I think that… perhaps… if you are going to adapt a character as a brown man, and take his traumatic history of over-sexualization since youth (which is the crux of his backstory in the source material) and make that a shared trait between him and a white character, and then treat this trait as something that makes the brown man worthy of derision while simultaneously using it to help humanize the white man and rationalize his abusive actions, you should be prepared for people to point out the racist implications of that choice.
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The death of this show will be caused by the thousand and one quips, that the amc writers' room have convinced themselves are quirky and funny. Notice how all of their jokes this season are made at the expense of lived realities that are far different from those the writers themselves may have faced? So you will have a pronoun joke here and a little racism there, with a dash of misogyny sprinkled in between. I cannot get over their little jokey "justice4antoniette", not only because the history of s1- the man of the house cheating on his black spouse with a racist white lady, who was then entrusted with the task of killing the black girl child this marriage produced-but also it feels like such an insensitive jab at the phrase in itself. Something that's so often used as a call to action for victims of violence, and sure we joke around with the phrase too and in fact mayhaps at times diluted it too- but this? THIS?? with the context we have of a TV show that once centered two black leads much to the chagrin of many, so now when there's someone else to lead the show, the characters both black and brown are being made into caricatures and flattened to death in an attempt to soothe the ruffled feathers... Yeah, that's just nasty. Also when you have "Louisiana fried chicken"/"big bad wolf"/"cancerous jackal" all wrt to a black gay man, and then a piece of costume which goes:" hip hop sucks" then the writing is already on the wall, no?
There are some points of tvl criticism I'm willing to debate and where I can very much see both sides (or even think the #haters are stretching it a little) but like. You cannot really deny that this season has shown a pattern of prioritizing white characters and their emotional journey over characters of color. On top of that, so many of the jokes are "punching down", starting with the pronoun joke in ep 1 followed by a continuous barrage of throw-away comments. And then, six episodes into a season with an all-white writers room, we have Claudia say "there's something etched in your ribs that says you're a slave". There's no reckoning with how horrifically racist this statement is, neither in the text nor the paratext. It's just sitting there, poisoning what otherwise could have been an incredible scene. Poisoning a season that felt like it was actually slowly finding its footing. It's white privilege to watch that scene and not feel, on some level, attacked by those racist words put in a Black actor's mouth by white writers. To not be haunted by the racist implications of "my bleak, black life." Before, a lot of the writing choices registered as thoughtless; at this point, it's hard to see them as anything but malicious.
People excusing the "slave" line because it comes from the book are being extremely generous toward the writers. The writer's chose to change the races of two main characters and have, for the most part, successfully deviated from the source material to account for that change for the past 2 seasons. They could've easily done it here as well. I don't like that people are trying to pretend that there isn't a racial connotation attached to it now. If they really felt it necessary to include it in the show, it should've been handled with more care imo. This combined with the other racist comments said in the same scene — that a lot of people are choosing to ignore, since they have no "it comes from the source-material" excuse to fall back on here— makes that scene really uncomfortable, to say the least.
I'm not black and I don't want to speak for or talk over those of you who are, so please feel free to completely disregard my opinion or correct me here. Assuming it really is Claudia saying those words, the racist language used in that scene doesn't make sense to me. I've tried to understand it and I can't. I'm South Asian and there isn't a world where I can imagine an argument between two South Asian people where one of them calls the other "a curry-munching monkey" mid argument, in an attempt to hurt them as much as possible. Like hello?????? That's weaponising stereotypes that would be used against both of us by racists/our oppressors. I've tried to understand it but I just can't.
And in the off-chance where this scene will be expanded on later and there is some explanation as to why she said the things she said, I still don't think the writer's room should have the free reign to use that language in their scripts without black writers in there. It's obviously an issue. This many people wouldn't be off-put by it if it wasn't an issue. Stop being willfully ignorant.
incredibly sorry for the black writers and directors of the previous two seasons who thought they were building something. I am so sorry that your work was not respected and now dismissed by this new season. I am so sorry that the love and care with which you crafted the characters, especially of Louis and Claudia was so resented that the current writers' room chose to dilute all. I am so sorry that you are having to see the anti blackness in full force on a formerly black led show and everything you worked on- your vision- it was all wiped off. I am so sorry to Jacob and Delainey for having to work with those scripts.
