demons to some, angels to others

Lestat wants this documentary to feel better. He’s not confused about the past, there’s no missing memories, but he’s also not interested in opening himself up to feel hurt. Not like how Louis was in the first 2 seasons. The goal here isn’t truth. Lestat just wants to feel better about himself after the book’s release.

And so I think he gets Daniel to direct it, yes to be spiteful and make the author rewrite his own words, but also because there must be smthg to Daniel’s skills if he can change Louis’ entire outlook on life. Daniel must be good at his job and so the doc will succeed in what Lestat wants for it to.

But Daniel… is lacking. His questions are piss poor and the book has made him arrogant. He tries using the same tactics he used on Louis with Lestat, but they come out so mediocre. “Was it raining?” was to remind Louis that memories are not completely reliable. “Were you a stutterer as a child?” is his attempt to remind Lestat of his imperfections and bring down his ego, but the issue is that Lestat’s ego is fake. He is vain and self centered, but he’s also extremely self conscious and critical. In 3x01 he boasts about it being his era now, but when Daniel points out that only 5 people tops attend his concerts, Lestat goes well that’s why I only book venues with 5 seats! He’s simultaneously conceited and very self aware.

So Daniel’s aim to “knock Lestat down a peg” isn’t really working because Lestat already has a low opinion of himself, despite what it may seem like at first glance. But my god, Daniel isn’t picking this up at all. He’s not actually paying attention to the differences in Lestat vs Louis or accounting for why The Interview worked out so well in the first place (DanLou’s shared goal+Louis being all too open to find the source of his pain. He wasn’t looking to feel better, he was looking to excavate himself and was just asking Daniel for a hand.)

But now, Daniel’s just whacking at the same spot over & over again and waiting for something different to happen. Gabriella says Lestat is finding him boring and I can see why. What a disappointment. I almost feel bad for Lestat because he was clearly looking for this documentary to do something, but Daniel’s not the journalist he was before. Lestat even point blank tells him he’s “not Louis”, yet Daniel completely misses the hint and just continues whacking away.

On top of this, it’s clear Daniel’s goal isn’t to get to the truth. It’s simply to pull out pain. 3x03 Lestat agrees to sit down and answer questions, and he’s even honest about what his songs actually mean, but Daniel only uses this time to taunt. I’m not saying he owes Lestat pleasantries, he really doesn’t, but he’s just looking for a wound and trying to make Lestat bleed. For the sole purpose of making Lestat bleed. And this is why Lestat pulls that sob-to-laugh trick because obviously Daniel’s only looking for him to break down.