Vampire

He commands respect.  He represents moral authority.  He inspires confidence and admiration.  He is a coach.  He is a priest.  He is a Colonel in the army.  He is a monster.

As Halloween approaches, we are inundated with images of ghosts, goblins, monsters, witches and vampires.  If we so desire, we may choose to wear a costume representing one of these stock Halloween characters.  In a larger context, one can't escape the omnipresence of popular culture related to vampires:  Anne Rice novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV shows and of course, the Twilight series.  Indeed, we are fascinated by representation the mysterious, sometimes monstrous netherworld because of the classic two sides to being human: good and evil.  The representaion of evil in art or popular culture forces us to look at the "evil" side of the human condition while at the same time confirms to us that we are good:  we are not like them.  Vampires may act human sometimes but humans don't act like vampires.  And so we happily stand in line at the movies to be thrilled, horrifed and thoroughly entertained.

But these days, one can't escape another kind of monster who belongs neither to medieval iconography, nor to neo-gothic popular culture.  This kind of vampire walks among us.  He leads a double life.  He uses his power,status and authority as a mask to hide his real nature.  He stalks his prey and he leaves an endless trail of victims.  He has even become a media anti-star: whenever we turn on the radio or television, there he is again.  This steady media diet of horror is beginning to make me feel sick.  I feel a malaise when I think how the vampire becomes the star but the victims must repeatedly relive the horror over a 24-hour news channel.

Sadly, as much as I may wish, this is not a fairytale. There are no princes or princesses, no chivalrous knights and no happily-ever-after in this story.