Truly, Madly, Deadly_ The Unofficial True Blood Companion - Becca Wilcott [128]
No, but I have fantasized about being ravished by a certain Viking.
Q: Do you feel the series diverges from traditional vampire lore?
The series doesn’t seem to diverge much, except in its general premise. Vampires, by nature, are solitary creatures, lurking in the shadows. True Blood provides them with an infrastructure, a secret society in which they answer to higher powers. I actually like this. It makes sense that they would need to stick together at some point. It also creates more conflict as boundaries are broken.
I think it sticks pretty closely to the lore. It doesn’t make a mockery of the standards, like other teen-girl-aimed atrocities that currently dominate the market (Cough!TWILIGHT!Cough!). A lot of the lore is in place: aversion to sunlight, stakes to the heart, fire. Fortunately, they did away with the holy water, mirrors, and garlic. I always thought those were silly. Every vampire universe comes up with its own rules and I like True Blood ’s a lot.
I’m not terribly familiar with vampire lore. But I’m pretty sure fangs don’t make a little popping noise as they appear and disappear.
It doesn’t bother me that they don’t seem to react strongly to crosses or stuff like that. At least they don’t sparkle. What I do like are details — like, for instance, when a vampire cries, he or she cries blood. And what I’ve always liked is that the vampires in Harris’s stories are out in the open. That’s a welcome deviation for sure.
I’ve done some research and what caught my attention was that vampires are not supposed to do any kind of penetration except for the bite. No sex! But I like them better having sex.
I am so glad that they kept the “I have to be invited in” part of the lore, together with the sunlight and silver. The ineffectiveness of religious icons worked fine as well; it made a lot of sense when it came to the scenes with the Fellowship of the Sun.
I think the development of the Tru Blood beverage solved the problem of having to be in constant seclusion and hiding. If it were me, the sunlight rule could stay as it is. I really don’t like being out in the sun to begin with. The world doesn’t stop at sundown, so why fight it?
Vampires in this series are different from Dracula and I have no problem with that. Just as I don’t mind that Merlin and Harry Potter are two completely different types of wizards or that elves and dwarves in the Forgotten Realms are just like elves and dwarves in Middle-earth.
The most obvious divergence is the ability to survive on synthetic blood. I’m okay with this, because it obviously facilitates the whole coming-out-of-the-closet scenario. It also gives vampires a choice in how they sustain themselves. Their view of themselves as predators is based on their need for human blood to survive. Remove that need, and you have vampires who still have a vampire nature to struggle with, yet they don’t have to be predators anymore. That opens up some interesting possibilities for the way they interact with humans.
I think the blood bond theme that runs through the books is a very intriguing new addition to vamp lore, even if it’s still a little unclear as to what it means for Sookie. That’s been altered a little in the show, with the drinking of vampire blood in large quantities leading to sexual fantasies. In the books, there has to be a pre-existing attraction for those fantasies to occur, in the show, there doesn’t. I’m a little annoyed by that.
Q: Do you see any ties to minority rights in True Blood ’s depiction of vampires?
Oh, absolutely I see the connections. I think it adds a very interesting subplot/undertone to the story. Hopefully, if there are any homophobes watching the show they see the connections too and realize how stupid it is for them to discriminate based on something that individuals can do nothing to change (not that they should even try).
The media has put a lot