Some of you know him from that show, "Mad Mad House" that was on the Space Channel circa 2003-4ish. Some of you might ALSO know him from National Geographic's "Is It Real?" special on vampires. I thought since Father Todd had a thread about him, I'd start one about Henrie, who can be seen very much as a boon and a misrepresentation of the vampire scene.
I have a pre-prepared piece on him, and I will share it now, though it is a long read:
Don Henrie........... where do I begin with him? First off, I believe he has good taste in clothes and his overall look is awesome.
SECONDLY......... This guy is a hack, a fake, a phony. This guy is more into the gregorio or dramatic aspects of the vampire than anything else. He's a poor man's Marilyn Manson, as he tries to shock the world with his look and beliefs. He was even on a show called 'Mad, Mad House' a Space Channel reality show where they pitted like 12 normal people against each other to live in a house and compete for $100,000. Don was one of the five 'Alts', or alternative lifestylers. There was a Wiccan Witch, a Modern Primitive, and Naturist also present on this show. Out of the five Alts, Don's lifestyle is the most difficult to swallow in terms of being accepted- the Naturist just eats raw food and goes around in the buff all the time, the Modern Primitive swings from hooks from his own back flesh, the Wiccan Witch is well, a Wiccan.... but Don is a bit different.
One of his 'rituals', something that *each* Alt had to just to demonstrate their lifestyle to the contestants was both an energy draining and a blood drinking ritual. I don't know about you, but both, especially the latter seem to me to be something that one would do in *private*. Fiona, the Wiccan was personally disgusted/ ticked off at the 'blatant carelessness' in terms of energy management and control.
He might know a little Reiki or other some such (I've heard), but I could crush him easily, as could anyone who had advanced training in energy working.
There is a minute chance that Don is telling the truth and he IS a vampire, however when you view the evidence, he MAY be a vampire, but he is an *OVERTLY* stereotypical and dramatic one. He even sleeps in a coffin.
The following passage is from an article about him written in 2004:
Yes, actually. I have something very important I need to say. I know that I've become a kind of role model for some people, something a lot of people want to grow up to be, if you know what I mean. I know because I've had the courage to come out about who I am and wear that for the world to see, it's given a lot of people in the community the courage to come out as well. I'm very thankful about that. I'm glad I could do something that's empowered so many people. But I just want to tell people not to be stupid about things.
This is kind of a "don't try this at home, kids" message, and I don't want to sound preachy, but I think it's very important to say that I'm not trying to get people to follow me. I don't want a whole community of Don clones out there, because that's not the message I'm trying to get across by being me. What I'm trying to show people is that you can harness your inner soul - the you that you really are and not the you that society or family wants you to be - and you can wear that on the outside. You can draw power from that and use it to really live in your godhead. That's what all of this is for me, but I don't want people thinking that they have to be exactly like me to be empowered like that. All of us are different. I like a lot of groups, a lot of people, but I follow no one but me. So I don't want to inspire followers. A great leader is not one who commands many followers, but one who creates leaders. I want people to find the strength and the courage within themselves to be who they need to be .
I call this the 'Marilyn Manson
I call this the 'Marilyn Manson Message' because both individuals profess the EXACT same thing- 'Don't be me; be yourself'. However, there is but ONE issue with that message and it is within the presentation of both entertainers (yes, Don is an entertainer; like Manson). They project and sculpt themselves into post-human forms that as the public, we cannot but stare and some of us aspire to be them, because they strike boldly and they are also FAMOUS. I could name any number of individuals who are much the same as these two, me included. If their message truly wished to be valid, they would present themselves as 'normal' to put the minds of the masses at ease.
Don's doing this for shock value, personal gain and as it is said in some areas of the internet, 'for the lulz', which is a corruption of the term LOL, or laugh out loud. He's in this for kicks and the poontang, much the same reasons why Manson is in music. He tries to come off all after school special on us, but he's just making a vain attempt on covering his tracks. He states the obvious when it is unnecessary to. He's trying to make himself even more elevated in stature than he already is.
Would I meet him? Sure. Like I said before, I like his style. He's is also like Manson to me- both would garner good conversation. But, the fact remains that he is just a life-styler who happens to know a few tricks that cannot be emphasized in their ability to be learnt by ANYONE and ANYTHING.
Poser Don Henrie.
Although I said that he was a hack and a phony, the only boon he gives to at least the vampire scene (what other Immortals find him is another matter; I just like his clothes and look as I've said, but that can also be a ruining factor. Not all vampires dress in Victorian clothing) is that he is bringing the culture out of the shadows and into the public eye. He fails to really instruct and explain fully of the ways and methods of the scene, as per Black Veil rules, but at least he could tell the world for a season about the practices (he had a psi-feeding session demonstrated as well as consuming blood) of the scene.
Of course, for some of us, myself included, this is not a fetish for us. This is not a weekend. This is our lives. His Lestat-like countenance is good for shocking the masses, but not impressing others of his kind (assuming he's one of us) on any grand scale (in my opinion at least).
Here's a quick YouTube clip of him on the National Geographic show:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=539xWgHhatM
Don Henrie.
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