Vampires: The Lure of the Bad Boy

In True Blood, it is accepted that vampires exist. They can live off of synthetic blood and therefore are becoming recognized and are fighting for civil rights. Still, humans aren't sure if they can trust them. They have extraordinary physical and mental powers which are frightening. Some of them have no desire to "mainstream" and deny their feral natures. We meet vampire personalities that range from those who attempt to be as civil as possible and those that, in rebellion, are ostentatiously brutal. Above all, humans don't understand vampires. What makes them tick? Are they inherently, irretrievably vicious and heartless? Why would any human take the risk of trusting a vampire?

So, vampires are the quintessential "bad boys". (There are female vampires, too, but I'm solely considering the bad boy archetype right now.) Yet some humans do decide to hang out with vampires. Our female protagonist may be falling in love with one.

As the series began, I wondered, what would really compel someone to take that level of risk? Then our protagonist, Sookie, is explained to us. She has a gift/curse. She can hear what everybody is thinking. It's an annoying capability. It certainly gives her a power over others, as they can't hide things from her. But it makes her different and people are wary of her because she's different. So, she puts out a lot of energy to block out the thoughts of those she befriends. It's exhausting. She can never relax. Also, hearing the unspoken thoughts of human beings has given her more than a mere glimpse into the depravity, hypocrisy and sheer stupidity of our race. More than anyone, she knows that you can't trust human beings, perhaps any more than you can trust vampires.

Still, she's more vulnerable to vampires than humans, given their enormous strength. And the likelihood of violence is much greater. The lack of trust, alone, would not be enough to blithely consider humans equal to vampires in terms of risk. She is fascinated by them, but still afraid of them. When she meets our lead vampire, Bill, though, it is magnetic. She's afraid, but compelled.

Two things turn out to be crucial to this attraction. First, she can't hear his thoughts. One of his powers is also neutralized with her. She's the only human he's ever met who is immune to the vampire ability to "glam" or mesmerize and therefore control humans. She's simply not susceptible. This is both a relief for each of them - as they don't have to exercise or submerge their powers with each other. It is also anxiety producing, as they are each used to having these tools of control. Now they have to build a relationship without them. They empathize with each other on this front and it creates a bond. (There is a lot to consider about people with "powers" being drawn to someone with different, but comparable powers, but that's not the crux of the matter for this discussion.)

It's the second point of magnetism that begins to explain how our attraction to bad boys. As we are socialized into civility, we become conflict averse. If you watch young children play, they have no compunction in saying to one another, "hey, that was mean!" or in running over to grab a toy out of another child's hand. We train children to find nicer ways to express themselves or get their needs met. There are very good reasons for this. It's hard to get people to work towards mutual goals if they can't be considerate of one another.

What happens when we are so civilized, so trained in the school of "if you don't have something good to say don't say anything at all" that we watch silently as angry or mean people treat someone poorly? What happens when no one stands up to bosses that yell? The mean girl that humiliates? Or the boorish guy in the social group that makes lewd remarks about the women? We are so invested in getting along that we submerge our power to protect one another from harm. What does a person look for in the world if no one has ever stood up for her?

Bad boys defy social protocols. While they're unpredictable and even violent, they are not conflict averse. They are not afraid to use whatever powers they have - physical, family connections, money - to realize their desires. They savor their powers. If you've always felt vulnerable, with no protectors in your midst, this would be attractive. Compelling. Yes, he may be unpredictable and his willingness to use violence might be a bit scary, but if he's using that power to protect you then you just may feel safer than you ever have.

In True Blood, Bill saves Sookie's life when she is brutally attacked by a couple of thugs. He saves her life in a way that no human could have. He slits his own wrist to feed her his healing blood. She would never have made it to a hospital. Upon her drinking his blood, they become deeply bonded. It creates a psychic linkage between them, whereupon he is acutely sensitive to her emotions and can be there instantaneously to protect her. It is clear that he would stop at nothing to do so. Who wouldn't love that umbrella of protection in a crazy, dangerous world? He become her hero. What she has desperately been missing in her world: a warrior.

The Warrior is the archetypal energy needed in life-threatening crises. You need that energy to fend off an attacker. But it's this same energy, in a diminished form, that is required when lesser threats and offenses are committed, as well. If you've long felt vulnerable either due to trauma or simply feeling left out of the safety of "tribe" because you're different, you might long for The Warrior. That much might be obvious. What might be less obvious is that in our attempts to be more "civilized" we may be submerging the warrior energy in us so much that people are feeling that they can't trust their fellow man to protect their dignity and their feelings in mundane settings. So, on a subliminal level we all may be hungering for The Warrior to be allowed it's place at the dinner table when the schmuck across from you puts his hand on your knee. Or when the guy on the dance floor won't stop draping himself on you. When we're missing an energy that should be a healthy part of our character that can be called upon when needed, we might seek it out in unhealthy ways. When we're talking about Warrior energy, it can be dangerous to latch onto someone with a dysfunctional dose of it. But you may not be able to find it otherwise.

In this context, the Bad Boy looks very attractive. Most of us are still risk-averse enough that we won't actually hook up with a rash and violent lover. Instead, we'll indulge our fantasies with vampire stories. Because, after all, when that imbalanced warrior energy is aimed at someone else it may make you feel safe for the moment, but you never know when it might get aimed at you.

So, where is Bill on the continuum of Good Warrior to Bad Boy? We don't know yet. He's an enigma. Sookie is falling for him. Circumstances are driving her to put certain cautions aside. The show's writers have ended each episode with a sensational scene. Tonight's pushed complex buttons and we are left to wonder if Sookie is in safe hands.

(side note: in the world of archetypes, each one can be creative or destructive. For them all to be creative, they all need to be empowered. Also, there are other archetypes that could play the role of protector. One that comes to mind is The Advocate. In our recent presidential election, one could say that McCain exhibited a bit too much Warrior, while Obama is was more the Advocate. The Warrior, the Advocate and the Priest/Priestess are all fire archetypes, by the way.)