True Blood
Oct. 3rd, 2008 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
demeter918This is about vampires. This is set in the South. The main character's name is Sookie Stackwood. We have a vampire called Bill.
We also have Anna Paquin, who I have a weird love for.
So far?
Weird in that I can't quite decide whether they're trying to be a dark comedy or a dark drama. Or maybe it's neither. Or both. Or are they heading in a new direction? Maybe not. I can and am predicting most of the outcomes.
Maybe it's me or maybe it's the show but there's sure an awkward feeling. I feel awkward watching it. They look awkward on-screen, but then... not. This is why I say this is a weird story because I can't even tell if I like it or not! I can definitely say I like it more than Twilight but that might be because I hate Edward Cullen's guts and Bill Compton doesn't remind me of him. Much.
Sookie is, um, interesting. Especially Paquin's interpretation of her. I don't particularly like the innocent virgin! setup, but somehow, it's not bothering me as much as it usually does. Must be all the copious amounts of sex the other characters are having; Bill and Sookie's thus-far-chaste 'relationship' seems kinda almost backgrounded. Which is weird for a series that supposedly focuses on them.
Now, Tara. Tara is both wonderful and terrible. I've never quite seen a character like her on a show yet. She's... unique, certainly. I actually kind of like her; I know she's definitely going to get on some nerves there and I wouldn't be too surprised, but she provides a weird zing! to the show that you don't often get with secondary female characters. Does anyone else get the same feeling?
I think it's worth noting that while the vampires are also highly-sexualized in this series, it still feels different from the other popular vampire series of the day like Twilight, Anita Blake, the Anne Rice... things. A lot of people are going to notice that Bill is quite gentlemanly. It's hard not to compare it to Edward's portrayal in Twilight, but it's obvious they're playing up the whole gentleman-from-the-pre-Cival-War-South. Which is a refreshing move!
I can't believe I'm saying this, but with all the 'bad boys' and asses out there on TV that we're expected to love (assholery and all), this is something I'm looking forward to! It's kind of perfect for Sookie too, who gives the viewer the impression that she's very sweet, naive, but not particuarly stupid either.
Overall, I'd probably suggest a go even if you're not into vampire series/stories/plot devices. I've seen three episodes thus far and while it's not going to be must-see TV, it's not as bad as I thought it could have been.
But still, be prepared for awkwardness. Which, I don't know, I kindasorta like. I mean, relationships are always weird when they start out and I love the idea that they totally don't fit at first, but that they're working at it.
... or it could be the actor/actress needing a bit of time to mesh first. Yeah, or that.
In other, real-life news, the VP debate last night was more boring than I thought it'd be. It's probably very petty of me to say this, but I watched with a kind of half-formed thought that maybe Palin would screw up on the podium. After watching the Couric interview, you'd think she owuld have a hard time dealing with an honest debate, but I guess that 'debate boot camp' kind of worked. Palin rambled a lot. I started tuning her out at points because it got so repetitive.
Mind, Biden wasn't much better. He's pretty repetitive too. I guess that's the point.
Palin still makes my noise muscles twitch. She irritates me so much. Having her as our first female VP candidate just... argh. argh. argh.argharghargharheaejahfkehajfhejkl.
We also have Anna Paquin, who I have a weird love for.
So far?
Weird in that I can't quite decide whether they're trying to be a dark comedy or a dark drama. Or maybe it's neither. Or both. Or are they heading in a new direction? Maybe not. I can and am predicting most of the outcomes.
Maybe it's me or maybe it's the show but there's sure an awkward feeling. I feel awkward watching it. They look awkward on-screen, but then... not. This is why I say this is a weird story because I can't even tell if I like it or not! I can definitely say I like it more than Twilight but that might be because I hate Edward Cullen's guts and Bill Compton doesn't remind me of him. Much.
Sookie is, um, interesting. Especially Paquin's interpretation of her. I don't particularly like the innocent virgin! setup, but somehow, it's not bothering me as much as it usually does. Must be all the copious amounts of sex the other characters are having; Bill and Sookie's thus-far-chaste 'relationship' seems kinda almost backgrounded. Which is weird for a series that supposedly focuses on them.
