Blog Post #8: Analyzing Podcasts
Podcast #1:
Jarvis, Gracie.“Ep. 51:DRACULA (1931) -Watch Old Horror Movies” Good Mourning, Nancy, season 6 episode 51, 17 June 2019, https://goodmourningnancy.com/season-six/
Summary of Podcast:
This podcast hosted by two women, mainly reviews the 1931 movie Dracula starring Bela Lugosi along with its history and relation to Bram Stoker’s novel. They mention how it is considered a complete classic within its well received reviews by critics, yet the film plot is not similar at all to Stoker’s novel. The two then begin to analyze themes in the film and novel such as passing the Bechdel test and feminism, the threat of “otherness”, female sexuality, phallic symbolism in relation to vampirism, toxic masculinity, and debunking possible pedophilic ideas. However, they mainly go about analyzing Lucy’s depiction within the film and novel in terms of representing the phallic mother as well as her overall downfall. I feel as if I will definitely exemplify their analysis on Lucy’s characterization in terms of her sexuality as well as highlighting her as the anti-mother in terms of the phallic and blood symbolism seen in the novel when turning children into vampires. I also plan to use their conversation about the misogynist lens placed on women in the novel regarding their own sexual agency and how this is conveyed as fearful through the sexual connotations of vampirism.
Argument(s) made in podcast:
The two women in the podcast mainly argue a feminist viewpoint onto the fact that Lucy in the novel and 1931 film takes on a cautionary warning for women in the Great Depression era as she is subsequently charmed by Dracula and becomes tangeled in his sexually charged bloodlust lifestyle, in turn making women fearful of discovering and freeing their own sexual desires. They mention how Lucy dies due to the idea that there is no room for modern and sexually progressive women in the future of society, which directly relates to my analysis of the problematic fear surrounding sexually open women seen in Stoker’s novel that carries on in later societal anxieties. As toxic masculinity is the root of these perceptions, their argument then carries onto their analysis of later themes of the “weak and irrational” woman which must be put into place, and with this in mind I will exemplify their ideas in relation to the theme of the dominant masculine vs. weak feminine. Although their main focus was about comparing the 1931 film themes to the novel, the podcast’s analysis of fetishism and sexual deviance within using sexual connotation as a substitute for sexual objects will help in my analysis of repressed female sexuality in Dracula.
Most interesting contributions to topic:
The most interesting contribution from the podcast that made me think about my own argument was in their analysis of Dracula as a feminine figure rather than an all powerful masculine one, like what he normally is seen as on the surface. Their analysis mainly focused on the triumph of the masculine over the feminine and even though Dracula is defeated, the real triumph is over the feminine forces that Dracula represents which further adds another layer in the dominant male vs. submissive female argument I plan to highlight. As Lucy falls victim to Dracula, the more feminine she becomes as she dies. Compared to Mina, who has a “male brain”, is spared with the help of those dominant males around her. However, the debate goes beyond this according to the podcast, where Western Europe during that time period was seen as masculine while Eastern Europe was associated with the mystical, feminine, and supernatural. Since Dracula is from the East, he is associated with the female where many of his battles are between men trying to defeat him which represents the ultimate act of male dominance over the powerful female. I definitely found this analysis interesting in terms of strengthening my argument on the defeat of sexually powerful women during the Victorian Era, as it offers an analysis of a different character that I did not plan on touching upon in this light.
New information/what did I learn?:
I learned about the different interpretations of the novel such as the 1931 film version of Bram Stoker’s novel, as well as a unique analysis of differing sexual themes seen within the novel while the podcasters related them to the societal fears and expectations from both time periods. Although I do not think I will be discussing the 1931 film, I might use the societal fears within my argument of female sexuality spanning through later societies as well as in the weight that Stoker’s representation of women carries on through generations.
