Last week was a big week for Vampire Love stories. First The Vampire Dairies premiered on the CW, then the second season finale of HBO’s True Blood premiered, and finally MTV gave us the first look at the third trailer for New Moon during the VMAs.
The Vampire Dairies: When I heard about the CW’s plans for a series revolving around yet another Vampire love story, my first thought was not another one. But out of curiosity I watched the first episode and tried to keep an open mind. I am glad I did, it was surprisingly good. I have never read any of L.J. Smith’s books, so I don’t know how true the series is to the original, or really what to expect out of it, but if the pilot is any indication of what is to come, I think it will be worth watching.
True Blood: As with The Vampire Dairies I have yet to read any of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, I do have the first book in the series and plan on reading it as soon as I get caught up with my comic books, so I don’t have an opinion on how true to the books the series is staying. But I can say that I thought the second season was amazing. It is rare that I get so caught up in a show that I am taken off guard when the end credits roll, but that happened more than a few times this season. I even yelled at the TV once or twice. The season finale was good, but it wasn’t one of those times. I knew what was coming in the final scene…it drove my boyfriend crazy, he kept hoping I was wrong, but I wasn’t :) I wish that some of the suspense had been saved for the finale, but all in all it was an amazing season and I will eagerly await season 3.
New Moon: Twilight is always a little weird for me. I had never had any desire to read the books, but as the movie’s release date got closer I kept hearing everyone talk about how great the books were…so I picked the first one up, just so I could see if they were any good, and to get an idea of what the movie was going to be like. Within a matter of days I found myself on Amazon buying the boxed set, and before I knew it I had read the entire series (although I did almost put Breaking Dawn down on more than one occasion). Needless to say I enjoyed the books, but at the same time it was very easy to see that Stephenie Meyer was not a great author. I found myself correcting sentences as I read, and questioning what was keeping me from just putting the books down. The answer of course was Edward Cullen, no matter how flawed Stephenie’s books are you can’t argue the fact that she created a character that just draws women in. Breaking Dawn kind of ruined the whole thing for me, I think that Stephenie’s lack of talent really showed and the sex scene with the feathers? That ruined EVERYTHING for me. I think Melissa Rosenberg did an amazing job adapting the book to the big screen (would you expect anything less from one of the writers on Dexter?). Was it as good as the book…no, but movies never are. As far as the trailer goes, I think it looks amazing. I’m not ashamed to say I can’t wait to see the film. This movie will have a lot more action, and a deeper story.
The Comparisons: All three stories are similar. The male lead is a vampire, the female lead is experiencing some kind of loss in her life, and there is always someone else in the background vying for her attention. In “The Vampire Diaries” Elena looses her parents in a car accident, and Stefan’s brother wants to steel her from him. In “True Blood” Sookie’s parents died when she was young, and her grandmother dies very early in the series. Sookie actually has three guys vying for her attention her friend/boss Sam (who by the way is a shape sifter), and vampire sheriff Eric. Then you have “Twilight” Bella’s loss is not as extreme as Elena’s or Sookie’s, she (by choice) leaves her mother, friends, and the Phoenix sunshine for dreary Forks. Her love triangle has started the most debate…Either you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob.
All these similarities got me thinking and I decided to compare three. Which story has the better Hero, Heroine, and Love Triangle?
My picks are:
Hero: Twilight’s Edward Cullen. Sure he can be bit much(sleeping in Bella’s room, committing suicide when he thinks she is dead), but in the end out of the three choices Edward is my favorite. Maybe it’s because he really loves Bella. Bill Compton has a bond with Sookie from drinking her blood, and her drinking his blood when they first meet, so you can never be too sure if they are in love with each other or if it because they have each other’s blood running through their veins. Stefan seems like a great lead character, but (at least at first) he loves Elena because she resembles his first true love.
Heroine: Elena. Since I haven’t read the books I don’t know too much about the character, but from what I have seen so far she is the most normal, and she seems pretty well adjusted. Bella is whiny and needy, there were times reading the books that she was just down right annoying. Sookie can stand up and take care of herself (most of the time), but the fact that she can read minds makes her less relatable than Elena.
Love Triangle: It’s almost a tie between True Blood’s Sam and Twilight’s Jacob but in the end Twilight wins. Who wouldn’t want a cute best friend who is there for you no matter what, and who can take care of you and protect you just a well as your vampire boyfriend. Sam is great and there have been times watching True Blood that I wish Sookie would give him a chance…but there is just something about Jacob that makes him a little more appealing. You know right off the bat that “The Vampire Dairies” Damon is evil and automatically puts him last on my list.
Although True Blood didn’t win any of my categories it is by far my favorite to watch. While I do enjoy “Twilight” and (so far) “The Vampire Dairies” they are aimed at a young adult/teenage audience. “True Blood” is very much for adults (there is a reason it is on HBO) and I do like my vampires to behave like vampires.
Have you read/watched “The Vampire Dairies”, “True Blood”, or “Twilight”? If so which series do you enjoy more? What series would you pick for best Hero, Heroine, and Love Triangle?