True Blood

[mothwing]

• When there are sex scenes, I'd like to be able to see the difference between rape and sex.  In other words, if your main character is walking the graveyard in tears because she thinks her boyfriend is dead and then is suddenly dragged to the ground by a hand coming from the ground belonging to said boyfriend - I'm talking about this scene, of course:
  
  
  ... I'd assume that sex would be the last thing on her mind, especially seeing as she's only ever had sex once in her life before. Still, how is this an ok sex scene? Even for someone who is as much of a doormat airhead as Sookie? And also, how is this comfortable, dirt and all?
• Saying you own someone is not romantic without very specific context requirements. Without those, it's creepy as fuck.
• Even abusive pedophile uncles deserve a trial.
• No, vampires are not just like gay people, fighting for equal rights and all. 
• I can't decide who's ripping off whose cheezy pulp romance story line here, Twilight or Charlaine Harris' opus. What's with the chastity and the really submissive white girls holding out for an abusive domly Mr. Right?
• People are not pets. Repeat after me. Even submissive airheads. People are not pets. ("Sookie hates feeling like she's lost her independence" wtf).
• "As your maker I command you"? Kudos, series, for replacing a physically abusive father figure with a controlling father figure. Hasn't been physically abusive yet if you discount the ~making~, but I suppose we're getting there at some point. EDIT: aaaand physically abusive, too. Awesome.
• So you can cut hair and it behaves like human hair but hymens grow back? Uh-hu...

The only reason why I enjoy the series nonetheless are these two:



... in spite of various things (casual misogyny, fatphobia, etc., etc).

EDIT: ok, the only way this series makes sense is as BDSM porn for an audience sensible enough to kno about consent.
Two questions - do the people who made this series really believe that is everybody really that kink aware? And number two: the state of consent being what it is in mainstream (victim blaming, violence against women and slut shaming being so damn common), who thought it was a bright idea to make this series mainstream accessible?

Comments

[onthetide.livejournal.com]

Oh man, have you seen any of this season yet? It just gets worse. I stay watching for Pam, LaFayette, Jessica, and occasionally Sookie.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Nah, I'm working my way through season 2 as I type, I'm watching episode 2 right now and Jessica has only just been introduced. I'm curious as to what they'll do with that character, though I'm shuddering at the thought of even more teenage stereotpyes. I like her, though.

How much worse does it get? =(

Trigger warnings!

[onthetide.livejournal.com]

The worst is when Bill has sex with/rapes Lorena and basically twists her head all the way around trying to hurt her. It was disturbing as fuck, even though she was so desperate for Bill to love her that she seemed into it. Oh, and a new (white) vampire takes Tara as his personal sex slave and informant.

It's all pretty special.

Re: Trigger warnings!

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

WHAT. I just WHAT. Tara WHAT God damnit I thought they had reached its racial low point when Swedishpire chained Lafayette (LaFayette?) to that treadmill thing in his disturbing basement with a neckiron. D=

It was disturbing as fuck, even though she was so desperate for Bill to love her that she seemed into it.
D=

Goddamnit, series.

Re: Trigger warnings!

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

I've just seen that episode. Holy shit, what is wrong with these people.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

I believe the novels predate Twilight.

Also, in the books, Sookie keeps kicking guys to the curb for being jerks.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Yes, right, they do, don't they? There are so many things in the series that remind me of Twilight that that's hard to remember. I'm probably just no good at spotting the conventions of the genre, so seems as though one inspired parts of the other, I gave up on vampire stories after Carmilla and Dracula.

That sounds like a definite improvement, maybe I ought to give the books a shot. Crocky bought the first one and I got sick of the writing within the first five pages, but maybe I was too quick to judge. I hate her relationship to whathisname. Bob. Bill? Bill. If Crocky treated me like that she'd be single, and I can't wrap my head around why anyone would want that kind of partner, though I guess I lack the necessary requirements, not being into dominant men.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

It's Bill. I think she breaks up with him in the third book.

The first five pages (actually the first few chapters) of the first book are I think pretty bad, as she's getting up to speed with the character and everything going on.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Now, that I'd like to read about, though I suppose they do patch it up and she gets turned, right?

Yeah, if the series was about werewolves rather than vampires or anything else, really, I might have given it a shot. Vampires make me impatient, especially if there seems to be another frownyfaced controlling dude in it.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

No. She dates several other men while Bill continues to pine for her through several books. She's not been turned yet.

There are a lot of werewolves starting with the third book. Also, werepanthers, a weretiger, and there's a shapeshifter in the series from the first book onward (although I don't remember when that character is identified as such). Also, plenty of vampires.

If you don't like vampires, Idk if we can be friends, bb. ;)

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Nuuuh! I like some vampires. I started out liking Anne Rice's vampires back in the day (not sure I would today, I haven't read the book or seen the movie in years), and Pratchett's vampires, so much that I even show my solidarity in public, see (http://i34.tinypic.com/5uk3mp.jpg). And Carmilla and Dracula, and Buffypires are fine! And the one in the The Little Vampire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Vampire) books too, of course. It's just the frownyfaced AngelEdwardBill breed that I don't like, but there seem to be so many of them around these days.

The shapeshifter already featured, but he didn't press my werewolf-needing buttons, at least not the way Sgt. Angua does. <3

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool. We can stay friends!

Yeah, werewolves appear in the third book and play somewhat major roles at various times throughout the following books.

You'll also find out there's more to Bill than meets the eye. Also, Angel comparable to Edward? What?

Another frowny vampire is Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Yay! :D

Mood-wise, not entirely character wise. Though he also has the same "Oh my, we can never be together for I am a vampire and I will turn evil if we have sex", and the soul discourse going on. He isn't as controlling.

I keep seeing those in the vampire shelf in the book shop (we have a shelf. There is one Fantasy shelf, one Sci-Fi shelf, and a vampire shelf. Ack), are they worth looking at or is it all frowny vampire?

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

Oops, I don't mean the werepanthers and weretiger all appear in the third book, it's just that the third book is where you start seeing a lot more than just vampires...although vampires remain rather central.

I forget which book the witches start appearing in.

In the TV show, werewolves are in the third season as well, which corresponds kind of to the third book, much as with the first two seasons and books, but in all cases a lot has changed.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to the third season, though I kinda doubt there's going to be a cool female werewolf in the series. :/

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

This is unlikely, yeah.

[dstroyrofworlds.livejournal.com]

I won't watch the scence because I am very, very sensitive when it comes to violence against women (or any really nasty kind of violence against anyone). The sole fact that you say you can not really see the difference between rape and sex here, tells me that I should leave my fingers off of that movies.
I can't stand mixtures or ambivalences(?) like that. There is nothing romantic nor artsy-literarical about it. It just crosses borders, that's all it does - and that's why it works.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

There is nothing romantic nor artsy-literarical about it. It just crosses borders, that's all it does - and that's why it works.
Yes, that's my opinion, too.

[ginaspider.livejournal.com]

Jesus fuck, thank you for criticizing this show. One of my friends really likes it and sometimes I watch it with her. I haven't built up the heart to tell her that I really don't like it myself.