Does True Blood make a mockery of civil rights issues?
By Lividity on Jun 29 2010 | 14 Comments »
In other news, a blogger for the Dallas Daily News believes that True Blood (and other current vampire vehicles) “make a mockery of real civil right issues.” The reasoning here is that because True Blood’s vampires are striving for equal rights which parallels minority groups and unjustly stigmatized peoples, that the show is minimizing their struggle. She calls it “spoofing” the struggles of real life victimized groups; I call it using fictional oppressed groups to highlight the dangers and injustice that are omnipresent in today’s society.
Vampire dramas are like opinions these days; every network has one. The WB has ‘Vampire Diaries,’ ABC just premiered ‘The Gates,’ HBO is going on its third season of ‘True Blood ,’ and box offices everywhere are releasing The Twilight Saga’s ‘Eclipse’ tonight at midnight. And while Vampires are certainly nothing new when it comes to plot lines (I grew up during the ‘Buffy’ era) some of the issues they are now parodying are unique because of our nation’s current political climate.
In almost all of these Vampire dramas, the main blood-sucking character regales us with stories of their oppression — how they were forced into the coffin, made to deny their true selves and must live in secret because they are viewed as ungodly monsters by the (often times Southern & Christian) locals. You’d have to be oblivious not to see the underlying commentary here.
HBO’s True Blood, which is by far the most brazen in its spoofing takes it a step further by blatantly parodying the gay marriageissue, declaring that the vampire population should be able to ‘love freely,’ touting tolerance and fighting for equal vampire marriage rights. The shows fictional Vampire advocacy group even has a real website, AmericanVampireLeague.com, which has produced videos almost identical to those put out during California’s Proposition 8 vote, but instead of gay rights of course they are advocating for vampires.
And on their home page they broadcast this fake news bulletin, which in my opinion, makes light of violent crimes:
“Human Victim Battered by Hate Crime: In the early morning hours of August 30, a young Brooklyn woman was abducted, savagely beaten and left bound to a utility pole. Her assailants also left her with an ominous message, the letter “V” crudely painted on her chest, presumably as a warning to others. Her transgression? Sharing a drink with a vampire co-worker from her office…”
So my question is, in a nation so dead-set on being politically correct all the time, where is the outrage when an issue that’s so real to so many is being made fun of by a major cable network?
[Please note that the above question is not TB-N's question]
You can read it all here.
Seriously? NOW then this? It’s a TV show, it’s really NOT that serious.
I guess they ran out of serious issues to discuss.
I think the author doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘parody’.
::headdesk::
Did somebody wake up Dan Quayle and tell him about True Blood? I mean, Dan thought Murphy Brown was a real woman, so maybe now he thinks True Blood is about real vampires and hate crimes. When are these right wing idiots going to get off their publicity-seeking bandwagons and just SHUT THE HELL UP!! Let the rest of us watch the shows we like to watch and if you don’t like them, don’t freakin’ WATCH THEM!!
Oh please… *eyeroll* its
I have to say living in Texas and being somewhat close to the Dallas area this disturbs me, tremendously. True Blood is based off books of fiction. Oppression is a real thing, that of which I am one who understands. We are all oppressed in many ways, all of us as individuals as well as groups. But I am ashamed of someone saying that Bill and YUMMY ERIC are making a mochary of oppression. GET OVER IT YOU STUPID A$$ RIGHT WING POLITICALLY CORRECT BLOOD BAGS!!!! Just like music, church, porn, books, movies, if you don’t like it don’t participate, but don’t hate to the point you make it to where those of us who love blood suckers don’t get to see Eric’s fine A$$!!!!
Patti, couldn’t agree with you more regarding the pompous right-wing jerks who are grasping at straws for a little publicity…aaand I also agree with you about Eric’s ass, although Bill will always have my heart.
WTF is going ON over there in the US…is it the Inaugural ‘Get Outraged at True Blood Week’? For. Fuck’s. Sake. I’m going back to work *exits Nest*
Sorry! But we do have a long and storied history of the purposefully hateful and ignorant having outsized power.
I know that Australia and New Zealand have right wingers but I don’t think they have nearly as much influence as ours do.
:(
it was inevitable these issues were likely to pop up sooner or later. The best thing for these issues is that TB is highlighting them, whether people like it or not. And they are being discussed!
OMG right wing ultra conservative americans have way too much time in their hands!!!! Don’t you have a cool, smart and hot president again… why are those right wingers louder than the rest?!!!
Although I have to tell you, I’m really enjoying this… it means people are watching and maybe, just maybe for the fun of arguing with all those people CE would stay for another season!!!
When any form of entertainment has so much media attention, it’s bound to have people form opinions and take it too seriously and out of context. Another example we see in this article. I would certainly call TB a satire, a dark twisted satire however, bringing to light some of the social, economic, and religious aspects of society. Yet isn’t that what makes a good satire? The parrallels to gay rights aren’t the only thing included in this show, but social structure, politics, and religion that are envolved. I noticed that the author failed to make any comment on parrallels to fanatic religious organizations that use violence and terror for power and then hide behind a doctorine in order to justify it. Instead of taking one tiny aspect of the show and using it to discredit it, perhaps we should look deeper into the message of the show as whole and open the way for positive discussion on how to improve upon our own issues that we are faced with everyday. Afterall isn’t that what a good satire is suppoed to do?
I noticed that omission as well. Which makes me wonder how much of it she’s really read/watched, and then ignored.