True Blood

True Blood. I was very hesitant before I sat down to watch the first episode. Sure, I've always loved a good vampire film. Lost Boys, Interview with the Vampire. I was worried that the age of the vampires may have passed me by. You know, things like being an outcast ; partying all night; immortality; the undying lust of any & all partially Satanic girls. "You can have all of this, you
just need to feed, Miiicchhhaaaaelllll"


The lead character is Sookie. I had a good chuckle when I worked out that translates to 'Sucky'. A sex, vampire & infant joke all rolled into one. I didn't mind that, it was amusing. Sookie has the power of telepathy. She can hear people's thoughts. This worked very well. She was a virgin (oh, how predictable. Xtra nudge re: her name. Furthermore, a virgin who always selects the smallest piece of clothing and exposes her knickers constantly. I reckon they planned 15 of these shots an episode - in case we missed it - the point being her pent up, bursting desire) & was constantly turned off at key moments with boys. Very funny & a neat way of legitimizing the virginity. Bill, the main vampire, she is unable to read his thoughts. This makes him many multiples more desirable. A good building block.

I enjoyed the modern setting. A Japanese company has designed a synthetic blood, 'True Blood'. Vampires may now feed without killing. The scene is set for a 'coming out' of vampires across the world. No longer must they live in shame or prejudice, hiding behind nightfall. It reminded me of Star Trek. I am constantly amazed how ST manages to transform differing alien races etc into an allegory (an aphorism, perhaps). The middle layers of this process may not work, and can be hilariously bad at times. However, once allowed to wash over, the lower layers communicate the desired message. In short, it works if one allows it to.

See more pics of Lizzy Caplan @ Girls of TV

I must point out my stumbling block. I was entertained by the central 'love' story. I was somewhat disturbed, however, by the apparent need of Sookie. She required herself to fall in love with Bill in order to understand the man. By extension, she couldn't understand him until they had sex. Granted her age etc, I tried to give this idea grace. It ended up annoying me though. In the writing, this required Bill to be given overt noble qualities. After all, for a vampire to be worthy of a young virginal Sookie, he 'must' have these qualities. Small yawn. (It kind of
works against the tolerance message the rest of the show espouses)

Also, the programmed moral pauses grated too. Whenever Bill did something that appeared morally questionable, Sookie fell out of love. Insert 5 or 10 minutes of Bill doing his best to explain his reasoning followed by Sookie's immature reactions. Hell, I know this is genuine stuff in real life, but she came across as a 13 or 14 year old in these interactions. He was always noble behind the possible appearance of not being so. I am a little jaded from the naive girl paired with wordly man set up. Of course, this imbalance needs to be corrected later. It is an inevitable step, that in most writing does not appear to respect the audience. Sookie must catch up excessively fast. Most movies etc will give us a visual montage of a wide past. Scene of main character thoughtfully posed on backyard lawn etc. They are usually finger down the throat moments. In True Blood it was a case of indigestion. Enter telepathy. I guess that's a compliment.

Bill must also have his 'dark' side exposed. Behind which must lurk a hulking 'light' yet again. a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key.
Easiest to do it gradually.

The positive points are greater than perhaps I am letting on. I enjoyed it. Good, updated vampire fare:

Season 1 - Onion TV says 7

I believe I may have spoiled the first 20 minutes of episode 1 only. The themes talked about are, without any intended negativity, stock standard & transparent.

See more pics of Lizzy Caplan @ Girls of TV

True Blood stars Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer & Lizzy Caplan.
True Blood is directed by Alan Ball.
True Blood is screened on the HBO network.