Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Pop Culture Roundup, June 24

Want to skip directly to the Supernatural stuff? Here you go.

The Golden Age of Hipper Than Thou CD Fetishization Begins Now
Remember when our parent all claimed records were way better than CDs? Now, we can tell our kids that CDs are way better than these silly digital files.

An Industry Split in the Comcast/NBC Universal Deal
The Director’s Guild of America and the Writer’s Guild of America have diverging viewpoints on whether the Comcast/NBC Universal merger is a good idea. Both sides have valid points, but I can’t help but think too much consolidation is a bad thing. I mean, I still can’t get Comcast Sports NW in the northwest unless I subscribe to Comcast cable, so I can’t help but think that putting Comcast in charge of NBC will eventually mean less access to NBC on other cable/satellite providers.

Your Ex-Boyfriend, Pop Culture, and You
This blogger started watching True Blood with her ex, and kept the show after she dumped him. What about you: what new tastes did you pick up from your exes, and which things can you never watch or listen to again?

Television Review: Memphis Beat
It was nice to see Earl back on the screen, even though Earl looked weird in a sport coat. And, yes, I am implying that Jason Lee’s new character needs a little work before it is distinct from Earl, other than the different look. Did you watch Memphis Beat? If so, did you like it? I’m not sold yet, but I’m also finding myself much more discriminating about my television shows these days.

Sage Professor Blends Pop Culture and Academia
Why did they not have classes like this when I was in college? I mean, I took some great classes, such as Media Theory and Criticisim and Women, Minorities, and the Media. And my State and Local Politics class somehow got co-opted into All Malcom X, All the Time (the movie came out that term). But, I never got to take a class where I could discuss current popular literature, let alone anything with sci fi, fantasy, or supernatural elements.

TV Review: The Gates
I finally caught an episode of Pretty Little Liars, but I missed The Gates this week. I am going to have to get more comfortable watching my TV shows online, because nothing seems to work with my schedule, and I know it’s just going to get worse after the baby is born. Anyway, I know our loyal reader Katie was not blown away by the gates, but I’d love to know what the rest of you thought of it. Or if you even bothered to watch yet another vamp show.

Amanda Bynes: Is Her Retirement Real?
So, this is the weirdest story of this week. Who retires on Twitter?

True Blood Stars Maintain Their Sexy Reputations
Ryan Kwanten is releasing a sex guide, and Alexander Skarsgard will star in Battleship. When I first heard about Battleship, I decided that Hollywood was much too desperate for new ideas. But, if Eric Northman is there, so am I.

Supernatural News

The Winchester Brothers Get Animated in Alleged Supernatural Concept Art
I like the Sam concepts, but Dean doesn’t quite work for me. But, I’m not really the target, as I’m not a big anime fan.

Supernatural Lead Actors Voicing Two Episodes of Anime Adaptation
More on the anime show. Everything is so up in the air with these details that it is hard to know what it true. But, I think it would be great of the boys provided their voice talent–good for the anime series, and good for the boys’ earning power.

Early Look: Supernatural Season 5 Blu Ray and DVD
Looks like there will be some fun special features on the disc set. Are you going to replace your older DVD sets with the new Blu-ray editions as they are released? Or will you just keep them and switch to Blu-ray with this season?

Also, there are some spoilers coming out, so visit the spoilers page if you want to know.

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Some Lesser-Known Vampire Fare

I have mentioned my lifelong love of all things vampire a time or two before. I am in heaven with all of the vampire shows and movies out now.

As I was watching the Vampire Diaries last night, I found myself remembering a few of the vampire movies I grew up on. The vampires of today are heavily influenced by writers and filmmakers who threw out some of the conventions.

Anne Rice created the soulful, brooding vampire who feels doomed to walk the earth preying on his fellow man when she wrote Interview with the Vampire. Her desire to buck some of the common vampire trends led many to play fast and loose with the vampire tropes. Here are some of the vampire “firsts” from my formative years.

Vamp
This silly comedy was one of the first times I saw a sympathetic vampire. Robert Rusler was unwittingly turned into a vampire, and he wasn’t ready to give up the partying college lifestyle he was used to.

Near Dark
Near Dark is the first time I rooted for the vampires. They were driving around the country bored, but the humans were just boring. Side note: This movie was also the first time I saw sensitive ponytail man from Singles (aka James LeGros).

The Addiction
This movie, shot in black and white and starring 90s indie-film fave Lili Taylor, was the first time I saw vampires who were able to walk in the daylight.

Forever Knight
This lynch-pin of CBS’ Crime Time after Prime Time line-up was the first time I saw a vampire working for good. Knight was a policeman working the night shift, solving crimes and kicking ass.

The daywalkers in Twilight and the Vampire Diaries, the synthetic blood swillers of True Blood, and the all-around sympathetic crime-fighting vamp of Blood Ties would probably never have been dreamed up without these vampire forefathers.

What about you? Are you so sick of vampires, you could just cry bloody tears? Or do you remember fondly the first time you saw a bloodsucker on-screen who didn’t scare the bejesus out of you? What were your favorite vampire shows or movies from days gone by?

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Supernatural Roundup on Vampire Wire

Turns out I don’t have to do a wrap-up because author Marta Acosta did a great one on her Vampire Wire blog. Read it here.

If you haven’t heard of Marta Acosta, check out her Casa Dracula series. They are way more fun and much less angsty than the average vampire book.

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Do You Still Like Vampires?

A literary agent posted a poll on his blog asking whether the vampire genre is over. Responses were 40% for over and 60% for still kicking. As a writer who is working on a vampire novel, I am happy to see that my love of vampires is shared by other writers.

But how do I feel about vampires when I’m wearing my consumer-of-pop-culture hat? I love them. I have loved vampires since I first watched Cliffhangers: The Curse of Dracula with my mom when I was 6. I watched Love at First Bite, The Lost Boys, and myriad other vampire-themed films as I grew up.

Near Dark was a revelation, as it was the first movie I saw that made me actually root for the vampires. (This was not the intention, but it was how the characters all worked for me.) Interview with the Vampire(the book, not the movie) was a bible for my newfound desire for he vamprie to be the hero, not the villain.

Twilight, though not a masterpiece of writing craft, was a wonderful story that created a new mythology for vampires. I’m not sure I buy all of it (sparkling? really?), but I enjoyed the concept.

I suffered through a bit of vampire overload in December, when it seemed everything was vampire–even the third installment in the Librarian series of movies was about vampires. I thought about abandoning my novel because I just wasn’t in love with it anymore. So I took a break.

How about you? Are you over vampires? Or do you continue to love them no matter how many different mythos and characters are thrown at you?

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Late-Breaking Supernatural News

Firefox News has a Supernatural story that just broke this morning. It is too important and time-sensitive to wait until next week’s blog carnival.

Read it here.

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