Dracula: Bram & Brooks

 After watching Dracula: Dead and Loving It, it was apparent howsimilar it is to the novel despite all the satirical comedy. Director Mel Brooks stayed true to Bram Stroker’s story, while making fun of his characters, broadening the story of Dracula to a new audience. The movie itself does not go two minutes without someone tripping, repeating themselves, or pronouncing a word in a funny way (Dr, Seward's “raspberry” was a personal favorite). As opposed to the novel, Dracula’s introduction is far from dark and mysterious. He is first shown in a bright room and immediately slips and falls down a flight of stairs. After collecting himself, he shows a sense of being supernatural when he walks through a large spider web without affecting its shape, but then almost immediately makes you forget it when he takes off and hangs up his comically large wig. This adaptation allows for people who may not be as familiar with the story line of Dracula to easily understand the characters and story in a new and lighthearted way.

There are obvious enforced gender roles throughout the movie that even an untrained eye would be able to notice. Almost all of the costumes worn by women were not only form-fitting, but low cut to show cleavage. Their make-up seemed to be done excessively, and the make-up artist put an emphasis on red lipstick, which is a common trait in the novel relating to sex. Even though all of the characters in the movie make mistakes for the sake of comedy, some that really stick out are ones made by the female characters. When Dracula was hypnotizing Mina and the maid who was guarding her while she slept, they both would do the same command instead of only Mina, frustrating Dracula. By not following the orders correctly, that can be portrayed as the women were so senseless that they could not even do things right when in control of others.

Another point that was made that was similar to the novels was the use of a white dress on a woman. This white dress represents a woman’s purity and it was what Mina was wearing when Dracula took her away to his castle. Mina, showing love for Dracula willingly danced with him, though both of their shadows portrayed something different. Shown on the wall behind the two, their shadows danced more proactively until yelled at by Dracula. Throughout the film Dracula’s shadow seemed to have a mind of its own, allowing the audience to assume that it show’s his true thoughts. This being said, when Mina’s shadow shows “impure” advances towards Dracula’s, it is to be assume that she too loves Dracula and is taking control of her sexuality. 

Another instance in which a female character owns her sexuality is when Renfield is visited by the two women vampires (different from the novel which had three visiting Jonathan). The women entered the room moaning in arousal and seductively leaning on the bed frame.

As Dracula kicked them out, they began floating away while music played. Noticing the sexual exit, Dracula immediately told them to “cut it out!” to which the women slouched down and walked out like normal people. This hilarious take on the two women led me to think that they were in control of how they were perceived by men and could not only control their own sexuality, but use it to their advantage.

In Brook’s adaptation of Dracula, Lucy comes onto Jonathan in the cemetery after being killed by Dracula and placed in a tomb. She uses her breasts to try and put him “under her spell” (again claiming her sexuality as a woman), and right before she succeeds as she is about to bite his neck, Dr. Seward saves him. When Lucy retreats back to her coffin, Seward and Jonathan plan to kill her by hammering a steak into her heart. With every blow, an excessive amount of blood shoots out of Lucy’s body all over Jonathan. This large amount of blood can be compared to when Lucy was first bit in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Strocker’s Dracula and blood splattered throughout the room. This imagery can be compared to Lucy losing her virginity or purity after showing any sign of sexual pleasure. In Coppola’s version, when she is aroused by Dracula, and in Brook’s when she comes onto Jonathan.

                     

(Side-by-side: Coppola's and Brook's adaptations)

Overall, the way female characters are portrayed in this film is almost expected. The typical tight dresses and cleavage only emphasize the outdated (even for 1994) ideas that women are limited to their looks. Though in this adaptation, women are not the only ones challenged. One scene that stuck out to me that tested a male role was in the last scene. When Jonathan was trying to save Mina from Dracula and attempted to drive a stake in Dracula’s heart, Dracula took the stake from him and broke it in half. This while seen as comical to the audience, could be interpreted as Dracula taking away Jonathan’s masculinity and defeating him. Dracula then transforms into a bat, which again, Jonathan is unsuccessful in catching and defeating, and is ultimately killed by sunlight at the hand of Renfield. This loss of Jonathan’s masculinity goes unnoticed by him and is quickly reclaimed as he carries Mina home.

In a hilarious adaptation of an otherwise frightening story, Mel Brooks perfects the story of Dracula and it's constant themes. By making his audience laugh, Leslie Nielsen makes Dracula likable, despite his committed crimes. Brooks allows the audience to comprehend the story of Dracula in a new way, while paying homage to Stocker's novel as well as over movie adaptations. Aside from all of the important gender norms portrayed (note the sarcasm), if you take one thing away from watching this movie, it should be to make sure a window is open before transforming into a bat and attempting to fly through it!