" I'm going to give you the choice I never had"

Existentialism in Interview with a Vampire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkBMe3j-Sk

The film adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel Interview with a Vampire highlights an awareness of a existential nature. Director and co-writer of the 1994 horror fiction film, Neil Jordan, was able to visually display the existentialist values in the movie. While finally fitting the characters with the actors, Neil Jordan brilliantly casted his 1994 release with Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as Louis, Antonio Banderas as Armand, Christian Slater as the interviewer, and a young Kirsten Dunst as the child vampire, Claudia. Throughout this movie, there are five existentialist elements that float about the scenes that are very common among many existentialist thinkers. These elements are the real bullet points in order to truly identify whether a film encompasses existential values or not. The first on the list of criterion of an existentialist film is if the film focuses on Sartre supreme belief that “existence takes precedence over essence”, meaning that existence equals emerging or becoming and essence refers to something that is fixed and can’t be change. The second is that “existentialism opposes the split between subject and object”, meaning that people are mostly subjective and objective and can’t be completely sure about the veracity of their lives unless they actually live an active and genuine existence. The third is to ask what the meaning of life is by asking the important questions. The fourth is that all existentialist hold themselves accountable for how they live their respective lives and who they become because of it. Lastly, existentialist are anti-hypothetical. These components are what make or break a true existentialist movie and Interview with a Vampire expresses each point fully.
Before getting into the several displays of the existentialism in Interview with a Vampire, I believe a brief yet in depth synopsis is needed. Interview with a Vampire starts with an interviewer who is trying to get an exclusive with a modern day vampire named Louis. Louis starts all the way back in 1797, when he was a young indigo plantation owner living south of New Orleans, Louisiana. At that time of his life, he was stressed with the pains that life had given him and wanted to commit suicide. It is not until his suicide attempt fails when he is approached by a vampire named Lestat, who wishes to have a companion. Although Louis continued to plead for death, he secretly wanted the exciting proposition of the new way of life Lestat explained. Thus Lestat turned him into a vampire, a process in which you “die” first, and then regain a new life that includes powers and restrictions. After he was turned, Lestat fed off of local slaves on the plantation, while Louis choses to feed off of animal blood. Louis could not continue his “vegetarian” diet so he chose to submit to Lestat and starts to feed on humans. At this time, Louis started to understand his vampirism but was repulsed by Lestat’s lack of empathy and sympathy towards the humans he feds on. Lestat and Louis left New Orleans, swearing not to prey on the slaves in the plantation in exchange for them keeping their secret. Because of Louis’ disgust of Lestat’s thirst, he contemplated leaving Lestat. With this knowledge, Lestat turned a young girl who he named Claudia and made her their vampire “daughter”, so that Louis would be forced to stay. He is outraged that Lestat turned such a young girl but loved her as if she was his own daughter. Claudia had no problem with taking a life like Lestat, but grew to loath him because she learned that she could not grow and mature. This meant that although she gained intelligence and had a mind of a grown woman, she was trapped in a six year old girl’s body. As punishment of living for 60 years in her body, Claudia poisoned and slit the throat of Lestat, dumping his body in a swamp. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80q7aQqNZzQ) They fled to Europe and finally found vampires of their kind in Paris, especially a 400 year old vampire named Armand. He suspected that they killed their maker but never discussed it with them. A principal rule between vampires was that death would come to those who kill their makers. One night, Claudia, Louis, and Madeleine, the newest vampire turned by Louis (serve as a mother to Claudia, wife to Louis, and replacement of Lestat) were abducted because the truth had come out. Claudia and Madeleine were killed by the rising sun. Louis was pained by their deaths so he burned the Theatre, where all the vampires resided and left with Armand for Europe. When he became tired of the “Old World” he returned to the 20th century America, fed on anyone he saw, hid in the shadows, and never made another companion for himself due to the fact they he never got over Claudia’s death. Louis ended his story saying that he ran into Lestat in New Orleans but does not go any farther. After 200 years, Louis dwelled on how horrible it is to be a vampire. Sadly, the interviewer only saw the power and the “hype” of being one and begged to be turned into one. Louis became frustrated that his interviewer learned nothing, declines, and attacks him, leaving in the shadows. On his drive home, as the interviewer listened to the Louis story on his tape recorder, Lestat came back and made him his new companion.
So what is existential about this movie? Plenty. In the Sixth Edition of the textbook, Theories of Personality, it outlines five basic benchmarks of being a true existentialist. The first was made famous by one of the fathers of existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre. His theory was that existence takes precedence over essence, “existence suggest process; essence refers to a product. Existence is associated with growth and change; essence signifies stagnation and finality” (344). Going back to the movie, there was a time that Louis did exist, but his existence was as a human. His actuality rests solely in the normal situations that a person goes through, which were defined by his need to work, having a wife and a family to love and support, and making money to support himself and others who were a part of it. As a human, with this sense of existence, his essence was not out of the ordinary. Louis’ essence was earning for his family and essentially living to die, a fact that all human beings share. But his existence and essence drastically change when he made the decision to cross over and become a vampire. As a vampire, his existence changed and instead of a staying human, he became the undead. Louis’ existence was only during the night and his powers delineated him. As for his essence, it made a turn for the worse. Instead of living for himself and waiting for his death like normal humans do, Louis made the choice that his essence is to take life, thirst for blood, and live forever. The rudimentary purpose of seeing my example of existence precedes essence is that Louis existed but when he became a vampire, he started a different kind of essence, the essence of eternal living.
