The Environment as a Player on the World Stage
Figure XVI
"The Sun? You're human because of the Sun?"
-Edward Dalton
Eco-criticism takes a closer look at the setting of a text and what the natural environment (or lack there of) has to say about the piece as a whole. This page will take a closer look at the environment presented in the different scenes of the film and what that implies.
Continuously throughout this website one will find references to the "gold tone" scenes and the "blue tone" scenes being the separation between human dominated scenes and vampire dominated scenes. As we know by now, gold/human equates to good and blue/vampire equates to evil. This idea goes deeper. Vampires are injured by natural sunlight, hiding from it is one of the biggest industries in the new society. Something that hurts what is evil is surely good, yes? Evil is repulsed and hides from goodness.
Interestingly, the viewer also learns that exposure to sunlight is the preferred method of suicide and mass execution. The little girl in the beginning of the movie gets to see the sun one last time before she is consumed by flames and the television over heard in another scene reports that intentional exposures to the sun are on the rise in the wake of the world's starvation. When citizens finally grow tired of subsider attacks they call for them to be 'dealt with' and the vampires that have been starved to the point of becoming monsters are dragged out into the sunlight on a chain. While the intention of the citizens' was not admirable, I believe the result was positive for the victims. Rather than suffer further in this cold world, they are purified and sent on in a way that wouldn't have happened if they were just beheaded.
It is not just the sun that plays a natural role in the movie. The humans tend to gravitate well away from cities and while they do live in man-made locations, they are structures that exist in peace with the natural world. The first hideout for the humans in the film is Audrey's vineyard. The very nature of the vineyard means they do not only co-exist with nature but encourage it. The second hideout for the humans is one of the senator's hunting lodges tucked in the woods which is, again, one with nature.
Figure XVII below shows the typical setting for any vampire scene. All of the offices and homes follow the same color scheme with the same ultra modern design choices. The dwelling of the vampire are further separated from nature with high tech electronic systems that remind them when the sun is coming, check their doors, drive their vehicles, and one can assume hundreds of other day-to-day (or night-to-night) activities. Vampires are separated from the natural world as much as technologically possible. It is interesting to note that the only plant ever on camera in a vampire home is an orchid that Ed is tending to.
-Edward Dalton
Eco-criticism takes a closer look at the setting of a text and what the natural environment (or lack there of) has to say about the piece as a whole. This page will take a closer look at the environment presented in the different scenes of the film and what that implies.
Continuously throughout this website one will find references to the "gold tone" scenes and the "blue tone" scenes being the separation between human dominated scenes and vampire dominated scenes. As we know by now, gold/human equates to good and blue/vampire equates to evil. This idea goes deeper. Vampires are injured by natural sunlight, hiding from it is one of the biggest industries in the new society. Something that hurts what is evil is surely good, yes? Evil is repulsed and hides from goodness.
Interestingly, the viewer also learns that exposure to sunlight is the preferred method of suicide and mass execution. The little girl in the beginning of the movie gets to see the sun one last time before she is consumed by flames and the television over heard in another scene reports that intentional exposures to the sun are on the rise in the wake of the world's starvation. When citizens finally grow tired of subsider attacks they call for them to be 'dealt with' and the vampires that have been starved to the point of becoming monsters are dragged out into the sunlight on a chain. While the intention of the citizens' was not admirable, I believe the result was positive for the victims. Rather than suffer further in this cold world, they are purified and sent on in a way that wouldn't have happened if they were just beheaded.
It is not just the sun that plays a natural role in the movie. The humans tend to gravitate well away from cities and while they do live in man-made locations, they are structures that exist in peace with the natural world. The first hideout for the humans in the film is Audrey's vineyard. The very nature of the vineyard means they do not only co-exist with nature but encourage it. The second hideout for the humans is one of the senator's hunting lodges tucked in the woods which is, again, one with nature.
Figure XVII below shows the typical setting for any vampire scene. All of the offices and homes follow the same color scheme with the same ultra modern design choices. The dwelling of the vampire are further separated from nature with high tech electronic systems that remind them when the sun is coming, check their doors, drive their vehicles, and one can assume hundreds of other day-to-day (or night-to-night) activities. Vampires are separated from the natural world as much as technologically possible. It is interesting to note that the only plant ever on camera in a vampire home is an orchid that Ed is tending to.
All of this comes together as yet another warning for the viewer. The film argues that we should not totally embrace the technology of the future if it means separating ourselves from the natural world. The world in all it's diversity is part of the human condition and we cannot ignore it much less destroy it to make room for the future because without nature there is no future for humanity.