Thursday, July 7, 2011

ZOMG Vampires!


Heh heh.

With much pressure from many of our friends, Mr. Two Monkeys and I decided to start watching True Blood. We have friends hooked on the show and the Two Monkeys-in-laws have read all the books. I'd been curious about the series for a long time but can't get past the stupid book titles and the name Sookie.

I've seen all of season 1, and you know, the series isn't even close to as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not a vampire fan girl but I've never really shunned that particular fandom either. In a brief period of my life that I like to call temporary mental retardation, I blazed through all of the Twilight books like a withdrawal suffering crack fiend getting their first fix in weeks.

This is not my creation. I can't find the creator, but whoever it is, this is awesome.

Anyway... I enjoyed the first season of True Blood, but not to the point of craziness that a lot of fans get to. I know I have a lot to learn about the characters, but Vampire Bill is teh hawts, and the rest of the characters have a lot of room for growth and development. I'm especially fascinated by the political and sociological landscape of America in this alternate world. Mr. Two Monkeys and I actually created our own world independently of most vampire fandom that deals in part with the political implications of walking, talking, thinking undead. I know that vampires act as a metaphor for other marginalized groups, but when you read into the literal implications of real live vampires, were-things, fairies, and witches, there are so many questions we aren't prepared to answer.

Fundamental building blocks of any civilization are no longer applicable. How do you explain a system of laws based on Judeo/Christian ethics to the undead, or otherworldly beings who have no concept of religion. The ideas of morals and ethics are entirely human. As I have learned from True Blood, The Dresden Files, and fairy tale lore, Queen Mab doesn't give a shit if she's violating your personal rights to freedom. Queen Mab doesn't give a shit at all for anything except her own amusement. Our very own (idealistic) stance on freedom and basic rights claims it is unjust to oppress or repress another culture.

So, how do we even begin to integrate non humanity into a human world? And what about the humans who already inhabit this world? I don't identify with any one religion, but I would think that any staunch believer in especially Christian religions might suffer an immediate brain hemorrhage upon learning that Jesus Christ is not the be all and end all of existence. Although, if you go back and watch Dracula 2000, apparently Judas Iscariot was the first vampire.

There's no Dr. House to help you here, Foreman.
Laurell K. Hamilton very briefly touched on politics and religion in her Anita Black series, but was quickly side tracked by all the were-panther/vampire gang bangs Anita had to have in order to stay alive. Yes, her very life depended on having at least 20 orgasms a day, probably more, and at one point it didn't matter if the provider of these orgasms had two legs or four. However, lesbians in her series are immoral and gross.

There is not a single internet image in regard to Anita Blake that I could have shown without burning out your retinas.
So far, True Blood is much more entertaining and thought provoking than any other vampire programming or reading I have done. I hope it stays this way. Sure, there is a lot of sex and the show has quite a few clunky moments. But all the sex and violence makes sense in regard to the plot. Even though by the end of season 1, Sookie is becoming an selfish, insufferable bitch, I'm going to keep watching. The way she handles her telepathy is interesting. Vampire Bill is teh hawts. And I love the secondary characters - everyone is someone. My favorite though is Lafayette.

Homosexual, drug dealing, short order cook = Carey's BFF
So yeah, I like this. I plan on borrowing the books from Mr. Two Monkey's parents. Season 4 is slipping by as I try to catch up, but I can wait because I don't really like spoilers. And speaking of, does anyone have seasons 2 and 3 for me to borrow?