Vampire Romanticism and Tweenies

There's a virulent fascination with vampires and everything bloodsucking these days that is happening amongst the tweenies (twenty somethings) and teenagers.
It's swelled up to large proportions brought about by the cult following of Meyer's Twilight Series.

I read all four books.  So sue me.  I have been an avid reader of this genre from  Stephen King to Anne Rice and every other author in between.


However Meyer's formula of glorifying romance between an undead and a human is so spot on it tickled the sentimentalities of the gen Y populace.  How else would you explain the rise in vampire related series on TV when I only had the luxury of enjoying Buffy?

You see here, this is vampire slayer. 

Totally cute and petite.
Fast and feisty.  Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Even in this series, there was a raging sexual tension between the bloodsuckers and the bloodsuckee. (okay I just invented that word, but it sounds rather apt)


And then here is the wave of the new vampires.  Ian Somerhalder in Vampire Diaries.  
Dang it!  It is so NOT FAIR!

Now tell me honestly; if this guy ever comes up to you in an eerie, isolated parking lot on a dark night as you drunkenly try to crawl back to your car and he tells you, "I am going to bite you in the neck and suck the life out of you, in return, I will give you immortality and eternity with me", would you say NO?  I mean, really...  would you say, "Bugger off!"
Come on.
Any warm blooded female homo sapiens would willingly offer more than her neck to this dude.
Since I am an old soul in terms of vampire romanticism, anybody who has had a purview of the history of vampires would understand exactly what I am talking about.
Vampires ain't all pretty and hot and buffed with six-pack (okay even 8-pack) abs.  And if you believe they can stay vegan for all eternity, who are you kidding?
Aye, so where's the rub?  The partiality towards a love affair between an immortal and mortal is as old as Caligula.  Fine, maybe a bit younger.  This propensity for eternal youth and immortality is the Don Quixote in every man.  The dreamer, the mystical romantic.  We are such suckers for that one elusive impossible dream, the one that can never be, the life that can only be imagined but not lived.  That pretext as a given only needs a small spark to blaze it.  

The formula is quite simple, hot dudes with vampire fangs plus hot chicks willing to be bitten, is equal to a phenomenon that rakes in dollars at the box office.  It is not that all romantic, really.  It is an effective and successful business model.  Ah!! But there's more, let's add a third character.  The hot werewolf.  Gawd, who's to argue about that one?  
Spice your Erehwon with a  love triangle between a vampire, a werewolf and a human.  Whilst this idea is bordering on the insane, it sells!  Totally rocks the tills! It is an excellent marketing plan and though the selling points are not unique, the enhancements and features are way too attractive for their market to decline.
If you're not buying it, somebody is.  As a matter of fact, a huge lot of somebodies are buying it and taking it all in.  The huge movie production executives will just tell you to chill, you are not in their target demography.  (hahaha)  
You're probably in the thirty something and above bracket, and have become too much of an adult to bother with ridiculous mythical love triangles.  If you can barely manage to balance your income tax, why would you even think about immortality?  
The numbers will tell you that the Global Median Age (as of 2010) is between 27-28, and the teens and tweenies would account for roughly 35-38% of the world population; and these are the guys who are totally contracted into this storyline.  They are the market.  The new era of Quixotism who dream about turning into a vampire, becoming a member of the Cullen clan or dating the hottest werewolf.  
Perhaps, that's the new twist in romance.  In my simple mind I see it more as an advent of a generation of escapists.  Escapists are idealists and stargazers and dreamers.  I don't seriously believe there is anything wrong with that. 
My generation lost touch with the dreamers in us.  We saw so much war and hate and racism and bigotry and injustice. Its almost a folly to be a romantic.  Pragmatism is a common mindset.

I personally wouldn't mind an alpha dog as a lifetime companion.  The top of the line werewolf is my immortal companion of choice, however.
I am rather picky.