Now, Tara. Tara is both wonderful and terrible. I've never quite seen a character like her on a show yet. She's... unique, certainly. I actually kind of like her; I know she's definitely going to get on some nerves there and I wouldn't be too surprised, but she provides a weird zing! to the show that you don't often get with secondary female characters. Does anyone else get the same feeling?
I think it's worth noting that while the vampires are also highly-sexualized in this series, it still feels different from the other popular vampire series of the day like Twilight, Anita Blake, the Anne Rice... things. A lot of people are going to notice that Bill is quite gentlemanly. It's hard not to compare it to Edward's portrayal in Twilight, but it's obvious they're playing up the whole gentleman-from-the-pre-Cival-War-South. Which is a refreshing move!
I can't believe I'm saying this, but with all the 'bad boys' and asses out there on TV that we're expected to love (assholery and all), this is something I'm looking forward to! It's kind of perfect for Sookie too, who gives the viewer the impression that she's very sweet, naive, but not particuarly stupid either.
Overall, I'd probably suggest a go even if you're not into vampire series/stories/plot devices. I've seen three episodes thus far and while it's not going to be must-see TV, it's not as bad as I thought it could have been.
But still, be prepared for awkwardness. Which, I don't know, I kindasorta like. I mean, relationships are always weird when they start out and I love the idea that they totally don't fit at first, but that they're working at it.
... or it could be the actor/actress needing a bit of time to mesh first. Yeah, or that.
In other, real-life news, the VP debate last night was more boring than I thought it'd be. It's probably very petty of me to say this, but I watched with a kind of half-formed thought that maybe Palin would screw up on the podium. After watching the Couric interview, you'd think she owuld have a hard time dealing with an honest debate, but I guess that 'debate boot camp' kind of worked. Palin rambled a lot. I started tuning her out at points because it got so repetitive.
Mind, Biden wasn't much better. He's pretty repetitive too. I guess that's the point.
Palin still makes my noise muscles twitch. She irritates me so much. Having her as our first female VP candidate just... argh. argh. argh.argharghargharheaejahfkehajfhejkl.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 06:59 pm (UTC)(Actually, I think I owned at least the first four books, but if I did then they were among the many that my sister threw away.)
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 07:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 09:15 pm (UTC)I'm loving True Blood, although I agree the series is still trying to find its feet. I'm on the fifth of the eight books of the "Southern Vampire" series. The show is better than the books in some ways because it does put more emphasis on the supporting characters. The books are very Sookie-centric and she can be a bit of a Mary-Sue at times.
All the sex is a bit much. It's like "Whatever, let's get back to the story, mkay?" But if they include even half of the weird things that pop up in the books, this series will be cracktastic, and that's what I'm waiting for.
PS: Keep your eye on Eric, the blonde vampire that shows up in episode 4. He plays a major ongoing role and is a lot of fun to watch.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 11:01 pm (UTC)The books are in first person PoV, so they kind of expanded the TV series to showcase the other characters. (I don't know if you've ever read the books--if you have, I suspect all my babbling here will be stuff you already know. ^^) There's a Tara in the books, but it's not the same Tara that's in the show. We get to see all of Jason's exploits (which I could, quite frankly, do with a little less of, but in the canon, he is promiscuous), and I think they're playing up Jason's humorous aspects and maybe trying to contrast his sexual lifestyle with his sister's. (Sookie doesn't come across as quite the innocent virgin in the books; Anna Paquin has kind of this girlish demeanor about her, but in the books, I didn't realize that Sookie was a virgin until she came out and said it.)
I hope the series improves for you. ^^ I'm fairly fond it by now, but it could just be because I'm liking seeing the book brought to life.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-05 02:07 am (UTC)The thing about the whole "Palin breaking glass ceilings" story they're trying to spoonfeed us is that she was chosen precisely so that the Republicans could either pit her against Hillary or crow about how they had the balls to select a female running mate while the Democrats chickened out. That and the pander to religious conservatives.
Which is a longwinded way of saying that she was not chosen for her intellectual or experiential merits, and is thus not breaking a single glass ceiling at all.