Great analysis as always, and the memes you used are hilarious 😂
Even thought I haven't watched the movie, this aligns pretty well with my reading of the novel. While I don't particularly like bringing up an authors life when analyzing their work, i think it's interesting to relate the lack of clear answers in the story to Rice's own struggle with her faith and the loss of her daughter, which she admits was the inspiration for Claudia.
Something that stands out to me is how race and slavery is so integral to the story. At least in the book, Lestat's treatment of Louis and Claudia is often compared to slavery, which is curious because the story is largely uninterested in Louis' own role as a slave master who feeds on his "property". I wish the movie had expanded on that, though it seems it doesn't do much better on that front than the book.
I highly recommend checking out the show! Not only does it tackle the problem of racism in the original, but it also gets rid of the subtext regarding Louis and Lestat's relationship.
Thanks for reading! I actually didn't know (or maybe knew at one point but then forgot) about the connection between Claudia and the author's daughter, that knowledge adds another layer of poignancy, and probably explains why the character was so vividly realised. Her agnostic views can also definitely be felt in the story.
Very interesting that the book describes Lestat's abuse in terms of slavery! Personally, I quite like that the film had a light touch in dealing with these issues - I think the racial context is clear enough that it's very evident the director was aware of it, and any attentive viewer will easily pick it up, whereas a lot of modern media errs on the side of over-explaining (not just in relation to sensitive issues, but also just in general).
It does seem that Louis is quite an unrealistic slave-owner, in that he's seemingly quite humane and fair-minded, and doesn't seem to have had cruelty or racial ideology drilled into him. We can read any number of records attesting that this was not the case for the vast majority of plantation owners. So, maybe it's good that they don't examine this aspect of Louis' background more closely, because his character might fall apart under scrutiny (and this is probably a bigger omission in a book hundreds of pages long than a two hour movie).
Great post. I agree that Interview and Bram Stoker's are intimately bound together, and am looking forward to your upcoming post on Dracula. *wink*
For my part, the reading of Interview, in particular the movie adaptation, that sticks in my mind is as an analogy of fame, talent, or success. Particularly going into the 90's, the depiction of a lifestyle that the masses can see only for its power and propensity for sexy parties, but almost invariably becomes an isolating purgatory for those 'lucky' enough to experience it, rings especially true. Like vampires, famous mega-star actors [like, oh, say, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise] look like they have it all, can do anything they want, live forever, and yet are eternally subjected to the threat of annihilation, most of all by their own hands. The pathologies that feed and eventually eat away at these creatures are powerfully depicted - an insatiable hunger for escalating stimulus, an inability to relate to mortals that drives them to each other, an instinct for grooming and control, and so on. The fact that there's even a child actor analogue, forced into early maturity and thrust into a Bedlam of depravity, but eternally burdened by her own youth, hits pretty hard as the proceeding decades create whole stables of former Nick and Disney stars that are then unleashed on society. [to say nothing of the fact she has more than a bit of Shirley Temple going on]
As far as the homoeroticism [which is indeed excellent] angle, I think it is not just ahead of its time for being a level of depiction that was progressive for a movie in the early 90's, to say nothing of a novel from the 70's, but is even more powerful for its grappling with the darker and more complex manifestations of homosexuality in western culture. Again, the inherent loneliness, the urge to identify and groom the 'exceptionals' away from mortal society, fear and control dominating relationships, and the looming specter of self-destruction all have just as much to do with the realities of being a part of gay culture in the era before Peak Rainbow Flag Saturation as they do with my earlier reading about celebrity. And, as an unabashed but not naive fan of Tom Cruise, I wouldn't be surprised if deep down he could identify with both of those readings, whether or not he'd ever admit that. Look at the guy today. You're telling me he's 60?! Maybe he skips the subtext part and just got bit for this role.
Again, looking forward to your posts on Bram Stoker's Dracula and What We Do in the Shadows. *wink wink*
What an absolute banger of a comment! I am embarrassed to say that I had not even considered the analogue to Hollywood and stardom in relation to this film, though it now seems blindingly obvious from the casting alone, most (probably all, realistically) of whom have lived extremely troubled and chaotic lives, never mind the actual contents of the film. I particularly like the analogy of grooming, special selection and isolation of 'talent' from normal society, and the dichotomy of stars vs disposable mortals (i.e. the rest of us). Even the fact that the Theatre vampires are performers hiding their sins in the public eye... yeah.
Now that I think of it, I am aware of some other vampire media that seems very connected to this - I'm sure you are familiar with Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which involved some very on the nose commentary about vampire stars and producers in Hollywood (and even a vampire owned Hollywood strip club). It's also a strange coincidence that Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, both child stars who were victims of sexual abuse in Hollywood, starred in the vampire film The Lost Boys (which has been cited as an influence on VTM).
