Modern Vampires and Racism? Does True Blood go too far or not far enough?

In true blood, there is much symbolism and references between the criticisms and persecution that vampires face in “Today’s” world and the plight of an African American during the civil rights movement. The TV show has heavy symbolism and images that it uses to push this seemingly plausible agenda of making vampires suffer like African American’s during the civil rights movement. There is also a lot of connections made between the vampires and homosexuality, phrases like coming out of the coffin are obvious throwbacks o coming out of the closet etc. and though initially, the show tries to play up the necessity for equality and the rights issues for vampires, it falls short of really tackling the symbolism and comparison. The show teases the audience of being about a racial issue, but at the end of the day or in this case episode, this is still about Sookie and Bill.

The plight of the vampires is making a pretty large leap to compare itself to the plight of an African American during the civil rights movement. The struggles were much harder and dangerous to overcome than it is for vampires. For one thing, vampires can pass for human if they need to, an African American cannot pass for white to escape persecution. For another, when Vampires publicly came forward, they did so in a time where things like the civil rights movement already happened, and society already has laws in place to prevent such things like that form reoccurring. This is not to minimize the persecutions of vampires in the series, but to compare it to the civil rights movement is unfair. Its like comparing apples to oranges, both of them are fruit but neither are the same.

This is probably why HBO never jumps in to these similarities head first, it just isn’t the same struggle for vampires as it was and is for African Americans. The show is still about a love story at the end of the day and making it a civil rights issue, although it would be interesting, it would take away from the story. People watch True Blood because it’s a raunchy adult romance story with vampires, and to make it into a show about race and rights would be to make it into a different show. I think the show doesn’t delve enough into the race and civil rights issues, but I think it does so out of knowledge that, although those are serious issues, its not what the core of the show is about, and to change that would be to take away from the work of the author who wrote the series. True Blood is about vampires who fall in love with humans, and that’s why the show doesn’t stray too far from the plot of the novels.

Dracula as a Metaphor for Addiction

Dracula can be seen as analogous to drug addiction, well after all he is “addicted” to blood. 

Addiction had only been recently diagnosed as a physical condition during the 19^th century in Great Britain. In the early and mid-Victorian period it was possible for anyone to just walk in and get laudanum, opium, and even cocaine without any kind of prescription. The most popular opium derivative was laudanum, which is opium mixed with alcohol. Laudanum was called the “aspirin of the nineteenth century” due to it widely being used as painkiller, and it was recommended for a broad range of ailments such as cough, diarrhea, and was frequently used among the women population for “women’s troubles”. It is no surprise that the people during this time period were getting addicted to a drug that they used on the daily, like how nowadays Tylenol and aspirin is used.

                           

So relating back to vampires, they may not want to feed on human blood but they are compelled to do so, similar to how drug addiction works. Most people do not need to shoot up various drugs, but they feel like they have to do since they become addicted to these hard drugs. Considering Stoker’s interest in keeping everything about Dracula very up-to-date, it seems pretty plausible that Stoker is trying to make vampirism be symbolic for addiction.

As it has been demonstrated many times over, drug addiction can be seen as a force that can take control of the lives of users, and completely turn your world upside down. Dracula’s powers can be witnessed in a number of different ways. He is a shape-shifter who has the ability to command the loyalty of those under his spell, and who can control anyone who he encounters. Once Dracula marks his prey, he promises to change the life of all he consumes, leaving the victim thinking about nothing but Dracula himself. Hmmm…. Sounds like drug addiction doesn’t it?

                                               

 Drug addicts can be so drawn to their need for a drug that it can be all consuming and take over their life, similar as to how Dracula has a hold on his victims. A specific example from Dracula is when Mina experiences Dracula’s allure, unable to withstand or ignore his power. This same power already has been seen to have drawn Miss Lucy (Mina’s closest friend) to the dark side. In the move interpretation of Dracula, Mina is aware that the count represents a threat, but she still wishes to be with him always and ignores her friends who warn her to beware. Mina is so enamored of his charms that she cannot resists Dracula’s seduction and sensuous personality. This can be compared to how drug addiction can draw people towards a drug making them weak and making resistance harder and harder. Another example is Dracula’s lack of reflection in the mirror, which is similar to how drug addiction can lead to an empty promise of seeing the true self while others who witness Dracula in front of a mirror see nothing. There are many parallels seen showing how Dracula can be seen as a metaphor for addiction. It is even somewhat pitiful how vampires are forced into having extreme addiction that they cannot escape from, besides by death.