Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Wizards > or < Vampires?


Wizards are beings that practice magic that comes from supernatural sources. They are common figures in works of fantasy and have appeared in myths throughout recorded history. Wizards are often portrayed as wise old men (with long white beards) who act as mentors, exemplified by Merlin, Gandalf the Grey, and Professor Dumbledore. Their magical abilities are extremely powerful and can be used for both good and evil. The powers are often derived from study based on an innate talent or potions produced by alchemy. Some wizards may use a staff, wand, crystal ball, or simply the mind. They may call on the energies of Earth and some can even raise the dead. They can heal another or cause damage. A wizard is a very versatile and impressive being that has become more and more popular in the realm of fantasy and even pop culture as time goes on, including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Dungeons and Dragons.



Vampires are a long-time legendary undead being that survive only on blood from others. There are many variants of this myth; in some cases vampires turn into winged bats, some have supernatural powers, and some sleep in coffins. There are also many differences, depending on the tale, of how to kill a vampire. There is the wooden stake to the heart, fire, silver, garlic, sunlight, and even a cross is known to deter vampires. Vampires are usually faster, stronger, and smarter than humans and suck their blood by biting into their neck with their fangs either through trickery or force. The most famous vampire of all is Count Dracula - most stories stem off his character. Vampires have always been fascinating to the public as shown by the success of stories written and movies made on this subject. Some of the more popular ones include: Dracula, Blade, Underworld, Twilight, Interview with a Vampire, Let the Right one in, Vampire Diaries, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


9 comments:

  1. OK, I do not agree with your images on this inequality post. I love Twilight but I know that I'm not necessarily a representation of the majority in this voting pool. If the general voter were to simply look at the images, they would clearly choose a Harry Potter character over a Twilight character since HP appeals to more people. In addition, you chose one of the most BA wizards and then one of the "girliest" vampires. May we not forget options like the vampires in True Blood who are also BA (not to mention foxy) in comparison to Edward Cullen who sparkles and drinks animal blood.

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  2. Yeah, they may be a little biased, but for me this is what it comes down to. I wanted to do HP v Twilight, but Ben said to be fair we'd have to go Wizards v Vampires, or HP would crush. I could've gone with a picture of Gandalf and that would've appealed to even more people. I am sorry that vampires, which were once considered super badass, are now represented by little fairies like Edward Cullen. Blame society.

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  3. Turning this into a HP v. Twilight post is exactly what you did (indirectly) by choosing characters from those movies. I think that each image needs to represent its category equally for this to be fair voting. Edward Cullen is a very rare occurrence of a vampire, even in the Twilight movies themselves (see the vampires: Victoria, James, Laront, and the Volturi)!! Not to mention in today’s entertainment or “society”! Recent vampire shows include: Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel. Recent movies: Twilight, Dracula 2000, Underworld, Daybreakers, Blade. Twilight is OBVIOUSLY a minority when considering these examples of vampires in the last decade. And if you can find other examples that are like Twilight please be my guest. But, let’s face it you are biased. You love HP and think Twilight is a joke. Why not put your favoritism aside and make this fair? How about giving you precious wizards an opportunity to run against an image that is more equal to Dumbledore- or can’t they handle it?? ;)

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  4. Hey, you're not voting on the pictures, you're voting on the categories, but I will go ahead and give vampires a better picture, since you basically admitted defeat for Twilight.

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  5. To further my point- when you google Wizard, Dumbledore is on the first page of images. When you google Vampire, not a single Twilight character appears until page 5! Instead pictures from Interview with A Vampire are on page 1. Perhaps using an image from that movie would have been a better choice.

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  6. I do admit defeat when Edward Cullen or Twilight is up against Dumbledore or HP. I'm not stupid. Men and women of all ages enjoy HP. Women 14 and under and I like Twilight.

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  7. That's because Twilight is so lame no one even wants it associated with what it should be associated with. Turns out the poll picture can't be changed after someone's voted. Oh well because, again, you're not voting on the picture, you're voting on the category. :D

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  8. When it comes to vampires, Twilight is lame. Twilight does not show the main characteristics of a Vampire: Fangs, Sex, Passion, Pain, Human bloodlust, Anger, and deceit. When it comes to a fantasy/sci-fi love story, Twilight is great because it has a cute guy, a good love story, chemistry, and a "made up" situation. However what we are comparing here is wizards and vampires. I think that they should be represented equally. I appreciate the effort to do so.

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  9. If you would of put the picture of Eric Northman for vampires then I would have voted for vampires. Fucking sexy vampires turning me and turning me.

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