Scattered Thoughts on True Blood

by Latoya Peterson

*Warning: Spoilers ahead.*

After Tami’s post on the racial stereotypes in True Blood, I was inspired to start watching the show.

Okay, so I was actually inspired by Tara going “This ain’t rude. This is uppity!” and smacking the hell out of her manager in an awesome racial/retail revenge moment.

I zipped through episodes one through five over the last couple of days and had a few thoughts nagging at me about race, civil rights, stereotypes, and how these things are covered in the series. (I just watched episode six last night, but it seems to be more of a bridge episode, setting up the story for next week.)

1. The character of Tara

For the first three episodes, Tara grated on me as she played as a black stereotype. The perpetually angry, in your face, sexless sistah-sidekick to the white lead has been played to death and outside of that first glorious scene, I did not find much to like in Tara. However, they seem to be gradually giving her character a bit more depth as the series progresses. We learn that her infatuation with Jason Stackhouse is a result of a situation from their childhood. And we learn that many of her problems with love, self-esteem and worth come from her turbulent relationship with her mother.

I still had some reservations about how Tara is portrayed, and what that means for portrayals of black women on the small screen, until I caught wind of an interesting little fact. The original actress to play Tara was Brook Kerr in an unaired version of the pilot. The excerpt on YouTube is the exact same “uppity” scene that introduces Tara in the first episode of the show. However, something is a bit different about Kerr’s version of Tara:

Kerr’s Tara is a bit less stereotypical. Her manner, her demeanor, her appearance are a lot more Southern Belle – and a lot more complimentary to the main character Sookie. It seems that Kerr isn’t a good fit for the role of Tara though – the more abrasive lines seem to get caught in her mouth. Check out the bar scene, also from the first episode, with Kerr’s rendition:

After watching that, Rutina Wesley‘s interpretation seems a lot more true to the rendition of the character.

And, considering the more we learn about Tara, the more Wesley’s portrayal seems to fit – the hard edged woman who is hiding a lot of hurt by attacking first.

I *still* have some serious issues with how race is positioned in the series. Tara tends to bring up race frequently, but this is often positioned in the series as her being abrasive rather than her talking about a real issue. But I will elaborate a bit more on this in another section. However, I am heartened that Tara is a lot less sexless and looking more like the hardassed best friend who would walk through hell for you. The mourning scene in the Stackhouse kitchen is a good example of Tara displaying the more loyal sides of her character, including turning on her perpetual crush in order to protect her friend Sookie.

2. The character of Lafayette

Lafayette is another character/stereotype that is gaining more personality as the series marches on. At first, Lafayette’s behavior seems rooted in gay stereotypes, particularly in terms of promiscuity. However, his character has not deepened as much as Tara’s – his main motivations are still his own well being, and he is settling comfortably into the role of town drug dealer. Still, I quite enjoy Tara and Lafayette’s uncensored banter whenever the two of them happen to be in the same room.

One of the best Lafayette moments is the “This burger has AIDS” scene:

3. The treatment of Tara’s question about slaves

One thing that keeps knocking at my anti-racist radar is the treatment of Tara’s questions about slaves. Now, Sookie immediately shushed Tara when she posed the question to Bill, but it seems like a legitimate one to me. Bill was alive, and as we later find out, Bill fought on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War. If I was in Tara’s shoes, I would also wonder about his opinions on the rights of blacks. As we all should know, being a member of an oppressed group (even a fictionally oppressed group) does not guarantee solidarity with other people who are members of oppressed groups.

Now, I thought that was interesting, particularly seeing how race has been treated throughout the rest of the series. Tara brought up race to save Jason Stackhouse from extended questioning at the police station, arguing that race (and interracial relationships) are still a major issue in the post-Vampire world. In some ways, this could paint Tara as a racial opportunist – someone who discusses race to start drama or when it benefits her, not to further the cause of racial equality. I suppose I’ll have to keep watching the series to see how this develops.

4. Parallels to the vampire rights amendment and other civil rights struggles

One of the things True Blood does is create a world in which Vampires have “come out of the casket” and are now fighting for equal rights under the law. The most logical parallel for the struggles vampires are going through is the LGBT fight for rights, remixed for the True Blood universe. The opening credits show a church sign with the decree “God Hates Fangs” and the fake TV snippets of the controversy show preachers and other religious people discussing whether or not God would agree to the existence of vampires.

However, there are parallels to other struggles referenced as well. The Vampire Rights Amendment is an obvious nod to the as yet unratified Equal Rights Amendment. And more than a few allusions to black struggles for equality. Check out this scene with Bill and Sookie being harassed by a police officer, and tell me that a few parts of this scene don’t feel awfully familiar:

Yes, he called a vampire boy. And when the vamp gets the upper hand, he demands to be called sir. Interesting, especially in light of the show’s treatment of race. I am not sure where the director/writing crew is heading with this. Part of me respects the fact that they are going out of their way to create nuanced characters that are not clearly good or evil. Sookie, who is often seen in the series as open minded, is freaked out by Bill playing Cambodian singing, later referring to it as weird and “Chinese.” Bill chastises other vampires for “flaunting their lifestyle in front of mortals,” with other vamps proudly standing up for their differences and confronting Bill for choosing to assimilate. Tara openly notes that she will never be comfortable with vampires, and reminds Sookie that everyone will not be as comfortable as she with people who are different.

True Blood provides a clever take on our current social climate, but I am still left wondering what the ultimate balance of the series will be. Alan Ball and his team could be using their fictional world to provide wry commentary on current issues of social justice – or they could just be aiming for maximum entertainment value.

Only time will tell on that front.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying the ride.

Now, if I could just get the theme song out of my head…