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Vampire Romances and Telepathy
Oct. 17th, 2010 10:51 pmThere's been a question that's bugging me about a trope I've noticed in Buffy, True Blood and Twilight. (Full disclosure: I've only seen the first 3 episodes of TB and read summaries of Twilight.)
All three have "primary" relationships with certain themes in common. Buffy/Angel, Sookie/Bill and Bella/Edward all consist of women with special powers and somewhat obsessive vampires who try to practice asceticism. Sookie and Bella are both considered "temptingly edible" by their paramours, and Buffy's slayer blood is supposed to turbo-charge vamps (tho Angel never showed a particular interest in drinking from her). All three stories also had incidents ("Earshot" on Buffy (S3) and recurring in the others) in which one partner with mind reading powers couldn't read the other's mind.
I can see how the yummy blood, asceticism and super-girl tropes arise naturally from the vampire theme. The first two together provide instant dramatic tension, and the third supposedly appeals to the young female audience members who identify with the heroine.
But what is up with the mind-reading and blocking? Telepathy isn't a skill traditionally associated with vampires (heck, in two of the pairings it's the non-vampire with mind-reading skills). And I haven't seen this trope in many other genres (but maybe I'm just not aware of them).
I guess my question is two-fold.
All three have "primary" relationships with certain themes in common. Buffy/Angel, Sookie/Bill and Bella/Edward all consist of women with special powers and somewhat obsessive vampires who try to practice asceticism. Sookie and Bella are both considered "temptingly edible" by their paramours, and Buffy's slayer blood is supposed to turbo-charge vamps (tho Angel never showed a particular interest in drinking from her). All three stories also had incidents ("Earshot" on Buffy (S3) and recurring in the others) in which one partner with mind reading powers couldn't read the other's mind.
I can see how the yummy blood, asceticism and super-girl tropes arise naturally from the vampire theme. The first two together provide instant dramatic tension, and the third supposedly appeals to the young female audience members who identify with the heroine.
But what is up with the mind-reading and blocking? Telepathy isn't a skill traditionally associated with vampires (heck, in two of the pairings it's the non-vampire with mind-reading skills). And I haven't seen this trope in many other genres (but maybe I'm just not aware of them).
I guess my question is two-fold.
- What dramatic or symbolic purpose is served by having one character's telepathic abilities blocked by their love-interest?
- Why is this a recurring trope in vampire romances?