As anyone who reads my posts on Idol Chatter knows, I’m a huge vampire fan (gigantic even!). That’s why I post so much about Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight Series” and the forthcoming Twilight movie (this Friday! I’m counting down…), and that’s also why I’ve been watching, ever so faithfully, HBO’s new series “True Blood,” which has its first season finale next Sunday.
I liked “True Blood” a lot–at first. But as with all HBO series–be it “Big Love” or “The Sopranos“–”True Blood” has taken a dive into some serious depravity. The show’s themes are becoming so depraved that I don’t know if I can bear to keep watching. But unlike “Big Love” and “The Sopranos,” which took several seasons to get fully out of hand, fully dark, and fully disturbing, “True Blood” has managed this arc in a mere 12 episodes.
“True Blood” started out with old-fashioned courtship between Sookie (played by Anna Paquin) and Vampire Bill–a sweet take off on the old-fashioned courtship we see with Bella and Edward in “Twilight.” There was also a murder-mystery associated with “True Blood,” which at first was rather peripheral because the focus was on Sookie and Bill’s human-vampire relationship. But as the show has progressed, the murders are piling up, they are all women, and they all involve sex crimes (except in the case of Sookie’s grandmother). Meanwhile, the sweet romantic courtship between Sookie and Bill has been sidelined for extremely kinky vampire-human sex and drugs-and-sex storylines. I was turned off long ago by that stuff–it’s out of control and not to my taste.
The religious-themed storylines, on the other hand, have become more interesting, but they too are bordering on the depraved at this point. Across several shows there was a focus on exorcisms–two characters (mother and daughter) endure graphic, disturbing exorcisms and are at once “cured” of their “demons” and saved by Jesus. The born again bit only had staying power with the mother, though, and now we have Mom playing tough-love with daughter Tara in order to bring her back to Jesus and be saved again. Of course, now it looks like Tara is about to become a prostitute–which frankly, I am not interested in watching. It’s simply too painful.
See what I mean about depravity?
Between the kinky sex, the kinky religion, the kinky drug-trips, and the kinky murders, the romance between Sookie and Bill seems a thing long-past. I’ll watch the season finale, but I’m guessing it’s only going to get more disturbing. So despite my love of all-things vampire, I think that “True Blood” takes things too far into the darkness and the disturbing for my taste.
What about you? Do you like “True Blood”? Or has this new HBO series veered away from all the reasons why you read vampire novels or watch vampire TV shows, too?
posted November 17, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I agree with what you’re saying about the HBO series taking a turn for depravity in a lot of cases however I will say that in this case, it isn’t COMPLETELY HBO’s fault. I’ve been a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books for years, so I was really excited when I heard Alan Ball was developing the show. The books started the same, with the romance between Sookie and Bill being the main focus but later books lost that focus although Sookie is always the main story. And, the first book is the story of the serial killer in Bon Temps and how Sookie tries to help solve it. Bill becomes secondary, almost absent in some later books, which disappointed me greatly when I read them but I am still a huge fan nonetheless. I will be sad when the finale airs Sunday, I am sure it will be a while before the next season comes…
posted November 19, 2008 at 1:41 am
I would have to disagree, I like that the show has depravity! That’s what makes it so different than the other HBO series. Obviously HBO took a risk and i don’t blame HBO for it. In all honesty, I never really got into any of the other HBO series.(except for John Adams) This is the first time I actually looked forward to watching a new episodes of a HBO series. I strongly believe that if the season didn’t start off with a bang, it wouldn’t have caught my attention. True Blood is about Vampires, Demons and other dark creatures. It’s suppose to be dark and disturbing! We are talking about VAMPIRES here, not teletubbies! (no offense) I love it that it was taken to a higher level of darkness. That is what intrigues me in front of the television every Sunday. If HBO continues to take the True Blood series where no other Vampire series has gone, I will continue to look forward to every new episode.__
posted January 26, 2009 at 11:50 pm
first off HBO has total control over what they put on it is pree screened so yes it is totally there fault and second off tv = B.S. 90% of tv is garbage. you see a cop show its a joke you see a tv show its fantasy you see a show based on a true story the only part that is true is less than 5% which is usually the name and state that it happened in other than that its all lies even the media and the news lies just look at the weather men and women out there as for vampire flicks lol there hasnt been a good vampire flick and I mean something with a good dam plot not just another no name skimpy skank with big boobs and a tramp stamp since interview with a vampire or bramstokers dracula other than that the latest crap they have spewed forth deserves 0 dollars for the acting and the plots I have seen better performances in old black and white films with no words americas tv has went downhill and has joined the rats in the gutter
posted June 15, 2009 at 6:33 am
you sat you are a vampire fan, but you dont like the depravity. do you even know what vampires are, and what they do? they need to be evil and dark. or else it’s just some kind of child version vampire story. i’m sorry but if you watch this show, you are an adult and as such you can handle adult topics such as kinky drugs kinky sex and kinky vampire’s (wich in my opinion arent really that kinky in this show).