The showrunners chose to make Louis and Claudia black and experience life in the Jim crow era. They chose to do the full race swap in season 1, not just making the characters but also the story black. They chose to racialize the violence that both Louis and Claudia face throughout the first season. No one was forcing their hands and they got praised for the stuff they did in the first two seasons, for bringing in the added nuance of systemic racism. So why should I as an audience member of colour give them any grace when they choose to write dialogues containing numerous racialized and gendered micro aggressions not just towards Louis or Claudia but also towards minor characters like Dee or Lemuel who wren't supposed to exist as they are (black) in the show?? Why is Daniel (a white man) who is supposed to be a Pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist who was lecturing Louis on his own story about the racism he faced referring to him as a "bucket of Louisiana fried chicken"?? Why is Armand textually belittled for being a CSA victim while Lestat is endlessly provided with grace and understanding in the text of the show for his victimhood?? Who thought it was alright to adapt a scene from the books involving white characters talking about parental betrayal and insert racially charged dialogues (that too old school racist shit not even the n word) when it was unnecessary to preserve the nuance of the scene?? Why is this show denying the racialized nature of domestic violence that they chose to portray in S1 ??? (Lestat getting mildly annoyed that Louis didn't enjoy going to the operas in nola when he had to act as Lestat's servant to be allowed in tf??) Why is Gabriella like that??
I cannot help but look at this season of the show as a sign of the times tbh. IWTV aired during a very liberal era of entertainment and now that fascism and white supremacy are on the rise everywhere white entertainers have become comfortable enough to fall back into old habits. Never thought this show in particular would have this problem when I watched the first season but it is what it is I guess
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the seance scene... the more i turn it around in my head the more insulting and disgusting it is. not only it isn't given the weight it needs by making louis and lestat get over it so quickly and bonding over it (!!!!!) but it also destroys the tragedy of louis and claudia's dynamic. saying that claudia preferred lestat to louis and only chose louis to run away with her because he was easier to manipulate completely undermines the love claudia had for him. they had a complex relationship! claudia hated him and loved him so deeply all throughout her life. she loved him so much! she came back to rue royale because she knew he couldn't get out of that abusive relationship by himself. because she wanted to save him. she nurtered and took care of him for months after the drop. she tolerated lestat for him! even after he chose armand over her in paris, she still visited him with madeleine. she screamed his name in the trial after they dragged him away.
louis and claudia's relationship is tragic and doomed. it's not black and white! she hated him for what he did and how he failed her and she loved him deeply! that's her father/brother she couldn't save, who would never choose her first, who would always put someone else before her. that's why it hurts! it's crazy to even think she hates louis and lestat the same amount
retconning this to portray lestat in a better light makes no sense, because it doesn't even make him more likeable. instead of justifying his abuse or revealing that the poc characters were actually lying/manipulating each other they should've made him acknowledge his actions and look at what he did to those he loved in the eye. this is disgusting, cowardly and bad writing
Welp. I have done the thing again where I try to ignore the bad bits until they are so blatant that it is entirely unignorable, and now I am reckoning with how bad it is and was. And by bad I mean racist and by it I mean the writing in The Vampire Lestat. What the fuck was that seance scene.
Possible interview with the vampire book spoilers but I'm pretty sure it should be ok.
I have a genuine question! please forgive me if it comes off as defending the racist writing I want to be clear that its really pissing me off also and is why I'm sending this ask. But how do you know when something is racist in this show and when it's something that was in the original books? or when it's both? Because Louis in the books as we know was a white slave owner, I feel like making him black has both improved the story tenfold and also made it really complicated now that we are in Lestats pov because Louis is intentionally lying in the books in a way I don't think show Louis is. I have not read the Vampire Lestat but I know there are some reveals that make Lestat more sympathetic and I'm afraid of those reveals in the show coming off as racist now and dismissing Louis more than he already has been. I don't know if this makes much sense but I'm just really struggling with sympathizing with Lestat and Louis at the same time when the writing is getting more racist than ever this season. I'm trying to enjoy it as a story and also be critical of it as a piece of media someone wrote and it's just getting more and more annoying. What is racist writing and what is Lestat and Daniel being racist and complicated characters. You are one of the only blogs who I consistently agree with on interview with the vampire so that is why I'm asking you but of course no pressure to respond or post this! it feels like it may invite discourse and I don't want to inflict that on your blog.
