firstly, the first rumblings of a show that i’d probably like was suggested to me by a wee little person in no. carolina. i was told a long time ago to check this show…then quite recently still sailing on a high from yet a newly discovered (watched) program that i grew crazy addicted to was suggested by yet another of the no. carolina angle…then…this…a calling from the funnest person in the world (who’s residing and swimmin in no. carolina) prompted me to look into ‘true blood.’ hey, you are 2 for 2…nice!
here’s the rest of the story…
ok so i loved ’six feet under.’ was quite sad that it ended and i could no longer see peter krause play the tragic ‘nate fisher.’ besides peter, who has the best hairy chest on tv…i loved the rest of the cast, michael c hall, lauren ambrose, frances conroy, mathew st patrick, rachel griffiths, freddy rodriguez as well…and the stories had a layered naturalistic intensity that i found captivating and raw…and most importantly really and truthfully tuned into the essence of life. well-written stories are the ones that assure us…no matter who you are, what you are or where you are from that we are all the same. our passions reverberate about us, take over us…rule us no matter how holy or sinful you are. it will only be when we acknowledge this simple truth that we will really see humanity like God does…and He loves us…why can’t we love each other sorta like that?
’six feet under’ meant that to me…and many other things of which i’ll spare you. it tragically portrayed our rise, our breakdowns, are addictive destructive nuances and everything else in between. aside from that…the show was really intelligent and brainy and sophisticated…and humorous.
‘true blood’ is another alan ball creation. it takes place in this little town in louisiana called ‘bon temps.’ sookie stackhouse (anna paquin) is a waitress at the local bar owned by sam merlotte (sam trammell). sam is a scruffy mystery who harbors his own secrets…and from time to time engages in a rather tug of war relationship with sookie’s best friend, tara (rutina wesley)…a race conscious, vulnerable, tormented young woman, quick tempered yet quite loveable still, wanting love pushing it away…who is quite lovely and supportive and at the same time…wickedly bitter. tara’s childhood crush is jason stackhouse (ryan kwanten), sookie’s oversexed, extremely lacking when it comes to intelligence, george w bush clone except he’s much better looking, has a crazy-sick athletic body and is wild, loveable (too) and easily lured into really bad situations. he also easily lures others into trouble, for example, lafayette reynolds who is a flamboyantly wonderful cook at merlotte’s who operates in seedy ‘projects’ about town. the classic outsider who takes nothing from nobody and wants to leave the small boring town of bon temps and is doing what he can to escape this spooky town where (during the first season) a rash of murders are popping up, all within the close proximity of sookie. the surrounding cast is made up of iraq war vets, narrowminded drunks/regulars, townies, power consumed police, a gossiping lot of folk, a curious stray dog and vampires. vampires seeking rights to live, i mean, unlive equally and freely about bon temps’ residents and the world, for that matter. sookie harbors a special gift. she can read the minds of people, except for one person in particular…bill compton (stephen moyer)…who is a gentle, chivalrous, romantic vampire who also carries all those traits that make vampires…um…vampires…is the love of sookie’s life.
the cleverness of ‘true blood’ is that you can plug and play any maligned group of people in place of the vampires and get an accurate picture of our societal ills of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. and that thing we do where we are so fascinated and curious about something…we are often driven to wanting to destroy it. aside from having a wicked sense of humor, ‘true blood’ in pure alan ball fashion portrays a grandiose vision of the human experience by our one common desire…to be loved and accepted. outside of that, intriguing story lines never stop coming…
odd things i’ve noticed but can’t pinpoint an explanation to is the use of the color ‘purple’ in a lot of episodes. at times the background and the clothing and at times the make-up are especially hinted in purple…not sure why but check it out.
truly engaging, highly adult (huzzah huzzah), smart…and funny.
‘true blood’ i’ve been hooked…or (ahem) fanged and i can’t get enough.
Recent Comments