MovieChat Forums > My Babysitter's a Vampire (2011) Discussion > How do the vampires survive in the dayli...

How do the vampires survive in the daylight?

posted 12 years ago by AppleTime
16 replies | jump to latest

I recently got into this series after the movie aired on TV like a week ago, so I haven't seen all of the episodes yet, but did they explain how these vampires are able to survive in the daylight? I mean, they are vulnerable to UV light as shown with the "light"sabers, so what's keeping them protected from sunlight?

Seems like with the advent of Twilight, more and more of these vampire stories seem to be throwing out that classic part of the mythos with no real explanation.

[–] Poweranimals 12 years ago

Good question. It never really bothered me before I watched BtVS on Netflix, but now it does a bit.

"Has anyone seen my bucket of plutonium? It's about yay big and is super radioactive."

[–] Great_Gazoo 12 years ago

I think it's to do with the direct exposure. The rays from the UV lights don't hurt them, only when they are hit by the actual beams.

[–] celavie77 12 years ago

Seems like with the advent of Twilight, more and more of these vampire stories seem to be throwing out that classic part of the mythos with no real explanation.

It's not a "classic" part of the mythos at all. Even in the original Bram Stoker's Dracula, which set off the interest in vampires in the first place and made it mainstream, Dracula's more esoteric powers, like turning into mist and teleporting and being very difficult to kill, just didn't work during the daylight hours. But ironically his powers were actually strongest at noon, a time when there's usually more sunlight than any other part of the day. They could only get around like normal people rather than like phantoms during the day. They could still fight. They could still be quite powerful.

It's only later that some writers decided to make their vampires die in sunlight instead.

And besides, Bram Stoker just cherry picked which traits to use from Romanian mythology. There are plenty of other vampire myths from around the world. Just because his choices were popular doesn't make them the Word of God.

Twilight is awful vampire fiction for a variety of reasons - sucking out the mystery and menace from them, making them virtually indestructible and angsty, turning them into underwear models - but making vampires not die in sunlight isn't one of them.

[–] AppleTime 12 years ago

I meant "classic" in the sense that "being averse to sunlight" is one of the first things most people think of when talking about vampires.

[–] celavie77 12 years ago

I meant "classic" in the sense that "being averse to sunlight" is one of the first things most people think of when talking about vampires.

That's not really classic though at all. That's entirely a modern notion. And my argument still applies; just because it's something a lot of people think of now doesn't mean that it's something that's "thrown out" or that it requires any explanation other than that this is how vampires are in this world. I don't see how it could bother anyone considering the most famous vampire, Dracula, originally could function quite well in the sunlight.

[–] AppleTime 12 years ago

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the whole "dying in sunlight" part, however modern or mainstream, is a prevailing characteristic for many people like myself. I'm not saying all people obviously, just many.

[–] celavie77 12 years ago

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the whole "dying in sunlight" part, however modern or mainstream, is a prevailing characteristic for many people like myself. I'm not saying all people obviously, just many.

That's valid. It's just important to note that just because a lot of people associate vampires with dying in sunlight now doesn't mean that there's any obligation for new interpretations to adhere to that.

This isn't your fault or anything, I just find it annoying that there have been three threads on this exact same topic saying the exact same thing: that "true" or "classic" vampires burn up and die in sunlight, when that's not true. It's just that a lot of people associate things that way because a lot of fiction within the last century has had that trope. If enough fiction in the next century follows this trend with vampires not dying in sunlight, which ironically is similar to the "classic" vampires from Bram Stoker and a lot of mythology, then a lot of people in the next century will feel the opposite. It's all just norms.

[–] samuraishinobi 12 years ago

It got me asking too, but then after looking back to all the vampire movies I've seen, old to present, there are a lot of versions to vampires now. Some can come out during the day time and some can't and some have reflections and some don't. It really depends on the writer nowadays.

[–] magolding 12 years ago

folklore vampires could operate in daylight, though like all evil creatures the light bothered them and they preferred darkness.

I myself am sensitive to ultra violent ultraviolet light, but have been out in the daylight countless thousands of times and survived.

In the Novel, Dracula functioned in daylight several times.

The German silent film Nosferatu originated the idea that sunlight destroys vampires. Count Orlock was lured into staying up too long and suddenly it dawned upon him, vaporizing him.

This classic part of the mythos is less than a century old. There are even some people alive today who are older than this classic part of vampire lore. So how can it be so classic if it is younger than only one (very long) lifetime?

Dracula to failed vampire slayer: "Don't feel too stupid. The fallacy that sunlight destroys vampires is very widespread, for one that we vampires have been spreading for only a single lifetime."

[–] losgsolid 12 years ago

I think the vampires in this use a strong brand of Sunscreen. Erica is seen using some by her locker room in one of season 1 episodes.

[–] magolding 12 years ago

I think that the vampires talked about SPF 1000 or some other extreme strength of sunscreen that only vampires would need.

[–] Bag_of_Cancer 12 years ago

Yeah, Erica asked if one of the guys had any SPF 1,000 during the gator episode.

[–] wiccanbeauty 12 years ago

I think they have a special sunscreen. If I remember, the blonde chick said something about wearing SPF 500 or 5000 or something.

[–] magolding 9 years ago

Here is a set of lists of vampire characteristics in vaiious stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vampire_traits_in_folklore_and_fi ction

you see that sunlight harms some vampires and not other vampires.

[–] astranovagirl 9 years ago

That's always been confusing because in some movies they exaggerate the dying snd in others they just go out in sunglasses And don't show too much skin. I don't think they die from sunlight but just aren't supposed to get in contact with too much of it or they can.