The Vampire Diaries: Welcome to the world
Cast members and producers of The Vampire Diaries met the press, and reassured the reporters, again, some more, that their show is not Twilight. Nor is it True Blood. Nor is it any other vampire show and/or movie that's already out there. How long will it take before the press buys it?
At this point, we're over that particular point of comparison. We'd rather talk about what this show is than what it's not.
Because yes, The Vampire Diaries is a girl-meets-vamp show. And yes, there are some things that hold true throughout the Vamp canon -- like a stake through the heart kills, and they have to be invited to enter a home. But the world established in this show is very different than what you might have seen elsewhere. Examples:
- These vampires can go out in the sunlight -- but only if they're wearing a serious (and seriously ugly) talisman ring. Otherwise, it's dust city.
- However, if you break out the garlic or silver to defend yourself against Damon, he'll just gnaw on your neck. And you know those boys are too pretty to go without mirrors.
- Becoming a vampire is a much more involved process in this world than in most. You have to get bitten, feed on the vampire's blood, die, rise from the grave, then chose to feed on a human.
- Vamps can put the mind-whammy on you -- but you can protect yourself by wearing a sprig of and herb called vervain.
- Like in most vampire mythologies, vamps become more powerful by drinking human blood -- but when they do that, the "rules" apply to them more stringently.
Not everything in the show is the sam as in the book series. Executive producer Kevin Williamson says the show will hew to the general outline of the first three boos, not book four on. And the new books being written? Those will continue along their path, and the show will continue along its path.
Book fans already know that the characters on the show don't look like their description in the books -- but "we all wanted to capture the essence of these characters, the essence of their friendships and who they are," said Katerina Graham, who plays Bonnie.
The biggest character shift comes with Elena, who is transformed from a somewhat shallow ice queen to more innocent character. "We wanted someone who had vulnerability, who was relatable," said actress Nina Dobrov of her character. "She looks for the good in everyone. Even though she's lost her parents and her brother is in a downward spiral, she still wants to fix things and be optimistic."
The vampires' backstory has undergone a shift as well. Goodbye, Renaissance Italy; hello, Civil War South.
But book fans will see plenty they recognize. Kevin promised that a series regular form the book will appear relatively quickly in the series -- and this person will have an agenda. Who will it be? We'll just have to wait for the series to start.
What's your take on this show's vampire mythology -- and on the way the show diverges from the book? Talk about it in the comments!!
Comments
Butchered the book? i don't think so. More like DIMALISHED. but besides the story line your killing (i think the last comment got to that pretty well) your taking the charactors (male) that were set as sexy beyond your wildest dreams and putting in these 2 UGLY guys that look about 30 years old who will never be good enough to even come close to being heartthrobs. some stupid old guy picked them out of the gutter didn't he?
Posted by: Air | September 9, 2009 2:06 PM
Thanks CW. You've butchered the Vampire Diaries imo. It's different? Really? Whatever. You've changed what made it different. Making Elena 'innocent and vulnerable'. -laughs- I like blonde shallow Elena much better, you're able to see her grow up and out of that phase, which seems much more relatable to me.
With the brown hair 'do good' attitude she brings to mind Bella ('Twilight'). Seems like a knock off to me now. The books don't though, but oh right you've changed it up. Here's to another brunette, 'relatable' heroin! Congrats CW. Damon looks like the only one that even comes close to being okay.
Posted by: Angel | August 15, 2009 12:18 AM
is that Mia from Degrassi TNG?? lol.
Posted by: natalie | August 14, 2009 4:07 PM
I haven't read the books but from what I can gather the series is different then some of what's out there, but also the same (vampire falls for human and all that jazz). Unfortunately for the series it's going to be compared to what's already out there. Which is odd considering that the material it's sourcing was out before the Buffy movie.
The material that the series is focusing on was published between September 1991 and September 1992. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie was released in July 1992, and the tv series five years later; clearly Vampire Diaries had copied Buffy given the above dates.
Posted by: Rebecca | August 10, 2009 2:24 PM
The problem is this. It is every other vampire franchise you've ever seen. None of the bullet points make it original. All of them take elements from Buffy, Twilight, Supernatural and other shows and books.
Having seen the pilot at Comic Con, it doesn't feel different from any other vampire franchise. Maybe it will change over the course of a series, but the relationship between the brothers smacks of Angel and Spike, except not as good.
Even the lead actor has that broody, spikey-haired David Boreanaz look. How many times can the story of Vampire-falls-in-love-with-human be told? It's like a song on the radio getting repeated over and over again until you can't take it anymore, and you stop listening to the radio altogether.
I'm obviously not the target demographic for this show (I'm 25), But the 15-year-old, cynical Buffy fan in me felt the need to open my big fat mouth and give my two cents.
Posted by: Leigh | August 10, 2009 9:15 AM