History/background of The Vampire Diaries

2. History/background of The Vampire Diaries • Based on the book The Vampire Diaries, written by L. J. Smith • The Vampire Diaries (the novel) was published in 1991-1992 • The Vampire Diaries (TV series) was premiered in September of 2009 • The TV series received the highest ratings for a series premiere • The show is on the fifth successful season

3. The Vampire Diaries Not only is The Vampire Diaries a show full of excitement, but it is also a show where you’ll just want to keep watching it, you won’t want to wait for the new episodes. There are tons of main characters, Elena Gilbert, Jeremy Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Stefan Salvatore, Damon Salvatore, Katherine Pierce, and Silas. Elena and her brother Jeremy live in a town with supernatural history; their parents both died in a car accident. Elena gets caught up with one of the Salvatore brothers, Stefan, to later find out he and his brother Damon are both vampires. Later on in the show, Elena and Damon fall in love, while Stefan is still in love with Elena, which results in a love triangle. Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes are Elena’s two best friends. Silas is the main vampire, who got turned into rock, and he was the only one with the cure, the cure to change one vampire back human. Elena is Katherine Pierce’s doppelgänger, being responsible for being her identical ancestor.

4. Setting The Vampire Diaries takes place in a small, fictional town haunted by supernatural beings, Mystic Falls, Virginia. Throughout the series, the setting follows the main actress, Nina Dobrev (Elena Gillbert). She travels to many places, but it always ends up going back to Mystic Falls. The show is currently on season five, and goes through the seasons of the year. Currently Elena and a few of her friends are in college, but Damon, Stefan, and Jeremy remain in Mystic Falls. Of course, throughout the episodes the setting changes, as the characters travel.

5. Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert) Elena Gilbert is a beautiful, brunette girl, with dark brown eyes, slim and fit. Just like any teenager, she is going through rough patches in her life, but her rough patches are much harder to handle than the average teenage girls problems. Elena and her younger brother, Jeremy live in a town called Mystic Falls. They now have a guardian because their parents got in a car accident and did not survive. Elena has two best friends; Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes, she is also switching between two boys, Stefan Salvatore (her first love) and now Damon Salvatore, to later find out both boys are vampires. As the show progresses, Elena gets turned into a vampire, as does Caroline. Elena has an incredibly large role in this show, she is the main actress but other actors/actresses are very important.

6. Katerina Graham (Bonnie Bennett) Bonnie Bennett is a gorgeous teenage girl, with dark brown hair and eyes. Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline are the three best friends in The Vampire Diaries. Throughout the show many things happen, where the three girls fight, but they always find a way to get through it. Bonnie and Jeremy, Elena’s brother, fall in love, and she loses her life for him. Bonnie is a witch, so was her grandmother, so she discovers a way to bring herself back alive, but there is always consequences when using magic, therefore Bonnie goes through so much pain, just to be alive. Bonnie is very important in this show because without her many of the things that happen, could not happen – she is the only friend that is a witch

7. Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) Stefan Salvatore is man candy to all girls eyes, he is flawless, and what girl wouldn’t want him? He has short, brown hair, hazel eyes and a perfect body. He may look only seventeen, but he is 150+. Stefan got turned into a vampire at a young age, about seventeen, which is why he looks so much younger than he is. He and his brother live together in Mystic Falls, and Stefan meets Elena, and falls in love with her instantly. After being with Elena for several months, her feelings change towards him, but his feelings stay the same, he can not get over Elena. Stefan is important for The Vampire Diaries because Stefan is a main character, without him there would not be drama between Elena, Damon and Stefan.

8. Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) Damon, just like his brother, Stefan, is very good looking. He looks like he is eighteen, but he is actually 150+. He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, slim, fit, and has one great jaw line. He, same as Stefan, got turned into a vampire at around age eighteen, not purposely. He and his brother were disowned by their family. Their family wanted all vampires dead, and even tried to kill Damon and Stefan. Damon is older than Stefan by about a year. Stefan falls in love with Elena, but Damon does too, and she falls in love with both of the brothers creating a love triangle, as earlier mentioned. Damon is very important to The Vampire Diaries because he is a main character in the show. Damon creates a lot of drama throughout the show, and he is the “uncaring” brother.

9. Teen Issues • Teen issues include things like dating, bullying, peer pressure, depression, violence, drugs, alcohol, and many more. The Vampire Diaries can connect with many of these; dating, depression, violence, and alcohol. • Dating: Elena Gilbert falls in love with Stefan, he also falls in love with her and they are happy together, until her feeling change towards Stefan. Elena then falls in love with Damon, and he had already loved her for a while. Bonnie Bennett (Elena’s best friend) and Jeremy Gilbert (Elena’s brother) start dating and end up falling in love. • Depression: There are two times depression is really shown in the show; when Elena breaks up with Stefan, and when Jeremy dies. When Elena breaks up with Stefan and goes after Damon, Stefan is really hurt and never gets over that pain. Jeremy dies and Elena starts going completely crazy, and even lights their house on fire. • Violence: Violence is an issue in this show because the main characters are vampires and witches, and vampires are obviously vicious. The vampires in The Vampire Diaries do kill humans when they are desperate for blood. • Alcohol: There is some drinking and partying in this series, but it isn’t a big deal in the show, as it doesn’t cause many problems.

10. Viewers The Vampire Diaries is a very successful show. It is averaged that there is 3.6 million viewers for the first season, and all of the rest of the seasons have maintained more than 2.0 million viewers. I personally think The Vampire Diaries is so successful because it has the supernatural involved in it, and supernatural shows/movies are becoming more and more popular. Another thing is the love triangle, people like shows where there is drama, and confusion, some people can even relate it to their own lives. I also think the actors and actresses have a huge part in it; all of the people acting in The Vampire Diaries are very attractive.

11. Comparison • The Vampire Diaries compares to Pretty Little Liars in a few ways; there are many secrets, a lot of drama, and a few friends that stay together through everything. • Secrets: In Pretty Little Liars, there is a secret about a girl who has died, and now four friends are trying to figure out what has actually happened to their friend that died, while they are against a ‘secret’ person/people, ‘A’. In The Vampire Diaries, there are secrets about who is vampires, witches, and hybrids, but throughout the show people find out. • Drama: In Pretty Little Lairs, ‘A’ creates tons of drama for the four friends, and the relationships they are in create drama. In Vampire Diaries there is so much drama between the friends, including the relationships they are in. • Friends: In Pretty Little Liars there are four girls who always stay together; Emily, Aria, Spencer and Hanna. In The Vampire Diaries there is a group that always stays together, Stefan, Damon, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline.