dracula) to a romantic, relatable, chilling, almost-human. (Twilight, Interview with the Vampire) More often than not recently, vampire tales are intertwined into love stories. I think of Twilight, obviously, which was definitely more focused toward the love story than the ugly side of vampires. Sometimes the vampire is even the hero. I like what the author says about the difference between the two undead monsters; 'the vampire incites desire, while the zombie incites fear.' Zombies have become the gory, treacherous, disgusting monsters that we fear in our nightmares. Zombies are scary, vampires are mysterious. Zombies didn't use to be as versatile, though. In earlier years, in Haitian folklore, zombies were used as 'undead slaves'. I find that quite interesting. Verses now, where zombies really represent the fragility of our society; how easily we can become invaded and infected. Zombies are the popular choice to satiate our need for a thrill. I also really love how the author delves into our self-image as society, and relates it to our film. Zombies represent our fear of ageing, and death- or something worse, eternal life in a corrupt body, a powerful metaphor. While vampires depict our desire to look flawless forever, and our fears of being alone. However, I disagree with the correlation between plastic surgery and vampires. Awesome article in my opinion. :)