Vampire Survival Puzzlement

Well, I just watched some episodes from early Dream Curse (1968) last night (just got 'em on DVD--I righteously dig the format, and that menu sequence is just Super Groovy! outasite! but I digress) and I nearly gagged at how self-absorbed Barn came off.  Here's Julia about a pin's breadth away from a complete nervous breakdown (she actually screams at him "Why can't you leave me alone?!?!" and I wanted to stand and cheer) and all the man can do is moan about how he needs her to do the Experiment NOW.

You would have thought that with all his talk of how wonderful it is to be a human being, he would have tried on some compassion for size.  He was so extremely self-involved, I found myself thinking of Isobel's husband in Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (the novel, not the film version).

G.

Yeah - especially in that scene in the garden with Catherine when he's sort of goading her about her life with Morgan.

OMG Connie, I *love* that scene!!  When he does that little bite thing?  Damn sexy I must say! 

Buzz-- seems to me that there's nothing about being a vampire that would mean you don't have to take showers or baths.   What, the dirt of the world slides off him?

Well, perhaps he just needed Willie to dust him off once a day......

Well, I just watched some episodes from early Dream Curse (1968) last night (just got 'em on DVD--I righteously dig the format, and that menu sequence is just Super Groovy! outasite! but I digress) and I nearly gagged at how self-absorbed Barn came off.  Here's Julia about a pin's breadth away from a complete nervous breakdown (she actually screams at him "Why can't you leave me alone?!?!" and I wanted to stand and cheer) and all the man can do is moan about how he needs her to do the Experiment NOW.

"Dream Curse" is not the best of times for Barnie lovers. I really don't get how they could have gone from a sympathetic, complex and exciting Barnabas in 1795 (vampire adulterer and all) to a one-dimensional self-centered bore (the bit about wanting Jeff Clark's head on Adam was just totally out of character). I don't watch it for that reason and initially when I did see a few Dream Curse tapes I leaned more towards Nicholas Blair who got the best lines from that storyline. Maybe the writers were suffering from Barnabas fatigue by that point. But, after watching 1795, when he was human you can see that becoming a vampire did alter Barnabas' personality for the worse even when he'd change back into human every so often. And,as far as Julia is concerned ... she hung on to him long after it was necessary. Barnabas was always completely honest with her as to what kind of person/monster he was. Never did he imply that he was anything except grasping and frightened and weak when human.

during this part of the story barnabas did do one supremely unselfish thing.

when he saw that the effects of the dream curse were driving vicki insane he implored her to tell him the dream so that she may have some peace.

but yes,otherwise b was essentially as self serving as pre-1795 vampire b.to soften him up a bit they threw in that everything he was doing was to protect vicki and then the entire collins family(how's that for a stretch?)from death at the hands of adam.

All this constitutes spoilers for me, so I'm going away from here for awhile.

Funny though - I find him the most sexy not necessarily in the romantic scenes with women, but when he's tormented over something.

Wierd?

Yes, Connie.   Admirably so.

PDreadful confirmed earlier what I had long dreaded to hear... that I'm evil (because I agree with an anti-hero's murders).    Well, I can't pretend it's a total surprise.

This isn't the better reply I promised.

PDreadful confirmed earlier what I had long dreaded to hear... that I'm evil (because I agree with an anti-hero's murders).    Well, I can't pretend it's a total surprise.

I know you're joking, but just in case you're not aware, j/k = just kidding.  

In my view, Barnabas was neither really a hero nor a villian. Sure some of his actions were villianous and downright evil, while other actions could be applauded and condoned. Certainly [spoiler]the murder of Carl can't be condoned in any shape or form, nor the fact he wanted to kill Maggie, Burke and David during his early days.[/spoiler]On the other hand [spoiler]the fact that he wanted to help Chris find a cure to Chris' curse[/spoiler] proves that Barnabas still had some good in him and he was capable of compassion for others.

[spoiler]BTW how was Barnabas' staking of Tom Jennings callous? What was he supposed to do, let Tom live and kill Julia, thus making her a vampire? Killing Tom to save Julia[/spoiler] is another example of Barnabas' better deeds. He wouldn't have [spoiler]staked Tom[/spoiler] if he didn't care so much for Julia. At that point he had come a long way from the nasty, cruel vampire Barnabas who treated Julia rather badly at the beginning of their relationship.

Barnabas was like the rest of us.....human (even in his vampire state, lol). The fact that he can do both good and evil makes him a very complex and interesting character.

He wouldn't have [spoiler]staked Tom[/spoiler] if he didn't care so much for Julia. At that point he had come a long way from the nasty, cruel vampire Barnabas who treated Julia rather badly at the beginning of their relationship.

I disagree, Barnabas would have made sure Tom was taken care of but maybe not so quickly.  He still cared about his family and Tom could have claimed one of them as his victim.  I do believe his feelings for Julia did make him act as quickly as he did plus the fact the "experiment" HAD to go on at any cost.

You're right dsbarnabas fan!

I said that wrongly. Of course he would have [spoiler]staked Tom[/spoiler] anyway, Julia or no Julia, just to protect his family.

Didn't realize how silly I had phased that, thanks for making me realize that!

Still, he must have been commiting the attacks despite the fact that we didn't see them happen as often.  He must have been because he's a friggin' vampire!  He can fight the urge all he wants, but eventually his vampiric nature will take over.  IIRC he attacked Sophie Baker in 1897.  I assume he was still doing that all along.  The writers chose not to keep showing us the attacks because they were irrelevant to the plot at hand, and because the audience would likely turn on Barnabas.

I think that's exactly it -- Barn's doings were peripheral to the main plot, and if explained in more detail would have distracted from the story they were trying to tell.  What a lot of people forget with 1897 is that Barnabas is a SUPPORTING character in it, not the main focus of the plot.

And DS has this schitzophrenic habit of sometimes making the most brainless leaps of illogic that underestimate the intelligence of the audience, but also as often they give you a framework, like a radio drama or a play, and assume that the audience is bright enough to pick up on the implications and fill in the pieces for themselves.