An Academic Perspective
on Teenage
By Justin Krivickas
“American
film parody is a comic, yet generally affectionate and distorted, imitation of
a given genre, auteur, or specific work” (Gehring 1).
Teenage Bikini Vampires is a comedy which parodies elements associated
with the horror genre. The film incorporates the 1960’s
The contrast between the
typical vampire personas with Sadie’s quirky teenage tastes gives humor a
perfect outlet for comparison. Vampires are typically portrayed as having
morbid personalities. Yet, instead of being gloomy, Sadie is shown to be a
happy go lucky teenager fascinated with surfing, the beach, and dancing. Her
daydream about Frankie exemplifies these traits and her need to smile and have
fun. When Sadie decides to give up surfing and her former beach mentality, the
audience sees her clunking about her room listening to gloomy music. The
audience cannot help but laugh at her transformation because it is merely
superficial and atypical for her vibrant personality.
Also, the vampires’ aversion to
daylight is parodied in the film. Sadie’s love of the beach comes into
conflict with being a vampire. She is unable to enjoy the sun’s rays because of
the harm they cause for vampires and can only visit the locale at night. Comedy
is injected in this struggle when she is found with a bottle of heavy duty sunblocker. When she abandons the idea of using this sunblocker to visit the beach during daylight, she turns to
self tanning cream. As a result of its application, her skin’s appearance is
described as a ridiculous blotchy
orange.
Also, the need for blood is
another element which is parodied in the film. Since vampires rely on blood to
survive, this substance is an integral part of the vampire genre and great
fodder for comedy. For example, in the family’s fridge a carton of blood sits
on the shelf instead of milk. At the vampire meeting, Boris stresses the evils
of American culture on teenage vampires and how young vampires are turning away
from their heritage and a thirst for blood to that of coca cola. Blood is again
used for humor purposes when Sadie’s parents are at the banquet. Their affinity
for this liquid is compared to a fine wine. Instead of waiters carrying glasses
of wine around the room, each server has a tube running from them for the guests
to drink from. Also, Sadie’s siblings’ drunken stupor and their comedic jail
break are directly related to blood. Because the siblings drank blood from a
drunken tramp, they too became intoxicated.
The vampire aversion for garlic
also plays an integral part in the film’s comedic development. Garlic fries
appear throughout screenplay and the connection between Boris and them leaves
the audience puzzled. Appearing to be a vampire, Boris should loathe this snack
but instead is shown to enjoy eating them. One of the comic highpoints of the
screenplay is when Boris is revealed to be Stinky Pete Jr. and thus the owner
of the garlic French fry company. This joke is further
developed with Ophelia’s film competition. The movie ends with Sadie’s siblings
winning the contest and a lifetime supply of garlic fries, a prize they could
do without.
“This is an ongoing comic
celebration of everything called parody” (Gehring
24). The nature of the film relies on comic relief. By removing vampires from
the horror genre and placing them in a comedic context, the audience is given a
cross-genre mutant. Teenage Bikini Vampires relies on elements
associated with the vampire to create humor. Also, Sadie’s conflict between
being a vampire and wanting to be a typical beach loving teenager gives the
story ample sources to draw humor from. With a focus on the vampires’ lives and
daily routines, the audience is presented with characters that are both
different and oddly similar to themselves.
Cited: Parody as Film Genre: Never Give a Saga an Even Break. By Wes D. Gehring.