[ Poll ] Vampires: Do you believe in, or even know about it?

[Shaft]

Here is a brief essay i wrote explaining who and what exactly they are. Please read through and post your opinions and questions. Discuss all you need, and I shall try to be here for as long as possible..

I ask only that you attempt to remain somewhat respectful and not too offensive.

For all you skeptics, teetering on the edge of belief and for all you who think they are all insane, let me briefly explain what a vampire is: A vampire, under our modern definition, is a human being who for some unknown reason, needs the life energies of another human to live unhindered by a bothersome and somewhat crippling need. There are many kinds of us; there are those who need a form of psychic or emotional energies, and those who need to feed from blood. Also, there are those who are able to do both.

Now, I'll answer some of the more frequent questions I receive when I inform folks of vampirism. They do not have super powers; no super speed, flying, ridiculous strength, or immortality. Some of them, however, are psychically gifted, and quite a many of them have better senses than the average Homo Sapiens. They aren't all stunningly seductive and beautiful, though I don't doubt that some of them are. They do not burst into flame or sparkle in the sunlight. Many find it quite bothersome, and many enjoy the horribly warm and bright rays it emits.They do not all sleep in coffins, though some of them claim to for a laugh and there are some who really do; the somewhat (in)famous Don Henrie, for example. They DO NOT MURDER PEOPLE; they ask nicely, and only ask for what they need, which is usually a small donation.

To sum it all up, the vampires of today are not the monsters or heroes of folklore and fiction. They are for the most part just like the average human, but with a few tweaks. And, of course, the whole needing of energies thing, but that's not really a big deal, is it?

[harvestthesouls]

lol, this is a great topic, makes me think about the ol' good vs evil conflict.
In particular reminds me of two films & TV shows.

Based on your essay Shaft, one could argue a vampire is a sort of leech (the need to feed on cumbersome amounts of energy). A leech in society could be considered evil, anti-equal, anti-communal, selfish, etc.

You suggestion that in a way we are all a sort of vampire, is not uncommon.

In The Dark Knight film, the joker is supposedly the type of vampire you're describing, feeds off the attention from the news/press/batman, with the goal to reveal that all of the 'good' society are just as 'bad' as he is.

In Scarface, Tony Montana, argues, society needs 'the bad guy' to serve as a scapegoat for the truly bad actions society undertakes.

In Television, we've had Buffy and then Angel, a quite literal interpretation of the vampire. Angelus, the lead vampire has 'seen the light' and teaches through violence, that a vampire can be 'good', similarly feeding off the attention from the humans he saves from the 'evil' vampires.

And now, True Blood, the next step. We've seen the vampires, despised them, seen their humanic qualities, now we have to accept them into society. Atleast thats what the show is suggesting. True Blood has again literally presented us with 'the vampire'. 'Good' Sookie has quite easily fallen in love with Bill the 'evil' vampire, but she doesnt percieve Bill as 'evil', she is the metaphorical hand that is supposed to guide society into accepting the vampire community into society, accepting that vampires. But in doing so, one might argue is accepting that 'good' society shares something in common with the 'evil' vampires.

Okay so most of my examples are of vigilantes and half is quite literally incorporates the very stereotypical vampire that Shaft is trying to sway away from (the immortality, fast movement, special powers, etc).

What does everyonelse think?