Random Idea, page 1
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reply posted on 8-8-2008 @ 08:35 PM by silent thunder
The fall of the Roman Empire would make a great topic for a movie and in fact I'm shocked that it hasn't been done yet. Especially with all the interest in the possible decline of the American "empire," and all the comparisons with Rome and decadence out there.

Dracula...well, sure, why not? People love vampires and vampire movies and the topic seems to hold endless fascination. Ive noted that lots of women who are not so into other forms of action/violence in movies and novels nevertheless seem drawn to the idea of vampirism, for some reason...maybe something appeals to them on an erotic level; women have a very intimite connection with blood in terms of menstruation and so on...its a complex topic. And men like vampires too because men tend to like violence and action anyway.

Personally I am fascinated by the role of blood in mythology. Blood rites are very ancient and very universal. There are "blood mysteries" in many cultures, the whole idea of sacrifice, and also ancient man found menstruation very mysterious...males would conduct blood rites to connect with this mysterious feminine power that is connected with the act of life creation and the rhythms of the body...again, a very very complex topic with many facets.

The late Roman empire was saturated with "mystery cults" and maybe you could tie the idea of blood mysteries and vampirism in with this. And then there is the whole Christian angle...the "precious blood..." The more I think of it the more complex the whole thing becomes. I guess you have a lot to work with; you could spend a lifetime exploring all the facets of this stuff and barely scratch the surface.


reply posted on 8-8-2008 @ 08:37 PM by nine-eyed-eel
reply to post by djtrpz



So presumably Dracula would be a barbarian anti-Roman leader, sort of a supernatural Arminius, that the far-flung legionnaires would encounter in some forested backwater to their dismay...if so there's a resonance between that idea and today's war against terror, making it topical, as follows...you have the politely cosmopolitan formal Romans, with their gods that are pluralistic and empty, meeting Dracula and his group, with a form of God (the actually supernatural vampiric powers complex) that is, oh-my-god, actually believed in, and actually works...with the parallel to American religious tolerance and emptiness and faux belief (you think Bill Clinton prays to anything much when he's photographed going to church? You think Obama "found Jesus" listening to Reverend Wright yipping about the crimes of white people? but I digress) versus the actually believed-in God of Osama and the Taliban and the suicide bombers, that almost seems to be based on a real god because they take it seriously enough to be motivated to act as if it were true, i.e. they show up...You could even put Osama's line in the mouths of the Dracula-group, "We love death the way you love life"...hee-hee-hee...


reply posted on 8-8-2008 @ 08:56 PM by nine-eyed-eel
reply to post by djtrpz



But now I realize I was ahistorical and stupid, because the Romans were Christians by the time the empire fell, and I was thinking of the earler pagan pre-Constantine period... oh, well, I was happy for a minute...
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