posted July 12, 2009 at 3:47 am
You say you are a what? A vampire fan? You think that liking Twilight makes you a vampire fan? I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but Twilight is not a vampire “saga” or whatever. It is about a hormonal girl who complains way too much and has way too much time to think, it is accompanied by an emo “vampire” who should be beheaded while “Bella” watches and is being tortured in the most cruel way. True Blood is a bit soft core porno, but at least it has excitement and hey, who doesn’t like to see a nice sex scene, I admit a couple of them did go out of context, but still, I wouldn’t consider it depraved. Look at Sex and the City, sex, sex and more sex and I loved the show and it ran for years. Want to read a good vampire novel? Read Anne Rice, the vampires there, although most of them are kind of homosexual, are interesting and don’t go around brooding and making everyone shoot themselves like our dear annoying Edward. The only good thing that the New Moon movie will have is Jacob and because the kid that plays him is hot. Other than that, the books suck and the first movie sucked too. Sorry, but you are not a vampire fan. True Blood is about, hey! VAMPIRES! They are naturally dark and are EVIL. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it and stick to silly pussy versions from a hormonal teen who complains too much.
posted August 6, 2009 at 3:57 am
If you really want to find that what will happen next or what new they can add in the show you simply have to follow upcoming trueblood episodes. I think there is not any other way to find this.
posted March 4, 2010 at 5:45 am
hey.. I like ‘True Blood’. Interesting story.
posted July 24, 2010 at 9:12 pm
What’s wrong with a skimpy skank with big boobs and a tramp stamp. Why are all you vampires so uptight.
posted February 24, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Exorcism and sex?
Let me tell you about my families setting me up for an exorcism and her need for money through political, and religious pandering concerning sex.
I remember living behind a church were Brian Lamb, and a bunch of these Cspan guys used too have a wood shop. At that place of residence my mom thought I needed an exorcist, after playing in the mud the way very young children will sometimes with my uncle who mixed a glass of this red clay in water and told me it was chocolate milk.
After drinking it as he would force me to do thing all the time like the time he made me cut off the limb I was sitting on and the device came out of my shoulder being more powerful and in control I broke out with ring worm all over my body and my mom told me it was writing that could not be understood so she had priests come in from the church.
I guess my Dad did not know that one of the people at the church was in line for being my new dad but that was not in the cards because I guess he felt I was in need of discipline after an accident in the wood shop. I had been check out on the band saw by my grandfather who was a millwright in Arkansas/Yakama Washington and to do some jobs the blade shield had to be removed. Some kids came in and wanted to use the saw, then got mad that I wanted to warn them to put the guard on and they told me they owned it all and I was not to tell them anything, and after this head strong kid cut his thumb off the other kids said they would tell their fathers it was all my fault, but it was not.
I had a fever of well over a hundred and I was a bloody mess with the infection. The priests came in with outer guys and one had a camera. The priests would throw me across the room well the other snapped a picture. I would fall on furniture and the floor and they would tell me get on the bed, don’t get off the bed very loud and when I would crawl back on the bed they would pick me up and throw me over and over again well the other priest would snap another picture and this went on till one guy said we have enough picture and they left me in the blood, mud, and bedding, then my aunt came in with some save that was for ring worm.
She spread the save and kidded me about dying when the rings got to my heart. After getting well I went back to the wood shop and the guys had made me a special shield and gave me my sword which were both made of wood and I had to fight one of the guys in my shorts because I did not want to remove them and the other guy was naked (he know who he is). I was still not up too speed and lost the battle. They then called me the bad guy and this group was supposed to be my gate keeper or something like that appointed by the priests. My Dad did not like them much also but that did not matter much because someone at the church was going to be my new dad till he said no, my mom cried allot, my dad was gone, I healed up, but I still have a case.
Please know that there is nothing any of you can do to make what you and the rest of the ones involved can do to make this my fault. See at the time I was about seven years old. Since then the church has made an effort to kill me, to the extent of trying to pass laws to kill sex offenders.
Come on, keep it up, keep pushing laws that you as a group of very said individuals know have no value. Take me too court so I can own a network. I have met with your staff members in private since along with military personal and others.
Now lets note when this happened I was only a small child being thrown around a room like a rag doll by people that started all this clear back in the late fifty’s and the steering by very bad people that think abusing kids to make laws to stop abuse, Ha! these laws are bogus and the fact that they can not kill gays anymore does not justify the use of laws too kill someone set up by them to create some worthless set of laws by a fusion of church and state is wrong and realty designed by them to harm us all.
My case was pragmatic but more than that I know what was done and who was involved making vendetta laws that really have no bases in truth, and are based in lies.
Keith Richard Radford Jr
PSS don’t be cowards, let me know you received this e-mail through a response.
It’s time to communicate
richard.radford@att.net