# Sparkly Vampires?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613 "2009-06-22T17:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/41 "2009-06-23T13:23:12Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > **Jragon** , that’s a shame. I’d love to read such an article. > > And didn’t Dracula come out in the sunlight some of the time? Still. Sparkling is lame. In one of Saberhagen’s Dracula books (Maybe **The Holmes-Dracula File** which picks up after Vlad returns to London after outwitting his pursuers, and is the story of one of the most famous of Holmes’ “missing cases”) Dracula goes to a cricket match and says something like “British sunlight is nothing to a tough old Nosferatu like me.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/42 "2009-06-23T13:37:19Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > Ever since I learned about this whole “sparkly vampires” thing, it’s not made a lick of since to me. I’m not averse to the idea of the “good” vampire, (I’m a huge fan of Buffy and Angel), but the “death by sunlight” trope is the defining characteristic of vampires. I’d say drinking human blood is the defining characteristic of vampires, but Edward & His Sparkly Friends fail on that count as well. The notion that sunlight is fatal to vampires is relatively new, and actually originated with the movies: the 1922 _Nosferatu_, to be exact. Earlier vampires were often described as being active primarily at night, but not because sunlight would kill them. They were either nocturnal by nature (like bats and wolves) or at worst suffered some loss of power during the day. In Stoker’s novel Count Dracula goes out in the day one time to make some necessary arrangements for leaving London, although he apprently dislikes direct sunlight enough to wear a big straw hat that “suit not him or the time”. Even in _Nosferatu_ it’s not totally clear that sunlight alone is enough to kill a vampire or if the whole self-sacrifice of a pure-hearted woman is also a necessary element. After _Nosferatu_ it took a couple more decades for the whole “sunlight kills vampires” thing to catch on (in the famous 1931 Bela Lugosi _Dracula_ there’s nothing about deadly sunlight), but it’s now a major part of the popular conception of vampires. But there’s plenty of precedent in folklore and fiction for vampires that can walk by day…which means Meyers had even less excuse for resorting to this idiotic sparkle business. A perfectly good (and accurate!) explanation for the “myth” that vampires cannot go out in the sun would be “That’s just something humans made up for the movies.” The idea that vampires might be attracted to the Pacific Northwest due to the lack of sunshine is the only thing approaching a clever idea in _Twilight_, but Meyers could have kept that part in by saying that her vampires are (like Stoker’s Dracula) weakened/irritated but not killed by direct sunlight. Since Bella spends what seems like the first few chapters of the book whining about how much she misses the sunshine of Arizona and how bad she feels having to live in a cloudy, rainy place, this would have set up a nice contrast between the two main characters. Instead, she went with the sparkles. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > _They’re creatures of the night, vampirism is supposed to be the personification of seductive evil. Instant power, but with a severe consequence. It seems to me that in Meyer’s world there simply is no legitimate consequences to being a vampire. Where’s the drama?_ Right. Meyers’s vampires have no weaknesses at all, other than the temptation to drink human blood. They can overcome even that with a little willpower. Subsiding only on animal blood isn’t even the equivelant of a bread and water diet for them, Edward & His Sparkly Friends are just as powerful as the evil vampires who kill humans. In another thread I described Edward as not a vampire at all, but a superhero with a disgusting diet. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/43 "2009-06-23T13:54:37Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > I’m surprised at that. I knew that _Twilight_ was filmed in the Vancouver/Washington/Oregon area, but I did not know they did not actually film in Forks- apparently, the town was too small for a large film crew to stay in. _Twilight_ has pretty much become a cottage industry for the real Forks. But they already have that great lumber museum! What more did they need 🙂 Not being sarcastic, I love that place. [http://www.northwestplaces.com/trips001/Olyp0001\_files/image026.jpg](http://www.northwestplaces.com/trips001/Olyp0001_files/image026.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/44 "2009-06-23T14:09:45Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > [A must read for understanding the snark side of Twilight.](http://stoney321.livejournal.com/317176.html) BTW, this is a pretty good illustration of how Mormonism and Twilight are in cahoots. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/45 "2009-06-23T14:16:42Z")
If you don’t mind me editing your comment, **Lamia** : > [@Lamia](#): > > It’s quite possibly the stupidest thing ever written ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/46 "2009-06-23T14:21:07Z")
