Part One: A Mission Statement and True Blood

Greetings and salutations all. Welcome to my attempt at consolidating a place to put all of the random ideas that happen to drift aimlessly through my brain. I expect that what I will have to say will come as no new twist on the old formula, suffice it to say that here you will find my opinions, musings, and ideas about the things I find interesting. Fortunately for you I imagine these things will encompass general populace points of intrigue such as movies, comics and the like.

My first and most general assumption is that anyone foolhardy enough to read these words will in most cases be someone with whom I am familiarly acquainted. If you find yourself in this category, I take this moment to welcome you and congratulate you on your good judgment. Also accept my humble dose of thanks. To anyone unlucky enough to have found this site by mere chance, allow me to explain briefly about myself. At the time of this writing I am twenty three years old and most definitely feeling the warp that likely accompanies life in one's early second decade. This provides a unique perspective on everything I write and say. The "spin" as it were will therefore be amusing and informative in the ways only someone of my age group is capable of achieving. In my spare time I am a bit scattered. My interests vary from general pop culture to simply trying to figure out the complexities of the human condition (and all the various and obviously "deep" and "meaningful" tangents that encompasses). Specifically the things I am most involved tend to be serial comic books, movies, or generally any kind of media that has value beyond the observable and readily accessible story beats. For example, I like comics for the decades long history the characters in some cases possess. From time to time I will likely also discuss news stories or current events. If it hasn't become clear yet in terms of this so-called 'mission statement'; the terms are pretty relaxed.

So what am I presenting here? Good question noble reader. Here at the outset I'll go out on a limb and assume the most common feature here is going to be comic book reviews on Wednesdays or so, movie reviews when the big releases hit, and book, news and life commentary after that. My video gaming habits of late have been pretty limited, but it may be safe to assume that I will feel the urge to chime in about that as well at some point.

Which brings us to today's inaugural post.

True Blood Season 2 Premiere: Nothing But the Blood

True Blood has become swept up in the current trend of vampires in popular culture. To me, the idea of vampires in popular media has always been sort of a fringe interest for most people. Perhaps most famously portrayed in the various movie adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's various novels of awkwardly erotic vampire adventures, the concept has thrived on the cusp of popular thought. Simply put, I don't think the idea has ever sold to a larger audience like it's currently doing at this particular point in time.

From Twilight now to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel earlier in this decade, the literary concept of vampires has been creeping ever so steadily into the proverbial social spotlight (and to think, I could have said 'sunlight' and tucked myself into bed in smug satisfaction). This emergence is accompanied by what I see as the inevitable pitfalls of genre specific ideas stumbling into the popular mindset. Most problematic in my mind among these downsides is the assignment of social allegory as a commentary for today's society. Perhaps it's a condition of today's mindset, but it seems that nothing can be taken at face value any longer and instead must of course be a carefully disguised interpretation of 'the way things are'. Now before I really pigeonhole myself I should state that I don't necessarily think that this is always a bad thing. Literature and, by extension, all forms of storytelling have always been classically enriched by the furthering of logic and examination of metaphors either purposefully or coincidentally placed within it. The problem I find is when suddenly everything has to mean something. Frankly, I find it a bit polarizing. So of course the vampire idea has been saddled with all kinds of clever references to our ordinary lives; specifically in the case of True Blood.

One can hardly blame fans of the show for participating in this practice though. The setting for the show is a fictional United States wherein, thanks to the Japanese invention of synthetic blood, vampires are finally able to (as the show so cleverly puts it) "come out of the coffin". Just typing that it's already easy to see where the lines start getting drawn. The catchphrase is an obvious and intentional callback (callover? Ah, let's just go with 'reference') to the homosexual community and the perceived liberation of 'coming out of the closet'. No shit. As obvious as that is, it's pretty easy to connect the dots and parallel the vampiric struggle as portrayed in True Blood with that of our gay and lesbian neighbors. But isn't that a little too easy? Sure, as I said before, the connections can reasonably be made, but I'm remiss to ask who cares? It's such an easy link to make that I'd like to imagine that the show isn't being that up front. Instead, I'd like to believe that sometimes the easiest thing to do is also the most difficult. It's simple to get caught up in all of the possible hidden meanings of a work of fiction, but it may be an altogether different animal to just sit back and stomach a show about vampires living in Louisiana with shapeshifters and mind readers. But maybe that's why it's catching on. People who would be otherwise averse to enjoying something as peculiar as True Blood can hop on the bandwagon and disguise their interest through intellectual dissection. I mean, that just sounds cooler too. As fun as it is to muse just how deep the show creators want their parallels to run, this interview with series creator Alan Ball seems to skew in my direction: Alan Ball Interview

(As an aside, I think that instead of getting caught up in associating the maladjusted vampires with homosexuals, people should look to series breakout Lafayette. Here's a gay man who seems a little too adjusted in an increasingly weird setting. If anything, Lafayette is the best example of the creator's views (if any) on gay people. Like... in a good way.)

Ok, so what did I think about the episode Nothing But the Blood which opens up the much anticipated second season? Well, after getting pretty excited over the last few weeks I was left a little unfazed after the credits tonight. I'm left wondering if that's a bad thing or if the fact that I'm feeling no different than I did an hour before is merely the result of an expository premiere episode. Don't get me wrong; this episode delivered all the elements I enjoyed from the first season and even managed to tie up some of its loose ends. The problem, if you can call it such a thing, was that there was never a moment where I was memorably shocked or moved to response. Perhaps that's just the nature of a second season with a show like this. The viewer has already seen some pretty ludicrous things, so it's not a stretch to think that something really bizarre would have to happen to shake things up. The show has more or less picked up the baton EXACTLY where the last episode left off, so perhaps instead of the fresh 'here's-where-things-stand-now' tactic many serialized TV shows take in the beginning of a season (where they parade the new looks the stars are sporting; edgier clothes, new locales, status quos, etc.) True Blood has elected to just continue business as usual. I think that sits right with me, but I also think that it's the cause of my non reactionary reaction. We're essentially getting more of the stuff we loved about the first season.

This episode does manage to set up a slew of new mysteries and plot hooks that we can look forward to investigating this season. We have the mysterious fate of Lafayette (though one would imagine it has something to do with his illicit V-trafficking), Sam's anomalous past with Tara's new benefactor, and by extension Maryanne's true nature (demon-god-witch thing?). All of these things promise to amply up the stakes (ha! get it?!) while at the same time not altering much of the formula of the show in an attempt to lasso some new demographic. I can honestly say that I'm excited for the season, though maybe after the feel of this first episode curious is a more fitting word. I'm still a fan though. Finally, is it me or does it seem like Anna Paquin must have come to some new comfort with showing herself naked on this show? Last season I remember being pretty surprised when she ended up being mostly naked on camera in what, if memory serves me, only amounted to one scene in one episode. Granted this may be the case here as well, but already we've seen her naked on camera for longer and at a more clear shot than we did in the whole of the first season. I guess I'm not complaining, I just find it worth noting.

In summation, with a summer of pretty meager prospects TV-wise I have to say that True Blood continues to be the highlight and not just because its essentially the only high profile option. The show has found a pretty entertaining mix of (melo)drama, humor, suspense and violence that is rarely found in such perfect levels of harmony. Even though my impressions of the premiere are pretty much neatly defined as 'neutral', that in no way illustrates a dip in the quality of the show. It just seems like the show never took a break and I suppose if you're coming off an affection for the first season, that can only be a good thing.