Dracula and the Queer History of VampirLast year, Dracula got yet another retellg BBC’s revolutnary named new show, Dracula. Many fans were exced to see Dracula brought to life as a gay or...
Contents:
- PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE GAYLY HELPFUL FUNDRAISER FOR THE TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER
- 10 HORROR CLASSICS (YOU DIDN’T REALIZE WERE ABOUT BEG GAY)
- FELLAS, IS GAY TO MURR SOMEONE — DRACULA AND THE QUEER HISTORY OF VAMPIR
- SO WHAT IF DRACULA IS GAY?
PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE GAYLY HELPFUL FUNDRAISER FOR THE TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER
Stoker himself was a closeted gay man who ped for affectn om both his iends, mentors, and possible lovers Osr Wil and Walt Whman. Stoker himself was a closeted gay man who ped for affectn om both his iends, mentors, and possible lovers Osr Wil and Walt Whman — men who both garnered ntroversy for their own pictns of homosexualy. One of the prime wrten exampl of Stoker's own sexual orientatn is a lengthy, nfsnal "love letter" he sent to Walt Whman, whose famo "Calam" poems ntaed explic homoerotic imagery and mgs.
A queer readg of this film is that of a gay revenge tale agast the heteronormative society which hunts down and “vanquish” any viatn om the norm. Harker abandoned his fiancee to fd Dracula, hop of killg him – another way of lookg at this, he was a closeted gay man who tried to “kill” his te inty.
10 HORROR CLASSICS (YOU DIDN’T REALIZE WERE ABOUT BEG GAY)
The perspective of homosexualy beg monstro ma sense the historil ntext of the 50s bee the inty was still legally punishable. The film The Lost Boys (1987), which was directed by Joel Schumacher who has been openly gay for most his reer, n be read wh this terpretatn. A twist on the gay-revenge story of the 1958 Dracula would be one where Dracula is not amed as the monster but Van Helsg and the hateful society that cultivated him is.
FELLAS, IS GAY TO MURR SOMEONE — DRACULA AND THE QUEER HISTORY OF VAMPIR
Kama’s history of cludg queer reprentatn her films – the gay uple The Invatn and, of urse, the entire plot of Jennifer’s Body – uld mean she’s one of the bt people to lead a fully realised queer Dracula retellg. Others speculate that Stoker was a closeted gay man, drawg attentn to the fact that he held an “tense adoratn” for Walt Whman, Henry Irvg, and Hall Ca, even gog so far as to wre a love letter to the former of the three.
Stoker was also iends wh the notorly homosexual Osr Wil, who was sentenced to hard labor for sodomy a year before Stoker fished wrg Dracula. While ially lled “the gay plague, ” by 1992, HIV/AIDS was a disease no longer rtricted to the LGBTQ+ muny. This is tertg as Carla is regard as the first novel to feature a lbian vampire, and 's known for s surprisgly even-hand approach to homosexualy.
At this time, most horror monsters and villas had homosexual dg or displayed trop associated wh homosexualy. On top of this, Marya is shown to have European bohemian tennci, a mon wk toward homosexualy films of this era.
SO WHAT IF DRACULA IS GAY?
This, of urse, was a reflectn of the mistaken ia that homosexualy uld be cured as if were a mental illns. Benshoff draws attentn to the fact that the 1930s, homosexual relatnships were not seen as two equal partners workg together.
Although there is no direct mentn of homosexualty the novel there are huge implitns and referenc that ed a stir for Osr Wil durg the Victorian era as homosexualtiy was a hugely taboo subject, regards to this, there is an extremely suggtive quote that Dorian is sleepg wh different men perhaps public toilets when Wil wr “creepg at dawn out of dreadful ho and slkg disguise to the foult ns London. 162) Even though there are very strong suggtns that the protagonist of this novel is ed homosexual, he is still as sexist and gradg to women as is Lord Henry.