hello! thank you so much for the ask! it definitely doesn't come off as defending the racist writing or anything, i completely understand where you're coming from 🙂↕️ and hopefully i can answer in a way that makes sense. (it ended up being VERY long so it's under a read more lmao im sorry)
ignoring the reason that rolin said he made louis a black man specifically just for the sake of this post (because that would only make it even lengthier while i go into detail about my disdain for that man), i also think making him a black man living in the jim crow south was a wonderful change from his book origins—it gave him so much more depth and allowed his story to be told in a more meaningful way. the issue though with making him black, comes in how he's written within the context of those around him. i believe that, for the most part, s1 and s2 did a great job of emphasizing the racism and homophobia that louis experiences without it feeling like the writers themselves are inflicting their own antiblack biases upon him. he grew up as a closeted creole man in the south so his negative experiences made sense from a story standpoint, you know? we knew why they were happening for the most part.
lestat was a french man from a different century that was frustratingly out of touch, but that too felt purposeful. you could see the moments where he truly loved louis and how that love drove him to behave in despicable ways out of fear of losing that love. it played into the belief that you can care for someone, but not understand them, and ultimately hurt them deeply because of that. lestat is a flawed character, they all are, but he felt far more realistic and better written to me. even during the trial he admitted that he'd dropped louis from the sky to hurt him, to break him, because louis wasn't returning his affection. the onus was not put upon louis (by lestat, as other vampires did very much blame louis) for not returning lestat's feelings.
lestat was actually one of my favorite characters in the previous seasons, i really loved a lot of what they did with him. overall, it was a realistic sort of writing without feeling like the show and universe were making him (louis) a dartboard for everyone's grievances or turning him into the stereotypical sort of black caricature. it didn't feel like they were resentful of his blackness in those seasons.
although, sometimes it did feel like they were skirting around wanting to fully acknowledge his (or claudia's) blackness, but that was more of an issue for me in s2—such as calling the trial a stoning and not a lynching. but i still think it was all handled with more care and intention than in s3. you could see where both louis and lestat were in the wrong for various actions, as opposed to louis being the singular villain that drove lestat to do all the bad things he does.
in TVL (the novel), lestat becomes a rockstar primarily to take the heat off of louis, who is at risk from other vampires following the publication of the book. at its core, his motives are based on love for louis and a desire to protect him from the danger that he has unknowingly put himself in by revealing their nature to the world. in the series, though, louis does not want the book published, but daniel does so anyway, putting louis in danger (as is shown by the reveal that he killed 30-something vampires in dubai). if they were still attempting to go for book accuracy—which you'd think, given rolin toted that fuckass book around everywhere during early promo, showing off how loved it was—this wouldn't have happened, OR it would've been revealed that lestat helped him kill those vampires. because would lestat not want to aid the man he supposedly loves, especially considering that louis didn't even want the book published in this universe and made that clear?
and that's only the beginning of the the changes they make, though in regards to louis it's just brand new writing, seeing as he's not that big of a character in TVL. they had the opportunity to do quite literally anything with louis' character because they were deviating from book-canon with him, and yet this is the route they took. and it's where i think they shifted from an in-universe racism that made sense given the time period, to the writers slipping in their own dislike of the character. i will die on this hill, but i truly don't think they anticipated the love louis (and claudia) would get during the first two seasons, along with the backlash lestat would receive due to the abuse he put them through, and so they're trying to walk it back and make louis seem like this deplorable, wretched character that's more flawed than anyone else. also, lowkey, i think there was some bitterness regarding how powerful louis' ending monologue was and how deeply it was loved.
lestat being characteristically racist, to me, was with scenes in s1 and s2 where he overlooked the disrespect louis experienced at the hands of tom, the alderman or at the opera in favor of trying to pacify him or smooth over louis' disdain by downplaying the experiences or ignoring the racism at their core. lestat didn't know the first thing about racism or experiencing it and didn't care to, he's a blond-haired, blue-eyed frenchman. you watch the disconnect between him and louis, or lestat and claudia and, while frustrating, you understand why it's happening and where it comes from.
the way every character is treating louis in s3 is the writers themselves being racist and antiblack towards louis and using the other characters as a channel to express it. daniel calling louis a "bucket of louisiana fried chicken" was extremely unnecessary and played more for racist shock value than the character daniel actually trying to be as scathing as possible. he's undoubtedly got a way with words and could've said innumerable cruel things without jumping to that particular insult. i think that was done more for the writers enjoyment than correct characterization. there's no real reason for him to suddenly make such a comment about louis when he was trying to repair their relationship last we saw the two together (as he also brings up louis ignoring him).
