Indeed.
I was also spurred on by the news that a Mr. Skin Award for "Best First-Time Nude Scene" was won by Lizzy Caplan (whom at the time I only knew as the pleasant looking lady who exploded in Cloverfield).
So I watched 35 minutes of True Blood...
- Thread starter Flying Spaghetti Monster
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Indeed.
I was also spurred on by the news that a Mr. Skin Award for "Best First-Time Nude Scene" was won by Lizzy Caplan (whom at the time I only knew as the pleasant looking lady who exploded in Cloverfield).
It is a strange, strange series. On one level, it's like Sense and Sensibility, with Anna Pacquin the sensible sister, and Ryan Kwanten the emotional one. Yes, that's a little gender twisted but the novels are being adapted by Alan Ball. That's why we have a really cool drug dealer, this one flambuoyantly gay Lafayette, instead of poetic Joaquin Phoenix.
On another level, it's vampires are gays allegory, except having gays really, truly be evil creatures of the night undercuts the whole conceit (unless you're a committed fan of Rocky Horror Picture Show.) It's sort of like a Gay Lib Manifesto devoted to underwear, shoes and denuncations of the crime of dressing poorly.
What it does well is trash. It's like soft core porn with characters, plot and dialogue. Anna Pacquine dresses like a Hooter's waitress who's never off duty, and Ryan Kwanten mostly doesn't dress. I'm ashamed of myself for watching the first season.
I'm waiting for the second season from Netflix.
On another level, it's vampires are gays allegory, except having gays really, truly be evil creatures of the night undercuts the whole conceit (unless you're a committed fan of Rocky Horror Picture Show.) It's sort of like a Gay Lib Manifesto devoted to underwear, shoes and denuncations of the crime of dressing poorly.
What it does well is trash. It's like soft core porn with characters, plot and dialogue. Anna Pacquine dresses like a Hooter's waitress who's never off duty, and Ryan Kwanten mostly doesn't dress. I'm ashamed of myself for watching the first season.
I'm waiting for the second season from Netflix.
I have a question about the last episode of season 2
where the hell did Sam find a Brahman bull to imprint on?
I have a question about the last episode of season 2
where the hell did Sam find a Brahman bull to imprint on?
Not sure about the series, but in the books all Sam needs is an image of an animal to turn into it. He keeps some picture books in his office for options.
It only "falls apart" if you're one of the viewers who expect every show to deliver a perfect 1:1 allegory for some social problem, with an obligatory moral at the end.
The irony is that that type of show, besides being uninteresting and one-dimensional, would, in fact, be a lot "dumber", as it would need the viewers to sit and receive the "message". Why would anyone need a lame 1:1 allegory about gays or whoever, when they can make a show or movie that says it straight away? True Blood plays with the concept vampires as a subculture (with some similarities to any number of real subcultures), torn between trying to get into the mainstream and remaining in the underground, marked by prejudice from within and without. But that's not the same as equating the vampires with gays, or an ethnic minority, or BDSM community, or bikers or punkers or gangbangers whoever.
Oh, and more importantly, it's fun. And has great music.
And Alexander Skarsgard.Oh, and more importantly, it's fun. And has great music.
I've never watched it but have a few friends that love "True Blood". It just doesn't interest me outside of Anna Paquin's frequent nude scenes that they tell me about. I'd be more interested in having a live action "Anita Blake" series. I think that would be awesome.
J
Jetfire
Guest
I like watching The Vampire Diaries & Buffy The Vampire Slayer on DVD...more than enough vampires for me...plus I don't have cable. 
And Alexander Skarsgard.Oh, and more importantly, it's fun. And has great music.
An excellent point, but I must mention that Skarsgard is considerably better looking in Generation Kill. Haircuts work wonders.
You're right, District 9 would've been much better if they had made the Prawns a bunch of vicious killers out to annihilate the human race right from the start.
So no, having it an actual allegory doesn't mean it's automatically bad.
Non sequitur.District 9 was an actual 1:1 allegory? What exactly was it an allegory for? Who do the Prawns stand for?
Please no. Let's not compare LOST to trash like True Blood.
District 9 was an actual 1:1 allegory? What exactly was it an allegory for? Who do the Prawns stand for?
Oppressed foreigners/minorities who are seen as "low-minded savages", etc.
Thing is, the "Vampires as a oppressed minority" thing isn't good as ANYTHING except as satire.
In fact, the creators of the show probably realize this which is why they made the Fellowship of the Sun so unlikable: Otherwise people might try to understand their POV and realize they're RIGHT.
I have a question about the last episode of season 2
where the hell did Sam find a Brahman bull to imprint on?
Not sure about the series, but in the books all Sam needs is an image of an animal to turn into it. He keeps some picture books in his office for options.
oh ok- now I have a mental image of Bill & Sam stopping by the bar & Bill pacing impatiently while Sam frantically pages through his Encyclopedia of Animals:
"lets see, bull, bull, WHERE'S THAT DAMN BULL!"
"lets see, bull, bull, WHERE'S THAT DAMN BULL!"
District 9 was an actual 1:1 allegory? What exactly was it an allegory for? Who do the Prawns stand for?
Oppressed foreigners/minorities who are seen as "low-minded savages", etc.
But the Prawn were depicted as low-minded savages; incapable of taking care of themselves, impulse-driven, filth-scrounging, thieves, murderers, etc., with only a few who actually had the werewithal to do anything about it (and Christopher Johnson may yet have been a member of the theoretical ruling caste). In fact, quite a few people who wanted to see a direct allegory to racism in South Africa in the film were pissed that the 'minority' engaged in the kind of stereotypes that had been directed against such groups for decades.
True Blood's vampires are much the same; a few 'good' individuals amidst a larger population that falls into stereotypical patterns.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
It's a good thing I didn't compare the quality of the two franchises then, huh? Try reading it again and you'll find that it's pretty clearly just a sarcastic commentary (using 'Lost' as an example) about declaring an entire series terrible after only watching part of the first episode.
District 9 was an actual 1:1 allegory? What exactly was it an allegory for? Who do the Prawns stand for?
Oppressed foreigners/minorities who are seen as "low-minded savages", etc.
But the Prawn were depicted as low-minded savages; incapable of taking care of themselves, impulse-driven, filth-scrounging, thieves, murderers, etc., with only a few who actually had the werewithal to do anything about it (and Christopher Johnson may yet have been a member of the theoretical ruling caste). In fact, quite a few people who wanted to see a direct allegory to racism in South Africa in the film were pissed that the 'minority' engaged in the kind of stereotypes that had been directed against such groups for decades.
True Blood's vampires are much the same; a few 'good' individuals amidst a larger population that falls into stereotypical patterns.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
The Prawns for the most part had spent twenty years living in total filth while being fed mostly stuff that was like crack all the time and being forced to fight and scrounge for basic life necessities while most of the humans who spoke badly of them were already pretty racist and xenophobic to begin with (plus they were from MNU's interviews which wouldn't have been favorably towards Prawns). Under those circumstances human beings would mostly act like that as well.
The TB Vamps don't have that abuse as an excuse.
But this isn't a D9 discussion.
True Blood may very well be the best series currently on TV.
HBO, like usual, knocks it out of park.
HBO, like usual, knocks it out of park.
