True Blood is the only show I watch on television. For those unfamilar with the HBO series (or the novels it is based upon), the show is about a telepathic small town Southern girl and her interaction with vampires, shapeshifters, and other supernatural beings. After Japanese scientists invent synthetic blood, vampires “come out of the coffin” on national television, demand civil rights, and begin to integrate into mainstream society as just another minority.
A few minutes ago, I found myself thinking about True Blood as a product of American culture; how the normal and the perverse have switched places. Bloodsucking monsters are depicted as fascinating, misunderstood, sympathetic creatures. In contrast, ordinary white conservative Christians are cast as homicidal rednecks or members of a violent, bigoted, intolerant hate group called the Fellowship of the Sun.
In case you are wondering, the creator of the series is a white Episcopalian from Mississippi. The director is a homosexual. I couldn’t find any information about his ethnicity, but the show is mostly faithful to the books. Even if Alan Ball is Jewish, he wouldn’t have to be these days. After decades of counterculture, millions of white Americans have become so accustomed to thinking of the perverse as normal that they demand and lap up this sort of material.
Note: The second episode of the second season comes on HBO tonight at 9 EST.
OD: “Bloodsucking monsters are depicted as fascinating, misunderstood, sympathetic creatures. In contrast, ordinary white conservative Christians are cast as homicidal rednecks or members of a violent, bigoted, intolerant hate group called the Fellowship of the Sun.”
Do you think the general parasitism of Jews resembles vampiric behavior in some respects? Like how they always end up draining so much ‘blood-money’ from the goyim in every culture they’ve ever settled in?
Yeah the whole Vampire Archtype is pretty interesting.
There are several ways to go with iit.
Nutty National Socialist James Mason claimed that the Vampire stories were really fairy tales told about Jews! (they look like you, but want to literally ‘suck your blood’ parasitically!)
Others have claimed that Vampires are in fact an idealized form of Aryan Man. Vampires usually are shown with super-sense perception like good smell and hearing and Vampires are associated with Aristocracy, such as the infamous COUNT Dracula and the word Aristocracy is etymologically derived from the word Aryan even. (ARIO-stocarcy)
This is a good analysis of how American Culture has perhaps twisted the Vampire Mythos and also for a LONG time I have wondered when they were going to have some negro vamp in that Twilight series dating a White girl (I’m sure its coming, they added miscegenation to Harry Potter too remember! At least Lord of the Rings, with its Author diead, remains Pure!!!)
The current habit across the board is to interpret the abnormal as normal.
There are complex institutional, historical, social, racial, etc. reasons why that habit is so embedded these days. But I also wonder whether it’s bound to weaken to any degree after a period of time. Is there a limit to how long you can insist that the exotic is actually normal and vice versa? For example, isn’t it obvious that inking and piercing oneself isn’t exactly the supreme act of rebellion and individual creativity if everyone is doing it? Part of me assumes that such activity will lose its appeal once this realization sets in, and that something analagous might happen to revolutionary trends in art and culture as a whole.
Apparently not, though. I guess my assumption is simplistic and empty.
Prozium: Don’t order the premium channels. You’re basically writing a donation to your opposition.
Cut off cable, period, not just premium channels. Just wait for the DVDs or torrents.
Apparently not, though. I guess my assumption is simplistic and empty.
You’re seeing what the magician wants you to see. Worldwide bullhorn says: rebellion against the establishment is high-status. Herd obeys. WB says: the establishment isn’t overthrown yet! Keep it up? Herd obeys. Doesn’t occur to the herd how stupid the shit coming out of the WB is, because it’s about status, not discovery or logic or actual rebellion against the (new) establishment.
Rebellion, conformity, non-conformity, establishment, bla bla bla. None of it amounts to a hill of dung. The BULLHORN’s the thing.
I’m glad you like it, Prozium. I watch it myself.
I recall the director talking about how his use of the vampire theme is parallel to race.
I would actually prefer to battle the undead than the third world. At least they were formerly white people and there is no danger of miscegenation.
I remember watching the first episode and thinking it would be so much better if they just took out the scenes with the obnoxious black girl *laugh*.
Did you know in the original pilot they had a different black girl playing that role? She looked more mulatto, and was far more loud and obnoxious.
This obligatory “diversity” is so tiresome and obviously trying to force a social agenda. It’s so rare now to find a TV show or movie that doesn’t have it, and now there must be a homosexual person or couple as well.
I just watched the new Virtuality pilot, and I enjoyed it, except again, we have this forced diversity. They really swung for the fences with this one, they have an Asian male and black female couple. I’ve never seen that in real life or on a show. They also have a Hispanic male and Russian male homosexual couple.
Caprica is interesting as well, if you care to download the pilot.
Too bad there isn’t some technology that could edit out diversity scenes, it would make it so much more enjoyable!
I can’t stand most of what’s on TV but here are some shows I watch:
True Blood
Heroes
Top Chef
Kitchen Nightmares (or anything with Gordon Ramsay)
Kings
The Big Bang Theory
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Reaper
Sons of Anarchy