We know from reading the book that Mina is described as
angelic, maternal and a woman with a "man's brain." She is vital to the mission of purging the
world of the horrible Count Dracula in many ways, whether it's by using her
excellent typewriting skills to organize the group's diaries or exploiting her
connection with the Count with the help of hypnotism. She is, in my humble opinion
, the most important and unappreciated member of the Crew of Light. So what is
this bull corn in the movie? Mina goes from being a clever, valiant, faithful
women, to someone who literally falls in love with some seemingly random guy on
the streets (who just so happens to be the very same vampire sucking the life
out of her dearest friend.) While it at first seems that she's going to despise
said stranger (which I suppose was way too close to the original story for
comfort) she actually ends up dating him! Let me remind you that she is
currently engaged to Mr. Jonathan Harker. If that's not bad enough, she
actually convinces her newfound lover to change her into a vampire not two
minutes after finding out that it was he who killed Lucy.
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| Excuse me ma'am, but this is not your fiance. |
Why in the world did
they choose to portray Mina into this adulterous, absinthe drinking, Van
Helsing kissing version of herself when her role in the original story was so pivotal?
The only theory I could come up with is
that they wanted to add excitement to the story. I suppose that by changing
Mina into a character who is stuck in the middle of Dracula and the Crew of
Light, the audience could be left to wonder who's side she will end up on. I
mean they've changed the story line so much anyways, why not let Dracula live? At
the point in the movie when Mina is conjuring up a storm to assist Dracula's
escape, even I thought that the vampiric
pair were going to somehow escape and be together. (I was very concerned about
how that would work out in the end.) By creating this other romance in the film,
I believe Coppola was also working to attract a variety of audiences. Men, for
the most part, would be attracted by the horror-like aspects of the movie,
while women would appeal to the emotional and even sensual parts.
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| I mean let's face it, young Drac was pretty hot. Who can resist a top hat and Ozzy Osborne shades? |
Again, these are just theories in the works. What do you think about
this complete flip in Mina's character?
First off, your "not your fiance" retort to that ridiculous image in your post made me spit-take. Kudos! But I digress, the quandary you pose has me thinking about how an adaptation with so many alterations would have the name of the author in the official title. And it's also a little ironic how Coppola, a director by all accounts known for his remarkable subtlety in works like the first two Godfathers and Apocalypse Now, would ramp everything, especially the sexual tension, up like no tomorrow in Dracula. Perhaps contemporary audiences not used to Stoker's original vision might have viewed Dracula as just a hokey vampire, and so such angles needed to be played up for the '90s. That's my take. I mean, they even got fantastic synthpop diva Annie Lennox to do the theme song, too.
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