The Vampire Diaries

[advo]

^Just a vibe? Stefan IS a serial killer. Damon is a r*pist-murderer. And those two are the leading males on TVD

 

[MissKateCherie]

^
not the best role models for the young people who watch it :S

 

[melfreya]

..and they're also Vampires and fictional two dimensional (at most) characters.

 

[advo]

^But young girls watch it. Of course, people know the difference between fiction and reality, but don't tell me people aren't subconsciously affected by what they watch/read/etc. If they want them to be all vampiric, then just stop framing them as heroes and romantic love interests - in particular with how Damon treats women. That's all.

Sneak Peak

 

[miniris]

Is this a no-eye acting scene that I see?!!!!
Thanks god, he can speak normally, at a normal distance, and without a weird eye acting.
I'm simply happy.

 

[wickedcrazyness]

^Yes, no eye-acting. Damon does act half normal at times.
The sneak peek for the next episode looks good!

 

[melfreya]

^But young girls watch it. Of course, people know the difference between fiction and reality, but don't tell me people aren't subconsciously affected by what they watch/read/etc. If they want them to be all vampiric, then just stop framing them as heroes and romantic love interests - in particular with how Damon treats women. That's all.

I was once a young girl too, who watched all kinds of soap operas and teen dramas from when I was about 10-11. You wouldn't believe some of the abusive things sexy men on these shows were doing during the late 80's and 90's. Did I think some of them were sexy? Yes. Did it affect my personal life or choices? Hell no. Even at that age I would easily differentiate reality choices from the silly things I watched on TV for fun.
The original 90210 had a character called Rey who used to abuse Donna Martin. Was Rey a douche? Yes. Was he handsome and sexy? Yes. Did I lust over the attractive bad guys at school because of him? No. Rey in real life would be in jail or awaiting trial and the girls who could date him would have an IQ of 10. But in a TV storyline that needed drama it worked.
What I mean is, don't slam the teenage girls who feel attracted to the Salvatore brothers. They just find them sexy, end of story. I don't think they will date a date r*pist because of Damon Salvatore.
The fact that some girl or woman can be, even subconsciously as you say, affected that much by a show about vampires (or any other, like the Chuck abuse story in GG) and decides to make real life decisions based on TV or movie characters says more about her mental state and the way she was raised than the show itself.
TV and movies sensationalize and exaggerate everything in order to make a story interesting. I wouldn't watch TVD if the Salvatore brothers were sitting in their room full of remorse apologizing to everyone. I watch it for the thrills of them being vampires, because they're hot as hell and because of the Elena love interest. Most of the other story lines kinda bore me to be honest.

 

[advo]

The problem is not that a girl will chose an abusive boyfriend because they are so sexy on TVD. The problem is that it's wrong to send the signal that abusive people are romantic. We're already battling enough problems with misogyny and sexism as a society that we don't need anymore.

TV and movies help shape the world. It's not something so simply to say, well people are smart enough to know the difference. Of course they are. But then there was that character on that show and she saved him with love and maybe there's something about that anyway since I'm a slightly insecure teenager girl.

And since you brought in GG. The problem was how the writers said it wasn't abusive. Again, wrong signal to send.

Furthermore, why are so many people still in doubt about whether or not Damon raped Caroline and Andie?

You might understand everything clear cut. But some girls don't seem to. It's one thing to be attracted to the guy and you know it's all fiction. But some girls will defend his actions. They think Elena and Stefan are picking on Damon all the time. They think people are mean to him Etc. Etc.

Here's an example

Dear KW & JP:

Please stop white-washing everything Stefan does, and putting him up on a pedestal.
Please stop making Elena delusional and stupid when it comes to Stefan.
Please stop the whole town from picking on Damon all the time -- it's gotten old.
Please give me Dalaric back.
Please let Elena become more open to her feelings about Damon.
Please keep Bonnie less judgemental.
Please let Damon have a normal person hit on him in front of Elena.
Please let us see Elena jealous over Damon.
Please make Delena mutually make out this season.
Please let Delena be endgame.

That is all.
(for now.)

