Blade (1998)

Blade (1998) began as a comic book before its adaptation to feature film. It succeeds because it does not depart from the stiffness of the comic book page, allowing that stiffness to deflect any questions we might have concerning, for example, Karen's ability to immediately put behind her the savage attack on her neck (and that of her medical colleague) to follow Blade around, participate in the burning of Pearl, etc. Not so much what people do after they are bitten by vampires, but what they do after they begin their lives as characters in a comic book.

But all vampires are not created equal. Some, like Dragonetti (above, left) are born that way, and some, like Frost (above, right) are "turned" (bitten). Frost wants to summon the Blood God to bestow him with super powers, level the playing field for all vampires (himself exalted), while Dragonetti and his multicultural star chamber like things the way they are.

DRAGONETTI (to Frost): I was born a vampire, as was every other member of this house. You Frost, you were merely turned.

A few scenes later, the one who was turned (Frost) exposes the OG vampire (Dragonetti) to a sunrise, where he suffers a gruesome death-by-CGI. 

When Blade came out, reviewers were quick to draw parallels between vampirism and capitalism as practiced by feudal organizations like the Cosa Nostra, as well as late-capitalism, in the form of extractive corporations like Halliburton. The link between drug addiction and endentured sex work was also alluded to, with terms like "turned".

Watching Blade today, I am reminded of a tension that is all but overcome now, and that is the notion of the "halfbreed", who, as Métis writer Maria Campbell reminds us in her 1973 novel of the same name, can be rejected by both "halves", not to mention the State. Nowadays the most talked about tension concerning those who began life in one category before transitioning to other options is the debate between those who feel a man who transitions to a woman (from he to she or they) is not truly a woman but a man-who-became-a-woman, or trans woman. That this debate is taking place amongst highly evolved feminists speaks to how that discourse, too, is in transition. 

I'm not sure how many Blade sequels followed, but I am curious to know if this identitarian question of "born" vs "turned" persisted. Seems the question of "ascribed" vs "achieved" status has been with us a while now; indeed, it is among the first things I learned in my Anthropology 300A (Kinship) class -- the difference between consanguinial (blood) and affinal (marriage) relations. For some, blood quantum is important when it comes to self-identitificaton, for others, self-identification requires not only blood relations but recognition from those whom you say you are from. Seems vampires, too, have a lot to learn about who they are, though I question the extent by which some, such as Democrat-turned-Republican Donald J. Trump, are willing to take it.