Leo D.M.J. Aurini - Vampires in Fiction, and Horror of Edward Cullen

00:00:00.000 what is a vampire how do you kill it this was a question posed to the the

00:00:13.880 screenwriter Max Landis by his own father and the young Landis responded

00:00:24.120 why you put a stake through its heart and the senior said no no you are a writer 0.98

00:00:34.620 you kill the vampire any damn way that you choose this is a story that that mr. 0.96

00:00:47.240 Landis likes to recount and I know it because I am quite the fan of Max Landis 0.97

00:00:55.280 even if I'm not a huge fan of the movies he's written really like that guy but on

00:01:03.600 this note he is dead wrong he couldn't be more wrong even while being right in a

00:01:16.760 certain sort of topical surface sense to ask what is the vampire and conclude it's

00:01:33.920 the thing that you kill with the stake through a heart all that that really kind

00:01:42.380 of completely misses what a vampire really is and by the end of this video by

00:01:56.540 talking about the nature of the vampire on this Halloween of 2016 I hope to show

00:02:10.220 you that Twilight is one of the best vampire movies out there so what is the

00:02:24.220 vampire what is its nature Clarice this man that you seek what is the nature of the

00:02:37.160 vampire that makes it what it is why this archetype well first off the vampire is a

00:02:54.840 monster monster this is the world word that's tossed around quite a bit but very few people

00:03:02.120 know its meaning goes all the way back to ancient Greece monsters are those things that are unnatural that

00:03:14.120 animals that are abominations that do not obey natural law

00:03:26.120 animals obey natural law they might be vicious they might hunt you they might desire

00:03:36.120 your blood but they're not monsters they are merely animals humans humans might be sinful they might be

00:03:48.120 fallen they might be broken but humans they as well they as well have the natural law that part of them

00:03:58.120 part of them is compelled to follow but the true monster is neither it is not human it is not animal

00:04:14.120 and in some ways it is both

00:04:16.360 the vampire is not animal it has one soul drive to drain you of your life essence your blood

00:04:38.920 that's all the vampire wants or desires an animal has many desires

00:04:46.360 it wants to mate it wants to stay warm it wants to stay safe the vampire has only one one compulsion

00:04:58.280 your blood

00:05:02.360 and it has the intellect of a man to accomplish this

00:05:09.240 has the intellect the reasoning ability and yet no higher law

00:05:14.760 no love of truth no love of truth or of beauty

00:05:22.280 all the vampire has is affectation

00:05:29.320 it affects the behavior of a human being

00:05:34.920 but it doesn't know why it has no reason why it's only

00:05:42.280 raison d'etre is to drain and destroy you 1.00

00:05:48.120 the vampire the vampire is a heartless monster 1.00

00:06:02.120 and that is why you kill it by piercing that blackness in its chest that blackness it has in place 1.00

