Final Analysis of Dracula

Dracula

            I think the theories that best relates to Dracula would have to be myths, and rites and rituals. Dracula is a myth in all rights. He is a figment of Bram Stokers imagination, a great on at that. The fact that Dracula is not real makes the story even better. It lets you imagine things that could not be possible. It defies logic and that is the best thing an author can do for a good book. In the story of Dracula there are also rites and rituals. Such as there are only certain way Dracula can be killed or stopped. Those are rites and usually only a priest can perform them so they work. Think like he had to be stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake or holy water will burn him, he cannot stand the sight of a cross or the best one yet garlic will keep him away. These are just genus. The rituals that are in Dracula is he sleeps during the day in his coffin, or he has to drink blood to survive, if he drinks a person dry they die but if he drinks a little then the person will live but will turn into a vampire like Dracula.

            Dracula is a fascinating character and the more I studied him the more interesting I found him to be. The way I analyzed him throughout this class, I was able to break down the reasons I felt he was so popular, and that did change how I looked at Dracula a person. I feel that many people look at Dracula the same way I do and I see the popular culture idea much better. 

Culture and Society Interactions

                                                                           1930-1945

1930's

The depression ends and President Roosevelt promises The new Deal to help rebuild America. This was a great idea to help get the economy going again and to get people back to work. The new deal was a great way to start the economy but no one knew what it would do if we continued it. It was a blessing and a cures. He got the economy moving and it kept moving for many years but when it crashed it almost cased another depression and what it is doing to our environment is devastating.

 The 21st amendment is passed and Prohibition is repealed. It is now legal to buy, sale and drink alcohol once again. The bars are open and people are free to make the decision to drink again. Prohibition was a very bad mark in our history. It was good in theory but it ended up developing organized crime and creating more crime. The end of prohibition was a blessing because it but a hurt to the crime wave this country saw.

Orson Wells broadcast one of his stories called the War of the World and people thought that we were really being attacked. They fled their homes and ran for cover to avoid being killed by the aliens. This had to be the greatest broadcasting feat of all time. He was just reading a story he wrote in the radio and had people believing it was actually happening.

1940's

On December 7, 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Killing 1500 and destroying many aircraft and Navy ships. This was done in the early morning and was a surprise. This is a very sad day in out history. It was not until 9/11 that we have ever been so unprepared for an attack.

  We enter into WWII with Japan and shortly after we enter into WWII with Germany and Italy. This is the mark of greatest  war are country was ever in. The United States was an isolated country until this happened and could not sit on the side lines any longer and had to get involved to help bring an end to this war.

Theodore Roosevelt was elected for his fourth term as President of the United States of America. He is the only President to ever be elected four times. He was wildly popular because of how he handled the recovery after the great depression. Sadly shortly after he was elected he died and Truman became President.

Television of the 1930's and 1940's

The invention of the television actually began around the 1820 but it really didn't start to take off until 1927 by  Philo Farnsworth who produced the first electronic television picture. In the early 1930's the first images were transmitted to a few screens. This is what started the rage of TV.  In 1939 at the worlds fair FDR was the first president to give a speech that was broadcast on live TV. This started the race for broadcasting stations to start. The television rage was stopped due to WWII and was stopped until after the war was over. It picked back up and exploded in the 1950's  In 1940 Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry made their cartoon debut.
Early televisions were simple receiver that had to be connected to radios to receive sound.

1930-1945 Science
1939
The First prototype of the Digital Computer
Developed by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry from Iowa State College
This was the first digital computer built that could store data and add and subtract using a binary code. Unfortunately this the next version of this computer was not finished because the WWII. Imagine where we would be today if this technology was not delayed by the war efforts. I think we would have had different people in the spot light.

1945
Atomic Bomb
A team of scientist led by J.R. Oppenheimer were the first to be able to develop the A bomb. This project was call the Manhattan Project. It was very important for us to develop this technology.  This bomb was dropped on Japan's cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This bomb killed thousands of people instantly. Within a few days Japan surrender and WWII ends. It is good that the war ended but it remains a sad day in history for the world.
After the bombs were dropped the President was encouraged to find a better use for this technology.
This is the only two nuclear weapons that have ever been use to date in history.

In conclusion these are jsut a few of the things that have happened in our country in these 15 years. We have had so many more things I could have added that are equally important. The advances out country makes each year is amazing especially in these early years. I hope you enjoy my take on these events in history.