I borrowed and watched _Nosferatu_ for the first time in protest of sparkly vampires. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/47 "2009-06-23T14:47:58Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Does sunlight at least hurt or cause discomfort, or does it just make them shiny? No! There is no downside to being a vampire. You are not hurt by sun. You heal fast. You do not age. You can have sex and children. You have superhuman strength and speed. Replace ‘vampire’ with ‘superhuman’ and you have the idea. To have a vampire being inferior in any way would be icky. Why would you want to kiss/have sex with something icky? {speaking as someone whose daughter is really into Twilight} ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/48 "2009-06-23T15:44:38Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > A perfectly good (and accurate!) explanation for the “myth” that vampires cannot go out in the sun would be “That’s just something humans made up for the movies.” An even better one would be that “It’s just a myth that we arranged to have put into movies.” [QUOTE=Evil Overlord List] 220 : Whatever my one vulnerability is, I will fake a different one. For example, ordering all mirrors removed from the palace, screaming and flinching whenever someone accidentally holds up a mirror, etc. In the climax when the hero whips out a mirror and thrusts it at my face, my reaction will be “Hmm…I think I need a shave.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Arachne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Arachne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arachne)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/49 "2009-06-23T15:48:50Z")
Hi, my name is Arachne, and I am a recovering Twilight-aholic (Hi Arachne!) Serious answer to silly question: My understanding is that Meyer’s Vampires are not dead so much as petrified - literally walking statues. So, their skin has stone-like qualities, like being cold, hard, and “sparkly” in the same way that certain types of stone is “sparkly” - think of quartz. The reason for this is that the sparkliness turns humans into deer-in-headlights and makes them that much easier to dispatch. I believe that Edward actually says something about how the sparklyness is overkill. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/50 "2009-06-23T15:49:47Z")
How do they feed, then? I thought that was the major, you know, guilt inducing thing, if you were a vampire with a conscience. Raid blood banks? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/51 "2009-06-23T16:15:49Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > How do they feed, then? I thought that was the major, you know, guilt inducing thing, if you were a vampire with a conscience. Raid blood banks? Apparently they eat animals. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/52 "2009-06-23T16:47:41Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’ve heard it claimed that the sparkling is one of those Mormon concepts that got smuggled in; that Mormon saints supposedly sparkle. Uh, no. You have been misinformed on that point. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/53 "2009-06-23T17:26:11Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’ve heard it claimed that the sparkling is one of those Mormon concepts that got smuggled in; that Mormon saints supposedly sparkle. Not to turn this into a debate over Mormon doctrine, but the closest thing to that in Mormon scripture is the following verse: > [@](#): > > THE > DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS > OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS > SECTION 63 > 51 Wherefore, children shall grow up until they become old; old men shall die; but they shall not sleep in the dust, but they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Which some mormon teens, 20-something ‘jack mormons’ and 30-something ex-mormons refer to as being “twinkled” into immortality, although the Church refers to it as being ‘translated’. There are also [references to The Lord’s countenance shining](http://scriptures.lds.org/en/in/s/135), not only in mormonism but also in [Greco-roman myths.](http://books.google.com/books?id=DG8SAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=countenance+shone&source=bl&ots=s2Mv_gZKqK&sig=KoIiS4ZoTo1HedSxPr5kgwActVo&hl=en&ei=XQ5BStamDIyQsgPL0qD7CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10) One again, my intention is not to turn this into a discussion of mormon doctrine. I spent 10 years active in the church and I don’t recall anything about vampires in all my scriptural study. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/54 "2009-06-23T17:29:58Z")
But the question remains: when a vampire does finally die, will s/he be converted to Mormanism? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/55 "2009-06-23T17:37:05Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > But the question remains: when a vampire does finally die, will s/he be converted to Mormanism? Everyone is converted to Mormonism when they die. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/56 "2009-06-23T17:51:58Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > Not to turn this into a debate over Mormon doctrine, but the closest thing to that in Mormon scripture is the following verse: > > Which some mormon teens, 20-something ‘jack mormons’ and 30-something ex-mormons refer to as being “twinkled” into immortality, although the Church refers to it as being ‘translated’. Lots of people (including me) jokingly refer to it as being twinkled, but it doesn’t have anything to do with actual sparkling. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/57 "2009-06-23T17:55:42Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > There is no downside to being a vampire. You are not hurt by sun. You heal fast. You do not age. You can have sex and children. The undead having babies? Awright, that’s stoopider than sparkling. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/58 "2009-06-23T18:13:12Z")
Can’t wait for _other_ undead to get this treatment. Until then: [http://nobodyscores.loosenutstudio.com/index.php?id=433](http://nobodyscores.loosenutstudio.com/index.php?id=433) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/59 "2009-06-23T19:56:14Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Everyone is converted to Mormonism when they die. Whether they like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613/60 "2009-06-23T20:59:32Z")
I hate sparkling [del]wiggles[/del] vampires. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparkly-vampires/500613.md?page=4)