00:06:11.880 a human heart 1.00

00:06:21.480 the vampire

00:06:26.600 is sexual in nature

00:06:28.600 from its earliest iterations on film

00:06:38.440 with its goblin-like ears

00:06:43.160 sunken eyes and bald head 1.00

00:06:45.880 some sort of sexual predator 1.00

00:06:48.680 the vampire 1.00

00:06:50.440 wandering about

00:06:51.320 sneaking in to the damsel's apartment 0.80

00:06:54.600 to the later examples

00:06:59.560 bella lugosi

00:07:01.320 the seducer

00:07:05.880 say

00:07:07.160 ducare

00:07:08.200 to lead

00:07:09.320 astray

00:07:11.000 the tall

00:07:16.760 dark and handsome predator

00:07:20.360 who is also 1.00

00:07:22.360 a parasite 1.00

00:07:28.760 both predator and parasite 0.98

00:07:30.840 not for

00:07:38.600 not for survival

00:07:40.680 not for reproduction

00:07:43.240 it takes all of those natural urges

00:07:46.360 all those urges that obey natural law

00:07:49.320 and perverts them

00:07:52.440 it twists them

00:07:53.560 it drains your blood

00:07:58.280 for the sake of draining your blood

00:08:00.600 so that it might drain more 0.93

00:08:09.320 the vampire

00:08:11.720 is ancient

00:08:14.200 it is of the earth

00:08:16.120 of the grave

00:08:17.400 it needs the earth

00:08:19.000 from its own grave

00:08:21.320 to follow it wherever it goes

00:08:26.760 and yet

00:08:28.120 it is repelled

00:08:29.720 by the living earth

00:08:31.640 it is repelled by the wooden stake

00:08:34.120 by the clove

00:08:35.400 of garlic

00:08:37.880 the living earth repels it

00:08:39.640 it is ancient

00:08:42.120 it predates

00:08:43.720 life on this planet

00:08:47.080 the earth

00:08:48.200 of death

00:08:48.840 of the tomb

00:08:51.240 of cold

00:08:56.120 this ancient

00:08:57.800 frozen path

00:08:59.400 past

00:09:04.040 that seeks to drag 0.99

00:09:05.560 you down with it

00:09:12.600 and the drag 0.97

00:09:13.320 and the

00:09:15.400 the vampire

00:09:16.200 it requires

00:09:18.280 your permission

00:09:20.920 to enter into

00:09:21.800 your life

00:09:27.640 the armor of god

00:09:29.880 protects you

00:09:30.600 on the front

00:09:31.960 and to the sides

00:09:33.320 but the armor of god

00:09:34.760 does not protect you

00:09:36.520 from betrayal

00:09:39.800 it does not protect your back

00:09:41.720 the vampire

00:09:48.120 requires your permission

00:09:50.680 to enter

00:09:52.680 to join you

00:09:54.600 in this brotherhood

00:09:55.560 so that it might betray you

00:09:58.520 it is a predator

00:10:02.120 but it does not confront you

00:10:04.040 to your face

00:10:05.000 to your face

00:10:09.800 hold up a cross

00:10:12.200 and it flees

00:10:14.280 confront it

00:10:15.800 face to face

00:10:16.600 and it is terrified

00:10:19.000 hold up a mirror

00:10:21.480 and it sees

00:10:22.840 nothing

00:10:23.320 nothing

00:10:23.880 because it is

00:10:26.920 nothing

00:10:27.800 it is

00:10:28.920 no one

00:10:30.120 it is an

00:10:31.800 ancient

00:10:32.360 primordial

00:10:33.720 force

00:10:35.000 of ruin

00:10:38.200 of death 0.98

00:10:40.120 of sucking 0.99

00:10:42.600 the life 0.99

00:10:43.560 essence

00:10:44.520 out of the living

00:10:51.240 it uses passion

00:10:55.720 to drain you

00:10:57.640 it takes your passion

00:11:00.440 and turns it into dry dust

00:11:02.920 the dust of the tomb

00:11:04.040 the vampire

00:11:12.120 is ancient death

00:11:18.760 it is that primordial force

00:11:20.600 that darkness

00:11:21.400 that came before

00:11:24.200 utterly

00:11:25.480 unnatural

00:11:28.600 a perversion unto itself

00:11:34.040 that is always its nature

00:11:39.800 in all

00:11:41.080 appearances

00:11:44.200 and any attempt

00:11:45.160 to deviate

00:11:46.200 from this

00:11:46.920 any attempt to

00:11:48.760 recreate

00:11:50.440 the vampire

00:11:52.600 whether it be

00:11:53.320 some sort of

00:11:54.360 science fiction virus

00:11:57.800 or some sort of

00:11:59.320 teen fantasy

00:12:02.760 well on the one hand

00:12:04.280 undermine

00:12:06.520 what the vampire

00:12:07.320 truly is

00:12:09.160 but at the same time

00:12:10.120 it will affirm it

00:12:11.640 tenfold

00:12:15.720 and this

00:12:17.320 this is what we see

00:12:19.080 when we consider

00:12:20.360 the film

00:12:21.480 Twilight

00:12:26.040 now Twilight

00:12:28.360 supposedly some 0.98

00:12:30.920 ridiculous 0.97

00:12:31.720 teen angst 0.99

00:12:34.280 romance

00:12:36.200 about sparkly

00:12:37.160 vampires

