good bones

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!