David
The Lost Boys character
Kiefer Sutherland as David
First appearanceThe Lost Boys
Created byJanice Fischer
James Jeremias
Portrayed byKiefer Sutherland
In-universe information
Full nameDavid Powers
OccupationVampire
FamilyShane Powers (half-brother; film sequel only)

David Powers is a fictional character from the 1987 film The Lost Boys portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland. In the film David is the head of a gang of vampires in the fictional town of Santa Carla.

The character and Sutherland's performance were well received upon the film's release, and David has gone on to become regarded as an iconic villain in popular culture, having inspired the depiction of vampires both in style as well as characterization since. Analysis of his personality and psychology range from focus on his status as an eternal youth, gang leader, and murderer, and his implied homoerotic tendencies.

Appearances

Film

David is the head of a gang of vampires in the fictional town of Santa Carla.[1] Max, the head vampire of Santa Carla, tries to find a "mother" for David and the rest of the gang in order to curb their wayward behavior.

Sutherland has stated that David's hairstyle was inspired by British punk rock icon Billy Idol.[2]

Literature

David appears in the same role in the 1980s novelization of the film.

Comics

David appears in the comic Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs and in 2016's The Lost Boys.

Television

In 2020 it was announced that a television series based on the character and the rest of the vampire gang is in production at The CW, focusing on the gang of vampires at different points in history. Dakota Shapiro was cast in the role for the first pilot,[3] but was replaced with Lincoln Younes and the character renamed "Benjamin" for the second pilot.[4]

Fictional character biography

Not much is known about David's life before becoming a vampire. He was sired by Max and went on to create his own gang of subordinates (Paul Harris, Dwayne Stephens, and Marko Thompson). They take up residence in the underground remnants of a long-destroyed luxury hotel.[5] The audience is introduced to David through the eyes of Michael Emerson, and Michael's fascination with a half-vampire named Star, whom David appears to be in a relationship with. Michael is provoked by David into participating in a dangerous motorcycle race. Michael is then lured back to David's lair where he undergoes an initiation, unknowingly drinks blood, and becomes a vampire.

David takes Michael to a group of Surf Nazis at a bonfire, hoping to prompt him into killing. Michael however returns home to his brother, Sam, who has become friends with a pair of vampire hunters, Edgar and Alan Frog. Michael leads Sam, Edgar, and Alan to the vampire lair during the daytime while they are sleeping, and kill Marko. The group escapes.

The vampires attack the vampire hunters at Sam's house, leading to the deaths of Paul and Dwayne. David and Michael face off, which ends with David being impaled on deer antlers.

Reception

Kerrang! described David's appearance as stereotypical of late-1980s goth.[6] Film critic Colin Houlson stated that Sutherland "is moody and seductively scary as David".[7] Tori Danielle wrote in iHorror that David is both edgy and sympathetic, since the essential evils he commits are forced on him by his nature.[8]

Analysis

Jeffrey Weinstock expressed in his book The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema that David (much like many male vampire characters) is a gender stereotype of a male, always performing and trying to "pass" as a human, and in David's case almost to the point of parody.[9]

Homoerotic interpretation

David, and particularly his interactions with the character Michael,[10] has been read as homoerotic. Sutherland has nodded to these themes, remarking that the "whole scene where I catch [Michael] in the fog coming off the bridge ... I mean, it's a very sensual moment!"[11] Harry Benshoff in his book Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film states that with his bleach-blond hair, stubble, earrings and leather attire David appears as a gay pin-up model. He interprets the film as the story of the "normal" teen Michael being seduced by David's lifestyle.[12] Psychoanalyst Trevor C. Pederson describes David's attempts at recruiting Michael as "obsessive", noting that David even requests that Michael join him even after Michael and his friends have killed all of David's fellow vampires.[13][14][15][16][17]

Legacy

The image of David showing his fangs for the first time was used for the cover of John Kenneth Muir's Horror Films of the 1980s[18] and The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead by J Gordon Melton.[19]

Joss Whedon has expressed that the character Spike on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was inspired by David.[20]

The character became the eponymous vampire to people of the generation the film came out.[21] This can be observed in a meme where he is seen killing the character Edward Cullen from the Twilight series, reflecting the resentment of vampire fans who feel characters like Edward have "ruined" what was once cool about vampires to audiences, which David stood for.[22][21]

David's character was spoofed on the television show Bloopers after the release of the film.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "How The Lost Boys Made Vampires Cool Again". CBR. 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  2. ↑ Cavanaugh, Patrick (2019-10-23). "Kiefer Sutherland Details the Inspiration for His Iconic Lost Boys Mullet". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  3. ↑ "The Lost Boys Pilot Get an Enthusiastic Update From Rob Thomas". Gizmodo. 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  4. ↑ "'Lost Boys' Pilot at CW Casts Lincoln Younes in Kiefer Sutherland Role". 27 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "7 Things We Want To See In The Lost Boys TV Series". Nerdist. 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  6. ↑ Krovatin, Chris (2019-07-31). "How The Lost Boys Brought Goth Out Of The Shadows". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  7. ↑ Films and Filming, Issue 400
  8. ↑ Danielle, Tori (31 July 2017). "David from 'The Lost Boys' is the Vampire all the Good and Bad Girls Want". iHorror. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  9. ↑ Jeffrey Weinstock; The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema - page: 8
  10. ↑ "Things About the Lost Boys You Only Notice as an Adult". 9 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Remembering 'The Lost Boys' for Its Subtly Radical Vision of Family". The Atlantic. 2 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Benshoff, Harry M. (1997). Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film. University of Michigan: Manchester University Press. p. 253. ISBN 9780719044724.
  13. ↑ Pederson, Trevor C. (2018). Psychoanalysis and Hidden Narrative in Film: Reading the Symptom. Routledge. ISBN 9781351392280.
  14. ↑ Fhlainn, Sorcha Ní (25 April 2019). Postmodern Vampires: Film, Fiction, and Popular Culture. ISBN 9781137583772.
  15. ↑ Baker, David; Green, Stephanie; Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska, Agnieszka (14 November 2017). Hospitality, Rape and Consent in Vampire Popular Culture: Letting the Wrong One in. ISBN 9783319627823.
  16. ↑ Pollard, Tom (29 February 2016). Loving Vampires: Our Undead Obsession. ISBN 9780786497782.
  17. ↑ "How INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Set Pop Culture's Male Vamp Dynamic".
  18. ↑ John Kenneth Muir; Horror Films of the 1980s - page: 4
  19. ↑ The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead
  20. ↑ Jennifer Stuller; Fan Phenomena: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - page: 15
  21. 1 2 Jess Peacock; Such a Dark Thing: Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture - page: 91
  22. ↑ Jess Peacock; Such a Dark Thing: Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture - page: 18
  23. ↑ Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late-Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed

Further reading

  • Encyclopedia of the Vampire: The Living Dead in Myth, Legend, and Popular Culture
  • The Enduring Lure of the Vampire: Sadomasochistic Subtexts in Postmodern America
  • Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting with the Modern-Day Bloodsucker
  • The Vampire Gallery: A Who's who of the Undead
  • Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead
  • The Changing Vampire of Film and Television: A Critical Study of the Growth of a Genre
  • A Field Guide to Monsters
  • The Undead Among Us - The Figure of the Vampire as the "Unknown Other" and Its Representation in "True Blood"
  • Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture
  • The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy
  • The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Interview with the Vampire
  • Consuming Youth: Technologies of Desire and American Youth Culture
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