Formulas

Dracula

            Dracula is classified as a horror movie because Dracula like to kill people by sucking all of the blood out of their bodies. In this movie Dracula is not known as a killer at first that is discovered later when they catch him in the room with the lady he has chosen as his bride. In the original Dracula movie he did not kill just for fun like most of the remakes. He was meticulous in what he did.

            The fact that Dracula was portrayed as a gentleman at first in the movie when he had the man come to his house for business. Dracula was mysterious and strange but the business man continued like nothing is quite normal in these types of movies. The person in danger is usually the last to know they are in danger. He never killed the business man but was able to hypnotize him to help do his bidding. That is truly the genus behind Dracula. That is how he is able to live out in the open so to speak. Without that ability he would always be in danger. He has people that help him everywhere. Dracula is very intelligent and charming and is able to fool people very easily.

            I have learned you cannot judge a book by its cover. You never know what or who someone is by just looking at them. It would be easy to be influenced by someone like Dracula if you were open minded. I would find it very interesting to do more research on Dracula to find out if people really believe in him. I have seen shows that try to prove that he really exist but I find that hard to believe. I love that time period and think I was born in the wrong century. It is hard to imagine what it would be like to live in that time. How hard it would be without all of the conveniences of today. I still find the first version of Dracula to be the best Dracula movie of all time.

The New Age of Zombies

The New Age of Zombie

Era of Zombie Movies Pre 9/11/2001

            The era of zombie movies before 9/11 were very different. I will describe the differences as we go through the paper. Most zombie movies before 9/11 were seen as melodramatic and even comical. You have people who turn into zombies that are walking quiet sluggishly in the search of live people they can eat. To be turned into a zombie you have to be bitten by one first. Then you die and come back as a zombie. Most of the movies before 9/11 the way the zombie apocalypse started was because of a voodoo curse. They were more science fiction than reality so it left the viewer more afraid of the movie than what the movie represented in society. People did not feel that this could really happen. But all of that changed after 9/11.

Era of Zombie Movies After 9/11

            After our country was attacked on 9/11 it changed a lot of how we look at things in our lives. It made us more vulnerable and afraid. We look at situations differently. Everything has a meaning and a probability factor. Zombie movies represent the fear of a terror attack or pandemic that can strike at any time. They no longer represent science fiction and are more real to us. We walked away from 9/11 with a crisis mentality and are waiting on the next strike. You hear bits and pieces of stories of how the government is making new disease to fight with and that means this is possible. The most recent movie about zombies is 28 Days Later and then followed 5 years later the sequel 28 Weeks Later. These movies the zombies are infected with a rage virus. This was man made and was being tested on apes. These types of movies make us question our government and what they are doing in the name of science. With this virus you did not have to die and come back you just turned once you were bitten, these zombies could also run really fast so it is harder to get away from them. This increases the fear of an apocalypse and adds to the anxiety of this happening globally.

Movie 28 Days Later

            In this movie there was a group of kids who went to an animal testing facility that had apes that were being tested on and they wanted to set those apes free. After being told that these apes had a contagious virus that could affect the world they still set them free. The apes were injected with a virus called the Rage virus. The Apes attacked everyone there and killed them. This started the apocalypse on London. This rage virus was spread through blood and saliva. Once bitten you did not have to die to turn you would just turn within a few minutes. It was very fast acting and spread quickly. Once turned you were no longer slow and sluggish you could run really fast which made getting away almost impossible. The military was called in to help contain the outbreak but that did not happen very well. The outbreak was laid out in days:

·         Day 1 Exposure

·         Day 3 Infection

·         Day 8 Epidemic

·         Day 15 Evacuation

·         Day 20 Devastation.

This movie seems like a real possibility to us and makes us question our government and their ability to contain such an outbreak. We also wonder if it is possible that they could mistakenly release this type of outbreak on the world. To make matter worse this movie came out about the same time we had the SARs outbreak in 2002 and 2003. In 2007 just five years later the sequel to this movie came out 28 Weeks Later.

Movie Sequel 28 Weeks Later

            This movie was about the rehabilitation of London and how the American military tried to help with that. They thought they had gotten rid of the rage virus in all of the hot areas and were letting civilians back into London but quickly found out that was not true. They had issued code reds which meant the military would shoot, bomb, and gas the infected areas regardless of non .infected. They had a three step process:

·         Step 1 Kill the infected

·         Step 2 Containment

·         Step 3 Exterminate

They are never able to contain a virus in any movie and that makes us wonder if the government will ever be able to stop something like this of will they even be able to respond to something of this nature. Horror movies are usually out there to begin with and most people a just spooked by the movie but then you have movies like this that leave you feeling that this could really happen it add fear to a whole level.

