S.Q. Reviews continues the theme we explored in May: What is the so-called monster’s side of the story?
In Dracula Untold, Dracula (Luke Evans) grows up in the Turkish court as a slave-soldier. Stripped from his father’s court, he is trained to be a fanatic killer for the sultan. After the Sultan’s death releases Dracula from service to inherit Transylvania’s rule, he finds himself faced with his bloody reputation as Vlad the Impaler and a decision.
Will he send his son (Art Parkinson), along with a thousand other children, to endure the same life that turned Dracula into a killer? Dracula Untold is the story of how a father becomes a vampire to protect his son and nation from the Turkish empire.
S.Q. Reviewers sits down to discuss the movie.
Rahsaan Thomas says, “One thing I like is Dracula understood that once he became a monster, he couldn’t turn back. So he set up an ending that would protect everyone from him.”
“But wasn’t he a monster before he became a vampire?” John Chiu asks. “Vlad the Impaler killed thousands.”
“Vlad was raised to be a monster,” Thomas says. “Situational forces made him act like a monster. Once he was free to do his own thing, he was a good man: loving husband, father, ruler.”
“Let’s back up a little,” says Emile DeWeaver. “You said Once he became a monster, he couldn’t turn back. What would you say if someone said to you, Rahsaan, you killed people. You’re a monster, and you can never come back from that?”
Thomas looks around the seated circle. “I think there’s a difference between acting like a monster and being a monster. I grew up in an environment where I felt like I had to act like a monster to survive.”
DeWeaver says, “But when a person sees you act like a monster, they think you’re a monster because how can they tell the difference? Isn’t that what you just did with Dracula? You saw his actions, and you called him a monster who can never turn back.”
Thomas shakes his head. “When Dracula became a vampire, he couldn’t survive without killing other people. The need to kill came from within him; when he was the sultan’s slave, it came from outside, and that’s how you tell the difference.”
“My childhood environment twisted my values,” says DeWeaver, “but my rage came from me. Under your premise, I’m a monster that can’t change.”
“No, we talked about this in IMPACT,” Thomas says.
(IMPACT is an acronym for the self-help group Incarcerated Men Putting Away Childish Things. In this group, men work to dispel the misguided male role belief systems that led them to incarceration.)
Thomas continues, “You’re confusing responsibility with blame. Your choices were limited by things you didn’t get to choose. Like being Black and the social rules of your neighborhood.”
“OK, but what’s the difference between me taking responsibility and me blaming myself?” asks DeWeaver.
Thomas steeples his hands. “Bad role models and limited choices are the problems that face us,” he says. “Responsibility is the solution.”
We rate Dracula Untold two and a half of five dinner cookies.
Contributors: Emile DeWeaver, Rahsaan Thomas, Juan Meza, John Chiu