 

[melfreya]

But do they defend Damon's actions because they want a different story line and have their dreams fulfilled in the series or they want it because they genuinely feel that way about abusers? I like to think that it's the former, but I can't talk for everybody. If it's the latter though, is it really TV's or a movie's fault? It might play a part but I think your own values, your immediate family, and friends environment shape you up in a more direct way.
For example, if someone decides to murder someone because he saw Scream I wouldn't exactly blame Scream, you know?
I agree with you on the part that movies and entertainment portray bad guys as romantic and such. But so do books, even the classic ones. That's why a person has to have the intelligence and common sense to differentiate between fiction and reality.
It really is a big discussion.

 

[advo]

I understand what you saying, but I feel like the world is a little more complex than that. It's not that easy to draw the line between fantasy and reality. I mean, we have seen it with e.g school shootings where they were inspired by movies. Ultimately, I agree that there was something wrong with the individual anyway. And it's not the movie/TV/book's fault - as such.

Regarding Damon. I don't think that they genuinely feel that way about abusers. That would be taking it too far. The problem seems to be that some don't even understand that he is abusive and a r*pist. Again, that there's even doubt about the latter irks me. And it's not because I want to blame the viewers - I actually blame the writer/show for keeping it "ambiguous". It's like they're actually too scared to say it out loud, and it's exactly ignoring these issues that gets me all fired up. I mean, you mentioned 90210 with Donna being abused. Was there ever any doubt about that in the show? Was there ever any doubt about it being something wrong? That's not defined in TVD. I've heard many say that Damon is just behaving like a vampire. Of course, vampires don't exist in real life, so it's troublesome to draw immediate comparisons, but it's the messages behind that seems unclear. Imo.

I guess, you can say that people with strong belief systems and foundations will never have any problems. But that's not everyone in the world.

Also, to put it in a different way. I never had any problems with Damon S1 (or Chuck). Because there was a very clear distinction that what he did was wrong - he was just an enjoyable character to watch because he was witty, snarky and probably also, because we love bad boys. But there wasn't ever any ambiguity.

 

[melfreya]

I agree with you about the ambiguity and I think the writers have tried in the last episodes to fix it what with the ''how can I go back to you'' Stefan speech and Caroline's preaching to Elena crushing on Damon. I think it's a step to the right direction.

 

[advo]

^I dunno. Maybe, but then we have Elena ignoring Stefan's actions so ...

I guess, my point can be summed up as this - if the viewers don't recognise what Damon did to Andie and Caroline as r*pe (and some really don't). Then how can we be sure that they would recognise it irl?

 

[melfreya]

We can't. We just have to be ok with the fact that you and me and anyone with half a brain recognizes it. I mean did you have any doubts when you were watching what Damon was doing? No. I didn't either. You can't try to put sense into people who don't recognize what's in front of them, either on their tv screen or irl.

 

[ladygodiva]

I was looking at some youtube videos of Candice and there were a couple of paparazzi ones with herself and Steven McQueen and some of the comments were suggesting that they dated. Does anyone know if it's true?

 

[advo]

^I don't know if they are dating - some say they are - but they did hook up in the past (and rumoured while dating other people).

Preview with Julie Plec commentary for 3x05. Obv. spoiler-y.

 

[advo]

Episode description for 3x08 - "Ordinary People" (don't consider it spoilers since it's from press releases)

THE ORIGINAL FAMILY --- With help from Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Bonnie (Kat Graham), Alaric (Matt Davis) tries to decipher the meaning behind his recent discovery Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Rebekah (guest star Claire Holt) engage in a mean-girl power struggle, until Rebekah finally reveals some of her family's ancient secrets and the violent past she shares with Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies). Damon (Ian Somerhalder) tries a reckless new approach to make a breakthrough with Stefan (Paul Wesley), and they're both surprised by an unlikely ally. J. Miller Tobin directed the episode with teleplay by Caroline Dries & Julie Plec and story by Nick Wauters (#308).

Eiijah's back

 

[catherine88]

yay!

 

[ladygodiva]

Eiijah's back

credit: photobucket (I searched fangirling)

 

[advo]

^I can always count on you to show the proper amount of enthusiasm for Elijah

I'm going to be like this when my flawless BAMF comes back on screen!

meb7.tumbler

 

[ladygodiva]

^^ LOL. When it comes to Elijah, I'm there.

Are you live watching it?