Hi! I don't know if this has already come up for you, but I've seen a lot of tweets that the CSA in regards to Louis was just meant as a metaphor & not something that really happened to him. An insensitive comment by Louis that didn't land. And a lot of people are in favor of this narrative.
I think that it what happened to Louis was real & that he said it in that moment, because he wanted to put a mirror to what Gabriella is actually doing to Lestat. I could also imagine that Louis' own experience fueled his initial reaction by seeing Gabistat.
What do you think? Do you think Louis' line is ambiguous enough that it could go either way?
Hmmm.
It didn't read as metaphorical or ambiguous to me. It was framed as if it was something that Louis and Lestat had already previously discussed as a testament to their relationship. Lestat's tone read to me as Lestat being hurt at the thought of someone doing to Louis what Gabriella is doing to him, and he quickly wanted to convey to Louis that they didn't need to rehash it.
When you look at the comment within the full context of the conversation, it's telling to me, because Lestat points out that he knows Florence called Louis the devil and blamed Louis for Paul's death. Lestat knows Louis' most shameful trauma, which sheds light on the fact they did communicate their deepest feelings back in the day. They were trusted best friends first and foremost, and that was on full display the entire episode. So I think Louis was trying to tell Lestat that the "dollar" from the cousin didn't justify sexual abuse, because Lestat was trying to frame Gabriella "helping him" to picture the larger life outside of Auvergne as if he owed her this access to his body. It read to me as Louis saying he relates, but it's not okay no matter what the other person gives you. I just don't see something as profound as that being metaphorical.
I do wish someone would ask Jacob about this scene. I watched After Dark hoping for a good discussion on the entire Gabriella reveal, but I should've known better. The interviewer has been abysmal all season. 😑 In fact, I'm not seeing many good discussions about it, because so many simply don't seem to understand grooming and incest, which brings me to your other point about Louis' reaction.
Louis' initial response to this was horrific, yes. He said some very grotesque things to Lestat. However, it was a very real reaction. Look no further than some of the fandom reaction, because they think Lestat being an adult means it's not abuse and that he's a willing, consenting participant. No. That's not how it works at all, and the scene at the bar heavily implied this relationship crossed the lines into sexual abuse long before Lestat was turned. Combine that with the fact Gabriella traumatizing him at the witches' place is why he has the stutter, and it's a chilling picture of what his life was actually like with her. Lestat hides this for a reason. Lestat was sick at the thought of Louis knowing about this for a reason. It comes with a stigma, and Lestat is aware of this.
With Louis, he wasn't aware of what >we< know about it at that point. He didn't know the backstory. All he saw was Lestat seemingly having consensual sex with his mother. It's hard for people to comprehend that the very dynamic of a parent-child relationship means the child cannot consent. No matter how old they are. And really, Louis took offense to the fact Lestat had "lied" about it. That is what really pissed off Louis. He spent decades with Armand being deceived and having his brain scrambled and now he's back with Lestat, they're trying to be open and honest with each other again instead of the petty games, and here's this big reveal that spirals back centuries that was under Louis' nose the entire time, yet Lestat never told him the full truth of it. We just saw in the previous scene that Louis is frustrated, because he wants to know all of Lestat. He wants to know his backstory, but Lestat explained that he just wanted to live a new life with Louis and for Louis. It's a romantic enough gesture, yes, but the truth behind that is the shame and the trauma. That's when Lestat looks away in shame and self-loathing and simply responds with "Because, Louis. I'm a monster."
There is way more laden into that statement than just the shame about his blood. Victims of incest and sexual abuse often hate themselves and blame themselves for the abuse they suffer. Their abusers often gaslight them and brainwash them into believing that they (the abuser) are the only one who will ever "love" them. That is exactly what Gabriella has done to Lestat. She was doing it in the previous scene after the rehearsal when she said Louis "likes his phone." The leading implication there is that >she< appreciates Lestat in a way that Louis does not. It's manipulation, gaslighting, isolation, and emotional abuse. She's trying to drive a wedge between Lestat and Louis by asserting herself as the "better" companion by taking shots at Lestat's self-esteem in relation to Louis' perception of him. It's an insidious pattern, because Lestat believes that Louis will find him disgusting and will abandon him if he knows about the abuse. It's what Gabriella has made Lestat believe.
It's not until Lestat has the full-blown panic attack that it finally clicks with Louis that this is something way more sinister than just "Lestat fucks his mother" and when he realizes, he's immediately apologizing and trying to comfort Lestat. That's one of the horrors of the relationship. Lestat, the victim, is victim-blamed for the simple fact one has to understand the layered and complex psychological mechanics of incestuous sexual abuse and people don't understand.
But Louis is trying to understand, because he loves Lestat, and he knows he messed up by judging something that he didn't know, but as soon as he got it thanks to Lestat's gut-wrenching reaction? He showed sympathy and understanding and basically told Lestat in the bar scene that he would carry that burden with Lestat. "A hill to climb."
The entire context of the reveal spoke to the magnitude of their relationship, complete with the hints about the kind of things they'd reveal only to each other (Louis' CSA + Louis' family trauma), and I just wish people would be more gentle with Louis about this. He didn't know what was truly happening or why Lestat hid it from him, but he does now, and he's trying.
