Central Themes for the Opening Credits of True Blood

True Blood is based on the Sookie Stackhouse series, which takes place in a small town in Louisiana where vampires are now integrated in society. The series takes on a new twist on the vampire theme; vampires now live among humans however, they are continuously treated as second class citizens. The series symbolizes numerous cultural and historical references to American society, which can be all seen in the opening credits for the TV show True Blood.

In my opinion, True blood has one of the most stunning opening credits. The opening title shows the themes of religion, sex, and racial struggles that are present in the Sookie Stackhouse series as well.  There is a parallel that can be seen with the vampires as social outcasts and how nowadays people of different race or sexual orientation can also be out casted from society. One parallel is when they show the sign for “God Hates Fangs”, which symbolizes the Westboro Baptist Church and how they discriminate against homosexual people with their usual “God Hates Fags” sign. 

Another theme the opening credits of True Blood was trying to focus on was comparing sexual ecstasy with religious ecstasy. There are some scenes which are of women acting promiscuously then it cuts to different women praying vigorously. It seems as if the writers were trying to show a parallel between perversion and then them trying to seek redemption through prayer. The writer is trying to suggest that the belief system of the south was that no matter of what kind of evil or sin was committed last night, it can always be redeemed and you can start anew the next day with all of your sins being forgiven.

                   

There was also multiple archival footage that suggested race related social unrest, similar to how the vampires are feeling while they are living amongst humans. Pictures of KKK members and segregated black only churches hint on the theme of racism in the south.

                    

Another central theme is the vampire representation of as a predator or parasite. Footage on decaying animals, carnivorous plants, and images of bones suggest that vampires can be seen analogous to a supernatural predator, similarly to how nature can be seen as a predator as well (ex: predators eating their prey). Also there is a scene with a possum laying dead on the floor with blood everywhere, which can symbolize how humans are prey to vampires who are easy for them to kill.

Also the opening credits show the Louisiana swamps and the wilderness and cultures of the south to try and symbolize the mind set of its inhabitants. This look into the landscape of Louisiana allows the viewers to see how there is repressed sexual energy paralleled with religious extremists. The credits show that humans can have a certain animalistic lust as well, that gives us beast-like qualities, which can be compared to the similar supernatural beast-like characteristics of vampires.

                        

Homophobia, Dracula and Homoeroticism

For the time period, Dracula is a striking novel with homoerotic themes for the victorian ages. Many characters describe interactions with the vampires that are easily interpreted as homoerotic, for instance, Dracula has many scenes where his actions and words convey his lust for Jonathan Harker, like when he rebukes his brides for touching him, claiming that Harker is "Mine" these homoerotic themes might stand out to us in today's time, but these themes did not fly over the heads of the Victorian audiences that read this novel. Bram Stoker was not the type of literary genius that successfully hid homoerotic themes in his novel that nobody noticed until the twentieth century.

Stoker lived in a very homophobic time; one of his friends (Or acquaintances) was Oscar Wilde who was at the time on trial for having a homosexual relationship. It would be hard to say that this did not influence Dracula, but there is no denying that the homoerotic themes are present. The titular character Dracula, is not the traditional hetero normative male character, he does display much more homosexual tendencies and gender inversion not common among literary characters of the time. This is not to say that the character suffers from it, his homosexual characteristics might add to his villainy among Victorian audiences. He very well could be the type of character that the readers are given another reason to hate for his departure form traditional gender and sexual orientation roles.

This brings up an interesting point; did Bram Stoker mold the villain of his most famous work to make the readers hate him even more? Instead of just creating a mythical monster that offends the readership by his very existence, he created one that’s a monster in more ways than one. The social consequences of being a homosexual in those times were dire, and by creating a villain that displays homosexual tendencies makes him that much more dangerous. Dracula didn’t just threaten life, he threatened the social pressures of the time and made him seem that much more demonic. Today a gay vampire might not raise many eyebrows, but back then, the idea of a homosexual who essentially infects his victims with the same tendencies is a very real fear people of the time felt. Stoker’s characters were not dealing with just a common ground monster, this was a being who could turn gender and sexual norms upside down, and that made him all the more necessary to be destroyed. Stoker might well have created Dracula as a criticism of the social and societal views of homosexuality at the time. Whether this is just a criticism or just good use of knowing your audience is yet to be determined.

Gay or Nay?

            I decided to approach Grendel in a way that challenges the normative hetero-sexist interpretation. I think that it is arguable to say that Grendel may be gay. I’m not arguing that he fits neatly into any category like pansexuality, bisexuality, demisexuality, asexuality, or homosexuality, whether or not he is romantic or aromantic, I am simply putting forward a case for Grendel and any homoerotic tendencies he may have.

            What first stood out to me was the way that Grendel interacted with Wealhtheow after invading her bedroom. He spreads her legs apart and plots how he will kill her. He decides that he will “hold her over the fire and cook the ugly hole between her legs” gleeful at the prospect of “squeezing out her feces” (109) with his fists. Though he ended up sparing her life, he left the hall “concentrated on the memory of the ugliness between her legs (bright tears of blood) and laughed” (110). Wealhtheow and her femininity disgusts Grendel, he literally runs away thinking about how ugly the thing he saw under her dress was, that thing being her vagina. He doesn’t spare any thoughts that reveal a sense of intrigue over her genitalia, simply, her vagina is a hole and it is ugly.  

            The way that Grendel interacts with Beowulf is much different. When Grendel first encounters Beowulf he gets the impression that Beowulf has a “gentle voice” and that his smile has “some magician-power” (154). Grendel goes into great detail describing Beowulf’s muscular physique, something that he seems to take great interest in. In fact, Grendel was so impressed by Beowulf’s musculature that he felt that he could “drop into a trance just looking at those shoulders,” sleek and “rippled with power.” As Beowulf talks, Grendel finds himself getting too distracted by “merely looking at his mouth” (155) to even listen to what he was saying. Getting distracted by Beowulf seems to be somewhat of a trend for Grendel as he yet again finds it hard to focus when he is faced with Beowulf’s “gleaming shoulders” (164) as he peeks into the hall after Wealhtheow makes a speech to Beowulf. Beowulf’s body undeniably intrigues Grendel.

            Whereas the feminine physical form seems to disgust Grendel, the masculine physical form is one he greatly admires. He thoroughly catalogs both forms; pulling Wealhtheow’s legs apart to observe her vagina and visually surveying Beowulf intensely on more than one occasion. If he keeps getting distracted because Beowulf’s body is just so magnificent that he can’t stop looking at it and thinks that vaginas are just ugly holes, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that Grendel may have some homoerotic proclivities.

So what do you think? Is Grendel Gay or nay?