Thumbnail attribution: vrtlworld, billskarsgardinfo, @sp00kyadri
The Thirst for Count Orlok
Aside from Men’s Health claiming that Count Orlok is 2024’s sexiest man, critics and movie-goers alike have professed that the brooding, sinister vampire in Nosferatu is the embodiment of their deepest, darkest desires. Duh–that is kind of the point of vampire films in general, at least in 21st-century media it is. Look at Edward Cullen in Twilight and Damon and Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries—those characters rewrite the previously-horror-fied concept of vampires and use that other-wordly, unfamiliar concept to cater to the female gaze. The female gaze in question? A stoic bad boy who has a soft spot for his leading lady.
@sp00kyadri on X
The difference between vampirical heartthrob teen romances and the story of Nosferatu, though, is that irrevocable shame is attached to the innate human feeling of desire, specifically in women who experience such intimate desires. Some could even argue that teen vampire dramas are like “Nosferatu lite,” where the stories, themes, and dialogues are a bit more digestible for younger generations and are basically saying the same thing about desire and shame. Even still, women are cognizant of the fact that they shouldn’t put Orlok, a figure who represents possessiveness and hate, on a pedestal. Yet, they still feel an unexplained draw toward him and aren’t shy about it. Just listen to Lana Del Rey’s lyrics and you might get the gist.
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But, There’s Female Agency in Nosferatu
Egger’s Nosferatu is refreshing in its own sense. Lily-Rose Depp’s character, Ellen, ultimately saves the day by submitting to Orlok, who perishes by her hand in the process. Though submission is the common thread of the thirst for Orlok online, there is also power in this submission, which women movie-goers are equally aware of. Count Orlok wouldn’t even lay a finger on Ellen until she consented, but he was going around possessing people and offing them until she did, so…
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Ellen tricks her polite, loving husband into thinking that he is the savior in the story, softening the blow to his masculine desire to protect the woman he loves. Gotta love trickery! Women are digging this version of the old-school vampire tale because there’s both submission and agency in a story that usually opts for one or the other. Why choose between shameful desire or a heroine savior when you can have both?! I’ll take one Count Orlok with a side of saving my nice husband’s life, please!
Women’s awareness of their moral misgivings related to thirsting over immoral male characters is rooted in reality, somewhat. The patriarchal structure incentivizes many women to seek powerful and possessive men because that’s what was taught (and is still taught) as Bible. How certain men perceive these hamartia-ridden male “idols” in cinema is a bit different, though.
The Joker, American Psycho, and the Like
Exhibit A: Patrick Bateman in the critically acclaimed horror flick American Psycho.
In a chronically online world filled with overused buzzwords like “sigma,” “alpha,” and “looksmaxxing,” the character of Patrick Bateman is uncomfortably idolized, and it’s unclear if this idolization is ironic or not.
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You’ll find memes like these all over the internet, and Patrick Bateman might have become this decade’s male population’s symbol of relatability even though the explosion of Bateman memes started as a satirical joke. Despite American Psycho’s parodical theme, it might be lost on many who watch it, especially younger viewers who aren’t yet able to catch the nuances of the film. The character of Patrick Bateman is a symbol of conformity within masculinity, and the need to have approval from his equally masculine peers solidifies that. Some viewers might even be painfully aware of the satirical themes and still yearn to embody what it means to be a perfectly painted investment banker who doesn’t like women (even though the movie was directed by one). Save for the fact that Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the novel American Psycho, is a gay man. Something tells me Ellis wouldn’t be writing about how great heteronormative conformity is and mean it.
On the other hand, the Joker in every Batman installment has a sort of “Boo-hoo, the social construct has failed me” theme that rationalizes anarchy and chaos even when the literal hero, Batman, stands for all that is “good and just.” All movies focus on a narrative that is kin to real life, but some folks end up choosing the wrong fella to root for. In the case of male idolization, it tends to follow a common theme of “sigma” thinking that uplifts a pre-existing social structure.
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The common thread between Patrick Bateman and the Joker is feeling like an outcast in a society that begs you—almost forces you—to conform. The difference between the two is Bateman represents hyper-conformity, whereas the Joker rejects it altogether. We are the products of our own environment, yet some male viewers, as seen in meme culture and drawn-out Letterboxd reviews, might be lost on the irony of these narratives in cinema.
Is it a Performance On Both Sides?
When does the irony of this idolization become lost on itself? Surely, no woman will jump ship and swim to Count Orlok’s creepy castle just to be told that they’re a temptress. Hopefully, no man will go around slashing others because their business card was sub-par. These ideologies are perpetuated by meme culture, however, and all it takes is a few months of doom scrolling in an echo chamber to begin internalizing the troublesome themes the aforementioned movies and beyond convey. It’s all fun and games until the Joker comes to recruit you with Count Orlok by his side, whispering sweet nothings into the ears of yearning men and women.
