The Vampire Diaries Analysis Essay Example

For this paper, I have decided to analyze and apply a sociological theory to one of my favorite TV shows, The Vampire Diaries. In the town of Mystic Falls, Elena begins a new school year after the death of her parents. An attractive new student shows up, by the name of Stefan Salvatore, who is hiding a huge secret, he is a vampire. Almost instantly they fall in love and Stefan’s older brother Damon, who is also a vampire, arrives to Mystic Falls to create havoc while also falling in love with Elena. Soon to find out, Stefan and Damon’s attraction to Elena is because she is the doppelganger (look-a-like) of their past love. Elena soon finds out their dark secret and goes through the series dealing with the complications the brothers has brought to the town. In the end, Elena chooses to be with Damon, the supposed “bad” brother as she ends up falling in love with him. Although this series shows a love triangle, the most important relationship in this show is between two brothers, Stefan and Damon who would do anything for each other. 

The Vampire Diaries sounds like it would be a knock-off version of the Twilight series, but it is so much more. With many lessons, plot-twists, and love stories, The Vampire Diaries is a very unique and fun series that everyone would love. This series demonstrates several social factors that we have talked about this semester in sociology. One of the social factors that this series demonstrates is formal deviance. Formal deviance is the violations of laws which include robbery, assault, and murder. As vampires, their first instinct is to kill humans for their blood. Throughout the series we see this nonstop while they also can use mind control on humans. The mind control on humans by vampires can lead to formal deviance by getting what they want. Another example of a social factor is stereotype. A stereotype is rigid views of how members of a group should act.  The Vampire Diaries breaks the stereotype of vampires. A typical stereotype of a vampire is that they are extremely pale, allergic to garlic, they “sparkle”, and they cannot be seen through mirrors. Stefan and Damon are not discovered by others for a long time because they do not fit any of this criteria. The vampires in this series look and act like ordinary people, only with some small differences, they crave blood. Elena stereotypes Stefan when she first finds out what he really is. Finally, another social factor is family. Family is a group of people related by kinship(birth/marriage). The Vampire Diaries main story line is about two brothers, Stefan and Damon. As teens they are turned into vampires and spend the rest of life together. 

An example of a major sociological theory The Vampire Diaries uses is conflict theory. Conflict theory demonstrates how deviance and crime appear out of conflict between the powerful and powerless. The powerful are the individuals that engage in the crime. The Vampire Diaries is a perfect example of this as its main conflict is vampires vs. humans. The main conflict between these two is that humans are the source of food for vampires. Often, humans are bitten and killed for the vampire’s own enjoyment. Another example of conflict theory is the use of mind compulsion. In The Vampire Diaries, vampires use mind compulsion to ultimately get what they want from humans. This leaves the humans forced to do what the vampires want without any say in it. Finally, this series also shows examples of conflict theory by the rivalry of humans and vampires. For centuries, humans have had knowledge of vampires and have tried everything in existence to get rid of them. Through many attempts, they have been unsuccessful by leaving two vampires still alive, Stefan and Damon. The show shows how Stefan and Damon fight to continue to live as vampires.