Bigots are the New Vampires

Last Sunday I watched Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with my postmodernist friend Rain and I felt that the movie was very current even though it was a historical fiction.  I teared up several times throughout the movie because there was just a lot I could relate to.  In the film, Abraham Lincoln was fighting against slavery, racism, and bigotry as much as he was hunting vampires.  Actually, in  scenes where he was giving speeches, Abraham Lincoln reminded me of Harvey Milk, the great champion of gay rights.

And so I decided to write this as some kind of a tribute to the film.  If this post turns out a bit political then so be it.  In a sociology class when I was a freshman in college, we were taught that the personal is always political.  I believed it then and I still believe it now.  I believe that often the only way to achieve the personal happiness and freedom that we aspire for is to speak up, step forward, and fight for the truth inside our hearts.

This is not a movie review nor a poem.  This a simply my reflection on how vampires were portrayed in the film (disregarding all other portrayals of the vampire, especially portrayals that render them as benevolent and humane which I guess is a bit of "literary bigotry" on my part) and how I relate this portrayal to my disdain against bigots.

I begin by saying that bigots are the new vampires.

Bigots hunt for people and bite them against their will, either to take away their rights or to turn them into their kind.  Bigots have no respect for human freedom as they think of themselves as gods.

Bigots were doomed to live in darkness but somehow they find ways to roam freely and unharmed in broad daylight.  They put on special sunscreen and wear magical rings to pretend that they are among the enlightened.  Bigots are believable for they use reason and eloquence to support their prejudices and intolerance.

Bigots are everywhere and some of them have managed to take hold of substantial power, fame, and wealth.  They are government officials, religous leaders, celebrities, and business tycoons who are controllers and influencers of the political, economic, and cultural spheres of our society.  Thus, bigots are undeniably strong in all senses of the word.

Bigots live for hundreds or years but they do not grow any wiser.  They have closed all doors to progress and they seek to pull society back with them.  Change is their enemy for their hatred is rooted in severe pathological insecurities.

But bigots, like vampires, are already dead.  They are incapable of relishing the fullness of the joy and beauty of the human experience.

And bigots, like vampires, are the antagonists, the villains.  They are the enemies of humanity.  They are on the wrong side of history and they will be remembered as the ones who stood in the way of the human race moving forward.  Like vampires and all other antagonists, bigots never win.    




Until everyone is free, all of us are slaves. - from the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter