Something reminded me of Claudia, the little girl vampire, earlier today. Interview with the Vampire was one of my favorite movies growing up. It was released when I was seven years old, and I probably saw it a year or two later. I remember watching it with utmost curiosity. Vampires are fascinating creatures, but what truly piqued my interest was the bond between the three main characters. I was too young to appreciate the complexities between two grown men and a pubescent girl living together, but I knew that what was unfolding before me was different and intriguing. I wondered why they did what they did and said what they said. This was before I fully understood the words ‘intention’ and ‘meaning’, and some others in this paragraph.
My apologies. I couldn’t find any other video. 😦
The scene shown (or not shown) above really stuck with me. Watching Claudia chop off her tresses was riveting, but it did not prepare me for what was to happen next. Seeing her long, golden locks grow back in an instant would have to be one of the biggest shocks of my life at the time. Her failure to take possession of her own body wrought confusion and summoned a display of such intense anger, which I didn’t realize children have the capacity for. Then again, she was not a child, and yet she was. Claudia showed me how frustration felt like, without teaching me the word for it.
It’s only fair to assume that everyone has something about themselves that they would prefer to be otherwise. It can be physical, material, intellectual, or whatever. As Claudia’s bad hair day illustrates, some things don’t change; they just are. All you can do is to play well and make the most of the hand you’re dealt.
Some people would love to be a child forever, while others can’t wait to get older. The lesson of the story: You simply can’t have everything.
And that’s not necessarily bad.
Tschüs!
Rose of Sharon 