Daren't comment re. the relevance to trends in gay history: it ain't really my wheelhouse :/
Great analysis as always, and the memes you used are hilarious 😂
Even thought I haven't watched the movie, this aligns pretty well with my reading of the novel. While I don't particularly like bringing up an authors life when analyzing their work, i think it's interesting to relate the lack of clear answers in the story to Rice's own struggle with her faith and the loss of her daughter, which she admits was the inspiration for Claudia.
Something that stands out to me is how race and slavery is so integral to the story. At least in the book, Lestat's treatment of Louis and Claudia is often compared to slavery, which is curious because the story is largely uninterested in Louis' own role as a slave master who feeds on his "property". I wish the movie had expanded on that, though it seems it doesn't do much better on that front than the book.
I highly recommend checking out the show! Not only does it tackle the problem of racism in the original, but it also gets rid of the subtext regarding Louis and Lestat's relationship.
Thanks for reading! I actually didn't know (or maybe knew at one point but then forgot) about the connection between Claudia and the author's daughter, that knowledge adds another layer of poignancy, and probably explains why the character was so vividly realised. Her agnostic views can also definitely be felt in the story.
Very interesting that the book describes Lestat's abuse in terms of slavery! Personally, I quite like that the film had a light touch in dealing with these issues - I think the racial context is clear enough that it's very evident the director was aware of it, and any attentive viewer will easily pick it up, whereas a lot of modern media errs on the side of over-explaining (not just in relation to sensitive issues, but also just in general).
It does seem that Louis is quite an unrealistic slave-owner, in that he's seemingly quite humane and fair-minded, and doesn't seem to have had cruelty or racial ideology drilled into him. We can read any number of records attesting that this was not the case for the vast majority of plantation owners. So, maybe it's good that they don't examine this aspect of Louis' background more closely, because his character might fall apart under scrutiny (and this is probably a bigger omission in a book hundreds of pages long than a two hour movie).
Great post. I agree that Interview and Bram Stoker's are intimately bound together, and am looking forward to your upcoming post on Dracula. *wink*
For my part, the reading of Interview, in particular the movie adaptation, that sticks in my mind is as an analogy of fame, talent, or success. Particularly going into the 90's, the depiction of a lifestyle that the masses can see only for its power and propensity for sexy parties, but almost invariably becomes an isolating purgatory for those 'lucky' enough to experience it, rings especially true. Like vampires, famous mega-star actors [like, oh, say, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise] look like they have it all, can do anything they want, live forever, and yet are eternally subjected to the threat of annihilation, most of all by their own hands. The pathologies that feed and eventually eat away at these creatures are powerfully depicted - an insatiable hunger for escalating stimulus, an inability to relate to mortals that drives them to each other, an instinct for grooming and control, and so on. The fact that there's even a child actor analogue, forced into early maturity and thrust into a Bedlam of depravity, but eternally burdened by her own youth, hits pretty hard as the proceeding decades create whole stables of former Nick and Disney stars that are then unleashed on society. [to say nothing of the fact she has more than a bit of Shirley Temple going on]
As far as the homoeroticism [which is indeed excellent] angle, I think it is not just ahead of its time for being a level of depiction that was progressive for a movie in the early 90's, to say nothing of a novel from the 70's, but is even more powerful for its grappling with the darker and more complex manifestations of homosexuality in western culture. Again, the inherent loneliness, the urge to identify and groom the 'exceptionals' away from mortal society, fear and control dominating relationships, and the looming specter of self-destruction all have just as much to do with the realities of being a part of gay culture in the era before Peak Rainbow Flag Saturation as they do with my earlier reading about celebrity. And, as an unabashed but not naive fan of Tom Cruise, I wouldn't be surprised if deep down he could identify with both of those readings, whether or not he'd ever admit that. Look at the guy today. You're telling me he's 60?! Maybe he skips the subtext part and just got bit for this role.
Again, looking forward to your posts on Bram Stoker's Dracula and What We Do in the Shadows. *wink wink*
What an absolute banger of a comment! I am embarrassed to say that I had not even considered the analogue to Hollywood and stardom in relation to this film, though it now seems blindingly obvious from the casting alone, most (probably all, realistically) of whom have lived extremely troubled and chaotic lives, never mind the actual contents of the film. I particularly like the analogy of grooming, special selection and isolation of 'talent' from normal society, and the dichotomy of stars vs disposable mortals (i.e. the rest of us). Even the fact that the Theatre vampires are performers hiding their sins in the public eye... yeah.
Now that I think of it, I am aware of some other vampire media that seems very connected to this - I'm sure you are familiar with Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which involved some very on the nose commentary about vampire stars and producers in Hollywood (and even a vampire owned Hollywood strip club). It's also a strange coincidence that Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, both child stars who were victims of sexual abuse in Hollywood, starred in the vampire film The Lost Boys (which has been cited as an influence on VTM).
Daren't comment re. the relevance to trends in gay history: it ain't really my wheelhouse :/