Conclusion

            In conclusion this article was really an eye opener because I never looked at a zombie apocalypse as something that could happen. I do believe with what the government is working on that we do not know about makes this prospect more real. But you never know what could happen and if you try to prepare for everything that could happen that is all you would get done. That is like the bomb shelters of the past era. How many people built bomb shelter and never needed them. I am beginning to wonder if they are not a good idea now as this might save you from the zombie apocalypse coming in our future. It is something to think about.

References

Birch-Bayley, N. (2012). Terror in horror genres: The global media and the millennial zombie. Journal of popular Culture, 45(6), 1137-1151. doi: 10.1111

Hero's and Celebrities

Dracula

Hero’s and Celebrities

            The hero in Dracula movies are usually the priest because he is the only one that knows how to kill Dracula. The priest is the first to find the bite marks and suggest what needs to be done to save the beautiful young virgin. Without the knowledge of the priest they would never save her. He knows to put a cross on her neck and garlic around the window and what it will take to kill Dracula. I do not believe that Dracula has a celebrity following. I do know that Bela Lugosi was best known as Dracula and when he dies he wanted to be buried in his Dracula costume.

            I think that most time the lead in the movies is the hero but in the case of Dracula the hero is the priest who killed Dracula. He was the only one that discovered what was wrong with the woman in the first place. He then was the only one that knew how to protect her. Then the priest was the only one that knew how and could kill Dracula. This is the only movie that I can remember where the lead in the movie was not the hero. Dracula did not get the girl and live happily ever after.

            I believe that anyone can be a hero is they give into their fear. That is what the priest had to do to be Dracula. Fear can make you feel weak and helpless but when you can overcome the fear you can become a hero ever your own hero.

Dracula

Rituals and Stereotypes

            Dracula movies are full of rituals and stereotypes. They are the basic premise of the story. How can you have a great movie without rituals? Some of the rituals are Dracula can only come out at night and has to sleep during the day, he can only drink blood, he must sleep in his coffin, and he keeps someone who is human to protect him while he is sleeping. There are rituals for killing or keeping Dracula away like, Garlic, crosses or religious items, a wooden stake through the heart, or cutting off his head. When people have been bitten by Dracula they either die or are turned into vampires as well. Priest, believe that they can perform rituals to save them from turning. Most priests will hunt the vampires to kill them because they believe God is on their side and will save them.

            Some of the stereotypes found in the Dracula movies are, beautiful women are at the most risk,  Dracula was very charming, Dracula could pass as a regular person, and only priests could kill him. Dracula in the movies went after a beautiful virgin because that was what he wanted for his bride. A lot of movies have this stereotype that evil wants beautiful virgins for themselves. What makes the difference they are evil. The idea you could talk to Dracula and not know what he was is ridiculous. Anyone that is brave enough should be able to kill a vampire. I would not be brave enough so I guess it is a good thing that Dracula is not real. 

Dracula

I believe that Dracula is an icon and I also believe he is a myth. Dracula is an icon because he has stood the test of time. He has been a major player in the horror genre and many vampire movies have spun off the concepts of Dracula. We all know that Dracula is a myth so that goes without saying. Many people have been so enamored with Dracula that they have tried to change their appearance to look and act like him. The idea of living forever or the romance of the mystery of vampires carries a great appeal.

The reason I believe that Dracula is such a big icon in today’s society is because of the power that Dracula represents. Dracula is powerful, immortal, rich, mysterious, handsome, and romantic all rolled up in one nice neat package. Everyone wants to live without limits and that is what Dracula is all about. We all understand that Dracula does not exist but that does not stop people from following the myth. There is a cult following of people who dress and act like Dracula. Some even have their teeth ground to a point to look like they have fangs. I am sure even some drink blood. In the end there is no evidence ever found to prove the existence of Dracula. He is just the figment of Bram Stokers imagination.

I take great comfort in knowing that Dracula is just a myth. I love the romance of Dracula and how scary he can be. In the original Dracula movie he falls in love and wants to turn a lady into a vampire like him so she can be his bride. Dracula is a monster with a very human side. He is not so very different from us. Bram Stoker was a genius when it came to Dracula and how life like he really was. I also believe that Dracula will really never die. They will be making new movies of Dracula for years to come. His icon status will live forever.