00:12:41.560 well let's take a page

00:12:43.320 from the last psychiatrist

00:12:46.120 let's take a page from there

00:12:48.840 and point out that if you want to see the real

00:12:50.840 Twilight movie

00:12:52.440 cut out

00:12:55.160 every scene

00:12:58.040 where Edward

00:12:59.560 demonstrates

00:13:00.440 magical powers

00:13:02.600 because all of these powers

00:13:06.920 all of these magical

00:13:09.320 strengths

00:13:11.640 that Edward

00:13:12.840 claims to have

00:13:13.640 these are all

00:13:16.040 these are all the result

00:13:19.160 of an unreliable narrator

00:13:22.600 of a

00:13:24.040 teenage girl

00:13:25.720 desperately

00:13:26.200 desperately

00:13:26.280 looking 0.96

00:13:27.080 to be abused 0.91

00:13:31.800 when he stops

00:13:32.520 the car

00:13:33.160 that's going to hit her 1.00

00:13:35.800 when he shows his ability

00:13:37.160 to climb trees

00:13:41.000 none of this is something

00:13:41.960 that your average man

00:13:42.840 couldn't do

00:13:44.600 and through the

00:13:45.880 the eyes of a

00:13:48.280 willingly

00:13:49.560 gullible

00:13:50.440 teenage girl

00:13:51.320 through her eyes

00:13:53.400 become magical

00:13:58.840 ignore all of that

00:14:00.920 and pay attention

00:14:02.840 to what he says

00:14:05.720 pay attention to his claims

00:14:08.040 to what sort of being

00:14:09.800 he says he is

00:14:14.600 i can't resist you

00:14:17.480 i need you 0.99

00:14:18.760 i'm going to hurt you 0.99

00:14:27.400 that is the truth

00:14:29.000 of his character

00:14:31.880 and

00:14:34.680 as much

00:14:35.320 as the movie

00:14:36.120 tries to say

00:14:37.800 he's not like

00:14:38.760 those other vampires

00:14:41.640 he most certainly is

00:14:47.400 Edward

00:14:50.120 drags Bella 0.99

00:14:51.800 from her family

00:14:53.560 throws her life 1.00

00:14:55.400 into chaos

00:14:57.960 there's an unwanted

00:15:00.120 pregnancy

00:15:02.040 this hot

00:15:02.840 cold

00:15:03.320 push-pull 0.96

00:15:04.680 manipulation

00:15:06.520 cruelty

00:15:07.720 and sadism

00:15:13.800 and none of it

00:15:14.440 could have happened

00:15:16.600 if Bella

00:15:18.040 hadn't let him

00:15:19.240 inside

00:15:20.360 Edward 0.99

00:15:27.480 is the worst vampire 1.00

00:15:31.080 of them all 0.98

00:15:34.200 because he's the sort

00:15:35.000 of vampire you just might

00:15:36.280 meet in real life

00:15:37.880 the affectations

00:15:46.680 of mystery

00:15:49.880 the

00:15:51.400 lack of identity

00:15:53.400 that has no reflection

00:15:56.200 when he looks at himself

00:15:57.400 the need

00:16:02.440 to feed off

00:16:04.520 of the pain

00:16:05.400 of others

00:16:13.000 and his fear

00:16:14.040 fear and terror

00:16:15.720 of living morality

00:16:20.600 of acts which affirm life

00:16:27.480 of the trees

00:16:29.640 that grow

00:16:30.440 out of healthy soil

00:16:32.360 over the

00:16:36.760 back of life

00:16:40.520 edward

00:16:42.120 that the

00:16:51.400 actual quelquefue

00:16:53.320 the hopes and dreams of others,

00:16:59.060 sustaining himself, 0.61

00:17:02.740 sucking them dry, 0.99

00:17:06.040 and then leaving their wrecked bodies and souls 1.00

00:17:12.000 for others to deal with. 1.00

00:17:18.220 Edward is an unnatural monster. 0.99

00:17:23.320 And so many people 0.95

00:17:30.960 went to see that movie

00:17:35.140 and they were eager to let that monster in,

00:17:40.600 to throw away their hope,

00:17:44.520 their dreams, their life,

00:17:48.700 to throw all of that to the monster, 0.94

00:17:51.680 to leave them as bitter, shriveled wrecks of human beings. 0.87

00:17:59.120 And isn't that exactly what they did?

00:18:06.260 Forty-year-old women.

00:18:12.840 Forty-year-old women fantasizing about a high school boy 1.00

00:18:17.440 as their lives turn to rot and failure and death

00:18:27.720 all around them.

00:18:30.840 twilight, in some ways,

00:18:40.620 isn't just a vampire movie.

00:18:43.980 It is the vampire movie.

00:18:48.560 But it's best to watch it

00:18:50.700 from the sidelines.

00:18:53.800 Happy Halloween, folks.

00:19:02.440 Try not to let that

00:19:04.460 darkness inside yourself

00:19:08.060 overcome you.

00:19:11.220 Because believe me,

00:19:13.220 it's there.

00:19:14.580 And it never stops clawing.

00:19:20.580 Stay safe.

00:19:23.800 Irini out.

Leo D.M.J. Aurini - October 31, 2016

Vampires in Fiction, and Horror of Edward Cullen

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