louis is called a whore by lestat for sleeping with one man (a reveal that's given to us while louis is reaching out during a moment if extreme emotional distress), louis is called a liar and a manipulator by lestat and armand respectively, they're still pushing the pimp narrative, and his character arcs feels rushed and discarded. the writers are consistently disrespecting louis and retconning what he's said and done during the first two seasons for reasons that go beyond wanting to push him back into a relationship with lestat. louis is forced to apologize and lower himself again and again when there is no reason for him to.
lestat's overall treatment doesn't make much sense. like i said in a previous post, him being upset at louis for not reaching out when he was shot makes no sense considering lestat wasn't rushing to his aid when louis was shot as a very young fledgling in s1. nor did he go rushing to louis' aid if he truly thought him to be dead after armand called him (lestat) in s2—something that's even more bizzare considering he allegedly did not stay away from louis out of fear that he would not believe lestat was actually the one to save him, but because he wanted louis to be miserable. where is the love between these two characters that was felt in s1 & s2?
i don't feel any longing for louis from lestat's perspective (nor longing for lestat from louis' tbh). it feels like the writers just want louis to beg and crawl to lestat's feet and then he'll take him back and all will be well. where is the mutual love? the painful desire and regret given their past and shared trauma following the death of their daughter? they've barely shared any scenes together and what we have seen has been a rushed mess or just another way to show that louis was yet again in the wrong. this isn't in-universe in-character choices, this is the writers attempting to humble the black man as retribution for how much growth/gained independence he had in the previous season, and how well-loved he was as a way to coddle and exonerate his white love interest.
you cannot cherry pick what you want to adapt from the books if you're only doing so in order to demonize one character and absolve the other/excuse him of the awful things he's done. im going to run the risk of sounding like a broken record here so im gonna bring this to a close, but i hope i answered your question even a little bit!
tldr; you could see the complexities of all the characters in s1 and s2 and understand their relationships in regards to racism, internalized homophobia and sexism within themselves and each other. it all felt purposeful and (mostly) correctly characterized—everyone felt real. in s3 louis has been turned into an apologetic caricature with a lack of good writing, and almost everyone else has been turned into copy-paste cynical quip-givers that the writers can use to vomit exposition and lore/show how louis is actually the worst of the worst and lestat was essentially forced to do every bad thing he's ever done.
Making Claudia into a one dimensional lying angry black woman stereotype when she had a cold righteous rage that simmered through all of her injustice is just so disheartening. Her complex relationship with her parental figures was so nuanced where love, respect, disappointment, and resentment merged into a special highlight of the show. A strange rant where she's inexplicably racist and hateful to Louis over the man she compared to a literal tyrant slave owner feels so off. She has the right to be angry at them both but the implication that Louis was the worst person to her serves nothing other than the writer's agenda to discount the beauty of s1 and 2.
okay, for those interested, here is a full timeline of how we got to Count Binface:
1977: Star Wars is released, featuring, of course, Darth Vader
(Pictured: Darth Vader)
1984: Director Todd Durham releases his Star Wars parody movie, Hyperspace, featuring Darth Vader inspired villain Lord Buckethead.
(Pictured: Hyperspace poster featuring two Jawa-esque aliens flying through space in a shopping trolley.)
1987: Hyperspace is released on video in the UK, under the new title Gremloids.
(Pictured: Gremloids cover in the style of the original Star Wars poster, featuring Lord Buckethead.)
To promote the film, Mike Lee, the owner of the distributing company, ran for parliament as Lord Buckethead. He ran in Margaret Thatcher's constituency, Finchley, in order to get on TV. Lord Buckethead was representing the Gremloids party.
(Pictured: Lord Buckethead on TV with Margaret Thatcher.)
1992: Gremloids is re-released. Lord Buckethead rides again, this time against prime minister John Major in Huntingdon. (Here's a fun fact about Huntingdon: I was born there! :D) 87/92 Buckethead seems to have leaned pretty hard into the space supervillain thing, with campaign promises including 'demolish Birmingham to build a spaceport'.
(Pictured: Lord Buckethead on TV with John Major. Other notable candidates include Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Loony Party.)
2017: comedian Jon Harvey, having recently watched Gremloids and learned of Lord Buckethead's candidacy for parliament, decides it's a great bit. He runs against Theresa May in Maidenhead. 2017 Buckethead seems to have a wackier and also more political approach, with campaign promises ranging from nonsense like 'nationalise Adele' to gesturing at actually sensible policies with stuff like 'lower the voting age to 16 and restrict voting after age 80'.
