Racism in True Blood
I admit it. I am a HUGE True Blood fan. I love it. I’m addicted. I download them each Monday night, only hours after it has aired in the states, and as soon as the torrent has finished I watch it. I’m talking not even a minute gap. I need my fix.
But True Blood is racist.
Aside from security guards that are glimpsed at throughout the show, Lafayette and Tara (who are cousins) are the sole black characters in the series. This may be due to trying to keep the whole ‘southern vibe’ of the town in check – but even at Merlot’s (the town’s hang out) or Fangtasia (the vampire hang out), no black characters ever enter. Not even visitor’s. It is a very white town.
Just in case you haven’t seen True Blood, basically the whole thing is very pro-vampire. The vampires are pretty cool. The vampires are also all white (aside from the vamps who act as security guards at events and things). I have never seen an Asian vampire on the show.
Those who dislike vampires become the enemies. The viewer loves the vampires, whether it be forever virginal Jessica, ruthless Pam, sexy Eric or King Bill. They make take the form of witches, or of ignorant hill-billy’s, but we dislike anyone who will try to kill or get rid of the vampire community. After all – then Eric and Sooki won’t be together forever like we all want.
Now – guess who are the two characters who are most vocal in their dislike of vamps? Who are the most scared of them and who just want the vampires to be gone?
Its Lafyette and Tara, the two black characters. So they are “Other”ed for not only their skin colour, but their controversial views on vampires.
Other negatives for Lafayette and Tara: They both are annoying. Super annoying. They are whiney characters who will hide instead of fight. Their voices are annoying.
And (recently for Tara) they are both homosexual. The only gay characters in the series are black (plus Lafyettes boyfriend, who is Mexican – but he’s pretty cool). Wow. Way to “Other” sexuality as well.
Lafayette has also been addicted to V, a drug dealer and a web-cam prostitute.
Tara used to spend entire episodes dealing with her alcoholic mother. Who was a religious fanatic. Who blamed her alcohol abuse on demons.
Anyway. True Blood is racist. This is a prime-time show which gets excellent ratings, and it is racist. Other True Blood viewers – have you realised how very racist True Blood is? Non-viewers, why do you not watch it? Is it the vamp thing, or is it due to how racist, sexist, homophobic and stupid the show is? Please share!
Labels: Other, True Blood
posted by Sarah @ 9:17 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I have to agree with you on most of this Sarah.
I was willing to give the writers a pass on Season 1 and 2. It looked to me like they were really struggling to develop both Tara and Lafayette for the better. By Season 3, Lafayette was still a drug dealer, but the money was used to maintain his mother in a really good nursing home. And Tara was firmly esconsed as a Sookie doppel. Where Sookie was co dependent, Tara wa independent. Where Sookie took sh*t, Tara kicked ass. Where Sookie made excuses, Tara told her the truth-right to her face. When Sookie was helpless, Tara often helped saved her. The writers still tortured Tara to no end, but I was willing to see where this was going to go.
Enter Season 4. oh, here go hell come! They put my Lafayette in either a dress or a woman's body for almost the entire season. And Tara is now a lesbian cage fighter. Lafayette has been completely emasculated. Aids Burger Lafayette now runs and hides from everything. I no longer recognize this character. And it's not like they have a long way to reach to find a more positive image for Tara. Her character in the books was an entrepreneur. Why cant they just drape some of THAT over her a little bit? Nelsan Ellis has a comment on the over-feminizing of the Lafayette character here: http://www.trueblood-online.com/cast-crew/nelsan-ellis-lafayette/nelsan-ellis-says-the-finale-script-made-the-casts-jaws-drop/. At the same time, all of the white male characters have become more masculine, powerful and more attractive to the opposite sex.
So yeah, I'm feeling you on this. But other prime time shows have often shown their racism by simply not including blacks at all. And I've waited with bated breath for true blood to show the type of primetime hubris that says: 'we'll portray anyone we want, any way we want. if you dont like it what we do, we'll just kill the character off. There...is that better? ' So, let's see what this finale brings.
I agree. I'm obessessed with True Blood while simultaneously disgusted with it and myself. It's stilted portrayal of african american characters as: immoral, abrasive, ignorant to the point of danger, and/or worth less than other characters, really gets under my skin. I've only just finished season 2, and I'm sad because I know it only gets worse from here. Tara is subjected to such pain and heartache, and she's never appreciated or coveted in the way Sookie is, though they both have so much to offer. Tara spent all of season one either desperately crushing on Jason or sleeping wit a man who was in love with Sookie. Then she lost Eggs. Man, that kills me. Lafayette started out as a powerhouse, but since his abduction I can see his descent into fear. That's understandable--what happened to him was traumatic, and he should get to process/react to that. However, I had trouble that not only was he subjected to being chained in a basement (I'm not sure if the slavery imagery was purposeful on the show's part, but if so, it was so distasteful and probably done for shock value) but in addition he's now the bitch of some vampires. The Lafayette of Episode One would have packed his bags and started anew in another town. And then the only other black people you're exposed to are Tara's mother --an ex-alcoholic who the audience is supposed to hate for her religious views and treatment of her daughter-- and the occasional servant/bodyguard/bouncer. So, so disappointing.
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