Works cited notes on follow up research:
-Linehan, Hugh. “Racism, misogyny, & sexual anxiety in Dracula” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/racism-misogyny-sexual-anxiety-1.503755%3fmode=amp
Craig Holte, James. “Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations” https://www.questia.com/library/3609022/dracula-in-the-dark-the-dracula-film-adaptations
Thirsty: The Women of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” https://www.google.com/amp/s/powderroom.kinja.com/thirsty-the-women-of-bram-stoker-s-dracula-1651288245/amp
Demetrakopoulos, Stephanie. “Feminism, Sex Role Exchanges, and Other Subliminal Fantasies in Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’” https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3346355.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Podcast #2:
Barson, Sarah. Kauffman, Kelly. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Bad Feminist Film Club, episode 75, Spotify, 28 July 2020. https://open.spotify.com/episode/733VM4k4gWGJY2MyTzIiBm?si=ancROBaHRROMKuSsfNQ-dQ
Summary of podcast:
This podcast mainly focuses on the comparison of Stoker’s Dracula to the 1992 film by Francis Ford Coppola from a feminist viewpoint. Most importantly, these two podcasters highlight the film’s modern take of vampires as serious love interests as well as reducing characters like Mina solely to being immediately in love with Dracula without much substance after that. Although the film has the same characters from Stoker’s novel, the plot is completely different, almost as if it is sympathizing with Dracula which represents an altogether different approach to the normal terrifying vampiric cliche he has represented for decades. Alongside this, the film highlights female sexuality from the standpoint of the male gaze while not developing Mina’s repressed sexuality. They also touch upon how women’s sexuality is viewed as a monstrous thing in both films and novels, but with this film by the end one realizes the loose construct of Mina coming into her own sexuality and the agency she feels within that. The two overall believe that it’s hard to say whether or not the movie wanted to exemplify this as a bad thing for women to go through, yet regardless there should have been more focus on Mina instead of her from Dracula’s point of view. Within these ideas, it reaffirms my research concept of women throughout society further getting portrayed with no development in terms of the emergence of their own growing sexuality in a positive light. Overall, I was very interested in the analysis of the underdeveloped idea of Mina’s sexual agency as I was mainly looking for analysis of Lucy’s depiction in the film, which also reaffirmed my past research.
Argument(s) made in podcast:
The two mainly argue how Coppola’s film shows women completely set under the male gaze instead of highlighting the development of the growing sexual agency that they feel. Although it is somewhat touched upon at the beginning of the film, as soon as Dracula enters in search of Mina, female characters are pushed aside to format the characterization and plot of defeating Dracula himself. It becomes diluted in terms of the sexualized vampire symbolism that is normally seen in adaptations of Dracula, and focuses on female sexuality from the cisgendered heterosexual male perspective of Dracula as the usual dominant powerful being over women. Only until the end of the film does Mina gain some agency to realize that she must kill Dracula to get what she wants, yet her development leading up to the end is scarcely present. I find this very useful in my own analysis of the later depictions of female sexuality in Dracula, especially in terms of highlighting that there has barely been a change in progressive representations of the sexually powerful female.
Most interesting contributions to the topic:
I think overall it reaffirms my thesis and research, as I was planning to focus on Coppola’s film depiction of Dracula in the first place. If anything, I was not sure if my argument was going to be strong enough to use this film as evidence, but after listening to these two women analyze Mina especially, I recognized that this can be valuable information when comparing characters such as Lucy and Mina in both the film and novel. I also found it interesting that they talked about how there was no conventionally attractive depiction of Dracula in any film adaptations to back up the story as a more believable sexual fantasy since sex is highlighted significantly through vampirism, which in turn puts it in the eyes of a male director/creator instead of a female.
New information:
Although I have seen the movie and formed my own opinions and analysis that I was planning to use in my research, I was mainly analyzing Lucy’s character in relation to my argument in terms of her overtly sexual nature within her 3 suitors, yet this podcast also brought up the fact that there is significant more screen time of Lucy writhing around on the bed half naked more than the development of Lucy as a person. This further emphasizes the idea that women turn into a sexual deviant when changing into a vampire, as well as the fact that Lucy is once again reduced into a sinful and sexual role that male viewers can hope for in a woman.