He also made an appearance on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. As with his previous incarnation, he was a member of the Gremloids party.
(Pictured: Lord Buckethead dabbing on stage with Theresa May.)
2018: Director Todd Durham asserts his legal ownership of Lord Buckethead. Jon Harvey opted not to go to court over Buckethead and handed over the reins. Todd Durham extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to be the 'authorised' Lord Buckethead.
(Pictured: the new Lord Buckethead.)
2019: Lord Buckethead, now played by journalist David Hughes, stood against Boris Johnson in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. He ran for the Monster Raving Loony Party, the UK's pre-existing gag candidate party. He ran with a similarly silly manifesto as the 2017 incarnation, but with a bit less of a political edge. His promises included 'All doorways to be increased by 1 foot (30 cm) in height' and 'Nigel Farage to be sold for parts'.
(Pictured: Lord Buckethead and Count Binface square up.)
Meanwhile, Jon Harvey in his new persona Count Binface, also ran against Boris Johnson. Buckethead and Binface face off! Binface ran as an independent with a manifesto once again blending silly and semi-serious promises such as 'nationalising model railways' and 'giving £1 trillion a week to the NHS'. This was also I believe the debut of his promise to 'move the hand dryer in the men's toilet at Uxbridge's Crown and Treaty pub to a more sensible position'.
(Pictured: Count Binface presenting the offending hand dryer, inconveniently close to both the sink and the urinals.)
He has a point.
2021: Count Binface runs for the position of Mayor of London for the first time, with promises such as 'London to join the European Union'. He notably finished ahead of far right party UKIP.
2023: Count Binface runs in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election following Boris Johnson's resignation. He once again gets more votes than UKIP.
May 2024: Count Binface once again runs to be Mayor of London, debuting his now iconic 'build at least one affordable house' promise. Notably, he finished ahead of far right party Britain First.
(Pictured: Count Binface with Rishi Sunak. Also pictured: Monster Raving Loony Party candidate Sir Archibald Stanton with a ventriloquist's dummy.)
July 2024: Count Binface stands in the general election, running in Richmond and Northallerton against prime minister Rishi Sunak. He debuts his promise to cap the price of 99p flakes at 99p. This is his most successful election to date with 308 votes.
(Pictured: Count Binface with Andy Burnham. Also pictured: independent candidate Robert Pownell, dressed as a fox for his own reasons.)
June 2026: Count Binface stands in the Makerfield by-election against Andy Burnham, (recently) former Mayor of Manchester running for parliament with the intention of standing in the Labour Party leadership contest.
(Pictured: Count Binface on BBC's Newsnight.)
July 2026 (this week): Count Binface announces his intention to run against Nigel Farage in the upcoming Clacton by-election. He is briefly the only other candidate in the race and by the time other candidates announce themselves the narrative of 'Nigel Farage vs Count Binface' has already bedded in. And then it was now, and then I don't know what happened.
For clarity's sake, Robert Pownall is dressed as a fox because he's an anti-fox hunting campaigner, and also he will be standing in the Farage Vs Binface election. So that's fun
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so many people ive known have pushed themselves to burnout trying to deny their disabled reality, skipping accommodations, skipping rests etc. and the world convinces them that the solution to their burnout is to push even harder. it’s a huge tragedy. i know social pressures make it tough but i want more disabled people to make things easier for themselves where possible, to opt out of things that harm them when possible, to quit while they’re ahead. be that person today! protect yourself where you can! take micro breaks while doing your hobby. get that shower chair. sit to brush your teeth. lie down in the middle of the day, even if only for 5 mins. these things add up and it’s so worth it.
Of course! Let’s dive in—the seven different provinces of the United States of America are: The Beast Coast, Luigiana, Better Wisconsin, Minigan, Long California, Texas, and Canada+!
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lestat said kill yourself and armand made one of his bandmates jump in front of a train. lestat made fun of armand's sexual performance and past as a child sex slave and armand helped his boyfriend leak a video of lestat having sex with his own mother. you go low he goes to hell hall of fame
It really says something that a lot of monogamous people consider polyamorous and aromantic to be "opposites" but every polyam person I know took one look at aromantics and said "they're just like me for real"
Poly folks x aro folks in the sense that "alloromantic heterosexual monogamous people view love and sex as an entirely different entity than me, and that makes life kinda strange"
