Life has been one half-notch short of true and utter chaos, so am just now sitting down to spill some thoughts. And what timing with the pure soul that is Marguerite MacIntyre (days prior to penning this blog) posting a video that claims the final nail in the coffin for our beloved Vampire Academy tv series adaptation.
This sucks. In fact, it sucks more than any other budding show getting chopped because VA used the mythical world as a mirror to discuss prominent social issues and provide desperately needed bipoc and lgbtqia representation. Truly we all wanted this series and the cast to succeed so that they can work doing what they love and set their parents up in comfortable retirement (hi Susan) and adopt puppies and whatnot, but the Vampire Academy fandom –and seemingly the cast– also strived for success because of what this adaptation brought to the screen culturally.
There has already been a lot of discussion about the importance of representation and I plan to hash it out to death in upcoming works, so I will skip most of the socio-cultural analysis at this point and get right to it.
Discussing the intersectionality of class and race matters. Normalizing love in all forms – lgbtqia, friendships – and across “races” matters. Portraying bipoc outside harmful stereotypes (J. August’s portrayal of Victor, in particular, hit right to the heart) and using subliminal discussions of “blood” as race (which, unlike pigmentation, you cannot see) to truly drive home the horrors of racist stereotypes and oppression also matters. In summary, it all freaking matters. And having that cut short is not just devastating from a career standpoint, but might also feel like you’ve disappointed the fans who were thriving on the representation this show brought.
But rest assured that this series mattered.
Just because the full arc did not play out does not mean that the glimmer of this world is silenced forever. Myths act as clones where society plays out the possibilities of what could be. With the regression of social rights waving through the globe (in particular the United States and the horrors of my Florida backyard), the mere existence of this art form shows a better way. It is a portal to a better future and one that can be built upon. Media is often years ahead of socio-cultural practices and shows the trend of where the people want their world to be. Media thereby influences culture and culture then influences what media is allowed and when that media is cancelled it wrestles back on screen in another form and influences culture yet again and so forth and so on.
I’ve never done anything in my life that touches thousands, but I do know the gut-wrenching pain when you feel that your efforts have fallen short. I still wake on occasion to the sound of a migrant worker’s persistent cough and the weight of my failure to bring relief to many who poured their hopes into me. Progress often gets cut off and it fills us with an even stronger wanting to make the world better as the current pathway dissolves before our eyes. But just because a pathway of progress is blocked before you feel like it’s truly reached its potential does not make your efforts thus far worthless or wasted. If you don’t believe me, find a teacher. Even a glimmer of hope can change the entire trajectory of a child’s life. This is very prominent in media. For example, I will never forget the Buffy Season 1 episode “Nightmares” where all the fears of a divorced child are played out… and addressed… and the healing it brought. See also: the entire theoretical framework of Convergence Culture. (Really, it’s pretty cool. Sisi in particular would probably love it.)
If there was any doubt that this show immortalized you as standing on the right side of history, you can cast that doubt firmly aside. The one thing that we have learned about the vampire myth is that it reigns eternal. Your impact on the screen – all 10 episodes of it – will continue for decades to come. Nothing vampire gets truly buried; it all rises up again in one form or another.
The world turns slowly, but it does, indeed, turn. And Vampire Academy cast and crew – you dug in firmly on the right side of history. And for that, we love you.
Eternally.
PS Thanks to Max for his portrayal of Mikhail and making awkward nerds look sexy all over again. Props.