Sookie Stackhouse: Bad Character, or Underated Badass?

Since starting True Blood and observing everyone’s reaction to it, I have come to the conclusion that everyone’s most hated character is the lead, Sookie Stackhouse. Most of the common complaints I have heard tend to consist of how she seems so willing to give up her independence to men, her all about me attitude, and how she constantly makes dumb decisions. Many would also seem to cite her as an example of the continuing problems that male writers have when it comes to female characters, making them obsessed with men and having them constantly failing the Bechdel Test by bringing conversations back to the men in their lives. With all of these in mind, I have to ask, why is it that nobody likes her? Honestly, she probably fits plenty of the definitions of feminists, only in a strange, roundabout way that requires looking at some of her actions and how a normal person would react in the situations that she gets into. The most notable way that she screams feminist power fantasy to me is in, ironically, her relationship to Bill. As a vampire, Bill is hated by the rest of the town, with the exception of Sookie and her grandmother. Literally everyone, from Sookie’s brother Jason to her boss Sam to her best friend Tara, thinks that getting involved with Bill is a terrible idea. Despite this, Sookie ignores all of their comments and continues her relationship with Bill. The reason why this screams feminist power fantasy to me is because it’s Sookie’s choice to remain with Bill. When it comes down to it, things would probably be easier for Sookie if she, metaphorically speaking, rolled over and acquiesced to the wishes of the people in town, most of whom are male. Instead, Sookie stands by her decision to be with Bill, despite the disapproval she receives. Sookie makes her own choices and stands by them, until she sees evidence staring directly at her that she is wrong. Ultimately, that is what I believe that the core goal of feminism is, to be able to make your own choices and stand by them until proven wrong. As to Sookie’s tendency to be somewhat deferential to the men in her life, most of the men in her life that she interacts with on a regular basis have some way of threatening her. The most obvious are Bill and Eric, who are both ancient vampires with superhuman speed, strength, hypnosis, immunity to conventional weapons, and possibly magical powers that haven’t been revealed yet, powers that include, based on traditional vampire lore, weather control, transformations into a bat, wolf, or mist, the power to control the foul things of the night like rats, bats, and wolves, various magic spells, and a whole host of potentially deadly abilities if modern vampire lore is to be believed. So naturally, a twenty-something bar waitress who has a rather unathletic build and can’t use her signature mind reading ability to help her totally stands a chance against hundred year old immortals who can turn a mobile home into what looks like the aftermath of tornado. Really, it’s a wonder Sookie can get away with saying some of the things she does, particularly toward Eric, a much older vampire than any we have seen so far who is used to getting his way and not having to deal with back talk. Honestly, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would say that they would react any differently than Sookie would if they were in the situations that she gets into. Overall, while I do see some problems with Sookie, I honestly don’t get the extreme amount of hatred toward her. Maybe it’s just me, but to me, Sookie is a decent character who deserves more credit than she gets.