The second condition of being an existentialist is “existentialism opposes the split between subject and objects… people are both subjective and objective and must search for truth by living active and authentic lives” (344). This is where the other main character, the vampire, Lestat, comes in. In the beginning, Lestat is painted as the utterly seductive vampire whose main concern was to feast on human blood and lead a wonderful life although, in all actuality, vampires are considered condemned souls. He chose, willingly might I add, to live this lifestyle but along the way, after years of living alone, he yearned for a “partner in crime”, male or female was not disclosed. Lestat wanted a companion and so he became subjective and objective when he chose to save Louis’ life. Lestat’s character supported the claim of being subjective because his choice of turning Louis was based partly on emotion. Louis was unhappy in his life and felt alone, a feeling that Lestat, himself, felt in recent year. In order to fulfill his want of having a companion, Lestat persuaded Louis to become a vampire by glamorizing the powers he has. Similarly, Lestat displays an objective and strategic point of view because of gender. Louis is a handsome, male suitor who would make an excellent hunter. In Lestat’s eyes, there would absolutely be no problem preying on his favorite kind of victims, woman, with a man like Louis by his side. So collectively, Louis suits Lestat by giving him a companion and increasing the attraction of their prey.
The third principle of an existentialist is that “people search for some meaning to their lives. They ask the important questions concerning their beings; Who am I? Is life worth living? Does it have a meaning?” (344). All of these questions were answered through interpretation in the movie. Louis answered “Who am I?” throughout the movie. The answer; Louis was a depressed plantation owner who forgot what life really meant, considering the viewer learns that his wife died and his brother committed suicide, leaving him with nothing. And so, he took the opportunity of a lifetime and after he was turned, he learned what regret and despair really feel like. As for Lestat, he is quiet content with the fact that he is a born killer and that his soul will always be condemned. For the question “Is life worth living”, the answer; once upon a time, Louis thought life was worth living, but when he was the only living person left in his family, his opinion changed. Now, although he has everlasting life, he finds no worth at all in living as a vampire. Contrary to this belief, Lestat believes that instead of unending life being a curse, he has settled with the thought of it as a gift and takes advantage of what he has. Lastly, “Does it have meaning?” I don’t think Louis understood at first what the meaning of life was, but now that he has had plenty of time to mull it over, he wishes for a quiet and peaceful death.
The fourth criterion of being existentialist is “existentialists hold that ultimately each of us is responsible for who we are and what we become” (344). In this movie, everyone had a choice that lead to the rest of their life. Firstly, Louis made the choice to become a vampire, against his better judgment. He knew that a vampire has a denounced soul yet he still took the bait and made the choice to choose. In class, we said that a person asked for advice from a person they know will side with them. Louis gave into a vampire, an enticing vampire at that. He knew that if he asked Lestat to describe life and what he should do, Lestat’s reply would be pro-vampirism. This choice led to his regret and bitterness of his choice. Secondly, Claudia, the young vampire daughter of Lestat and Louis, chose to kill her maker. She knew that it was against vampire law to do so yet she allowed her anger to get the best of her. Her murder of Lestat resulted in her death by the rising Sun. Similarly, against popular belief, Lestat turned a very young girl into a vampire, bearing in mind that she would never physically grow but mentally blossom. His choice to do so led to his murder by his darling daughter.
Lastly, the fifth idea of being existentialist is that “existentialists are basically ant theoretical” (344). In Louis quest to find himself, he finds one of the strongest elements of existentialism, which is that “authentic experience takes precedence over artificial explanation” (344). In other words, you have to experience things for yourself instead of taking someone else’s word for it. Sadly, Louis had to learn this lesson the hard way. Instead of thinking for himself, Louis chose to listen to the man who had a hand in the torment he endured in his life. Because of his irrational decision, he had to continue his life in regret, sorrow, and darkness.
It was quite an experience to watch Interview with a Vampire, and connect the existentialist values that were presented in it. In the movie, Louis was conflicted because he wanted to die but gave into Lestat’s temptation of being a vampire, in which he did die but ended up living forever. Existentialism affirms that your essence is the power to redefine yourself through the choices you make and Louis regrets his choice. People search for some meaning in their lives and Louis ended up searching for his meaning for becoming a vampire. In the end, he did not come to a conclusion but he is quite certain of what has happened to make his life so unsatisfying. At the end of the movie, the interviewer was so keen on the idea of being a vampire that he completely ignored the tale that was told. He had the audacity to ask to be changed, again, another display of irrational thinking. When attacked by Lestat in the car, the interviewer was lured with the same remark that he said to Louis in the beginning of the movie, “I’m going to give you the choice I never had”. Yet again, Lestat longed for a another companion and thus the cycle began again.

Work Cite
May, Rollo. “May: Existential Psychology.” Theories of Personality. By Jess Feist and Gregory J. Feist. 6th ed. New York, New York: McGraw- Hill Companies, Inc, 2006. 343-44. Print.