vampire fiction/media: true blood
I wouldn't say that I love all vampire fiction. I'll be the first one to tell you that vampires make anything more hilarious (ie. twilight), and when done right it can be downright fun and sexy. (buffy, obv.) But a lot of vampire fiction is tired, the same old story told through different eyes.
I've been mulling over whether or not to try True Blood, mostly because getting into a new show on a network I don't get can be sad (hi Dexter), so I decided to wait until season one was finished. Meanwhile, I picked up the first book from the series the show is based on just to get a feel of the world. The books are not great works of literary genius -- for one thing, it's told from First Person POV, and I hate that like something so hateful. It reminds me of elementary school writing or something. From the first book, the world is pretty neat. The Japanese have perfected synthetic blood, so vampires are finally able to reveal themselves as real to society. (The phrase "come out of the coffin" is used more than once) There is an eye-roll worthy theme that vampire prejudice is equal to racism/homophobia, but I didn't think it is too heavy handed (yet anyway). There are men and women known as "fangbangers" (HA) who get off on letting vampires bite them during sex, etc. There are also now prostitutes who specialize in vampire clientele, drinking the TruBlood synthetic blood to keep their supply up. There's also a new illegal activity called "vampire draining", where vampires are drained of their blood and the "V juice" is sold on the black market. If a mortal drinks vampire blood they will be healed of all ailments, they will have keener senses, and their libido will be increased. (There's also the interesting bit that the vampire, if he is left alive, can always sense the human who has had his/her blood and find them quickly and easily. This is NOT AT ALL A PLOT POINT OR IMPORTANT GUYS. NOT AT ALL. IT IS NEVER EVER BROUGHT UP OR USED IN THE ROMANTIC LEADS.) Vamp draining is illegal and always done against the vampire's will, although they can offer their blood to someone who needs it. (Why am I mentioning this I wonder.)
The first thing the show has over the books is that the other characters are fleshed out (and we don't have to read the mediocre writing...) We don't have to view everything through the heroine's eyes. I do actually really like Sookie, played adorably by Anna Paquin. She's genuinely innocent, ("You may be a vampire, but you will treat me like the lady that I am!") and dorky sweet. I've heard complaints about her southern drawl, but I haven't noticed anything too objectionable yet. Of course, I am the city girl of city girls, so take that with a grain of salt. Sookie is telepathic, which at first made me a little wary, and even though it is her Big Burden, I don't find myself annoyed yet. Any angsting is done with her face instead of words, so it's much more tolerable.
The secondary characters are a hoot, from her best friend Tara and her cousin Lafayette (my personal favorite), to her cutecutecute grandma. My thoughts on Bill, the vampire love interest, are not fully developed yet, as I've only seen the first two episodes. So far, they are set on his character being the southern gentleman vampire, hardened from his years as the undead. And that's pretty much all I have to say about him now?
The vampire images are interesting. The fangs on the vamps are much more like those of a snake, set close together in the front of the mouth, skinny and sharp. They aren't out all the time, but the do extend quickly and always look cgi to me. I think the show is more focused on showing that vampires are scary and "not normal", as opposed to the sexier vampires of shows and media past.
The imagery is really incredible. From the outfits to the landscape, you really get a feel of being in this world. The music is really lovely, from the opening credits to the underscoring. The score is subtle, which is nice since most fantasy shows seem to love their scores.
So, would I reccomend True Blood? Yes, but don't expect brilliance. It's fun, and sexy, and if you like watching people have sex in every episode I am sure you'll enjoy that too. The characters and the world are more interesting than the plot itself. Buffy was more about saving the world and kicking ass, (a fantasy show with romance), where romantic entanglements took a backseat to plot. (Although, that's not true for all seasons) True Blood is typical HBO/Showtime fare, with lots of shock value language. I can mostly believe that the residents of Bon Temps speak that way. It doesn't sound too forced. There aren't too many episodes either, so if you have a rainy day or you're bored, check it out. I don't know if it's worth your money, but the internet is happy to supply it for you.
