Not since the mid 90s (Interview with the Vampire, and of course the teeny-bopper classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer) have we seen such a Vampire craze like today. At a time where the Twilight phenomenon has taken over everything, True Blood has come along with a fresh take on the mythical creatures that have fascinated us for centuries. People are already obsessed with the dreamy Edward and Jacob, but what True Blood does, is tell a different story, without the hidden message of preaching abstinence. True Blood offers a welcome alternative, a lust-filled and seductive take on the fabled Vampire.
Taking a very interesting view, Charlaine Harris’ story deals with a supernatural world colliding with the ‘real’ one we live in, in an alternate universe where the Vampires have literally ‘come out of the coffin’ and made an attempt at integration and assimilation into society. True Blood takes a magical idea, and makes it socially relevant. The invention of synthetic blood has allowed the Vampires to be admitted into society. And them fighting for basic ‘human’ rights like voting and marriage, is a lot like when Women and African Americans were given, or more like fought for, equal rights.
I think that’s why people are so fascinated by True Blood. It depicts a type of prejudice and racism that we are familiar with, but the beings receiving the treatment are fictitious. Even looking at the ‘Fellowship of the Sun’, the Vamp and Fang-banger-hating cult or-church, as they call themselves, is very similar to the time when there was major discrimination against anyone different: coloured, homosexual, or otherwise. And so, the show is much more than popular culture fluff. It’s real, gritty, and deals with social acceptance and tolerance.
And, it does so in a stylized way that is still well-acted, well-made and enjoyable to watch, conveying the age-old message that differences among people are not bad, but make the world more interesting, and as True Blood shows us, a more eventful place.
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