Dissatisfaction with the Blatant Anti-Vampiric Sentiment that Exists in Modern Society
A funny thing happened yesterday. I was watching Smallville, and the storyline was about vampires for Halloween. Naturally the vampire leader was killed, and the infection was cured.
This got me to thinking about vampires in general.
We have an intense, almost medieval and barbaric view of Vampirism.
I see it everywhere. From the popular series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Bram Stoker's Dracula, these people are immediately considered inherently evil and to be destroyed. WHY? Why do we treat these people so differently compared to others when American culture is showing a great deal of tolerance for minorities and lifestyle cultures? Sure, there is racism, such as anti-semitism, and gay bashing, but I feel that's only a small segment of the population. Why is Anti-Vampirism a universally acceptable hate crime?
Think about this.
What is a vampire? The first thing one thinks is: an undead and unnatural creature. Already we see the bigotry by defining such a person as a creature, not human. That seems irrational given that vampires were originally human. So then when a person is bitten by a vampire and becomes one, why does society immediately condemn this person? It's not his or her fault that one is bitten. This person is a victim of circumstance. Yet society feels obligated to kill these individuals.
In ancient times, this would seem understandable. Fear of the unknown and the uncontrollable would necessitate the need to prevent innocents from becoming vampires. As a necessity to society, death seems necessary. But these are modern times. If world opinion feels that capital punishment is a cruel and unusual way to treat criminals, why is there this popular idea that vampires should be killed? Isn't it more humane to incarcerate these individuals from society rather than killing them? Again, the bigotry appears, because humane and ethical treatment of vampires does not apply to them.
It seems that the allowance of killing a vampire is tied to the prime bigotry against them. These are unnatural creatures; therefore it's okay to kill them. Yet our society seems to have an issue of euthanasizing animals. This doesn't seem to extend to vampires who were once human.
This bigotry against vampires is so systemic that society fails to recognize that Vampirism's root is a disease. With vampires biting innocents and drawing blood, the victims become vampires. Is that not the classic example of a communicative disease spread by blood infection? Blood transfer also usually transmits the HIV virus, which attacks the blood. AIDS, which is caused by the HIV infection, creates a complicated series of medical afflictions that lead to death. Yet Vampirism, which does not kill the victim, is ignored. No medical research is dedicated to finding a cure. I don't see any benefit concerts or ribbons to fight the spread of vampirism. If age-old diseases such as leprosy can gather individuals towards a cure, why do we not seek to do the same with vampirism? Ultimately, the inherent bigotry of Vampirism leads to the callousness of society.
One might argue that once one becomes a vampire, one has an insatiable need to drink blood and therefore be a danger to society. This danger requires the full killing of the vampire. This seems to be an extreme reaction. A vampire may be afflicted with a disease that causes an addiction to blood. As with any substance addiction, the body, as well as the brain chemistry, places a demand on the person to require the substance. Heroin, crystal meth, and cocaine addicts have resorted to violence to get the money to feed their addiction. Most offenders are not put to death.
If anything, there is a movement in California for leniency towards addicts which is not applied to vampires. The addict is forced to commit crimes to feed the addiction, or face a great amount of withdrawal symptoms. He is not in a frame of mind to know right or wrong while under the strain of withdrawal. The alternative to jail time is treatment. Yet our society seems to have a double standard in applying this leniency where vampirism is concerned.
It seems that in this modern era we need to reassess our outdated biases. Now is the time for compassion rather than violence. What are we? In the middle of the dark ages?
P.S. Please ignore the fangs.
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