Why wouldn't Hoyt like Jessica's vlog?

As you can see from our response to Season 4 thus far, we're pretty interested in the story arc following Hoyt & Jessica's relationship, or - as we like to say using a play on Alan Ball's words (AB has said that one of the themes he wants to explore through the show is the "terrors of intimacy") - the "terrors of domesticity".

Jessica Hamby's vlog Babyvamp Jessica (not a typo, short for "video blog") offers a great extension of this True Blood subplot; it brings added emotional tone and tenor to its characters, twists, and turns.

Her first two posts of 2011 were put up three days before the Season 4 premiere episode "She's Not There" aired, likely as a means of adding to the media buzz while, at the same time, feeding the appetites of Truebies hungry for anything True Blood.

Aside from being a marvelous marketing ploy, Jessica's June 23rd posts open a new window on her relationship with Hoyt.

Here's the first one; Jessica's hiding out in the backyard to tape the vlog from a disapproving Hoyt...


Jessica's Blog: Blowin' Smoke

...and the second; he's found that she's still vlogging by rustling through her private things.

Jessica's Blog: Snoopin' Around

Here's some of the serious questions these posts have raised for me about the dynamics of Jessica & Hoyt's relationship:

• Why doesn't Hoyt like her vlog? Is it because he's a quiet, private person who fears such a public platform will lead to an invasion of their privacy? Has he become controlling? Maybe he'd like Jessica to himself, instead of having to share her with the anonymous Internet "friends" she discloses personal things to in each post? Has he communicated clearly with her as to why he is uneasy with it, can they strike a mutual understanding that will work for both of them?
• Must Jessica hide any action of hers she thinks Hoyt won't like or disagree with?
• How can they both ride the razor's edge of maintaining their individual identity while being part of a relationship - not let the "me" be subsumed by the "we"? Can they learn to allow each other the space they need, or will one smother the other? Can they respect each other's privacy/choices within the context of their relationship?     
• What are the consequences of Jessica's continuing to do something she told Hoyt she would stop - and his finding out about it via snooping? Will this whittle the foundation of trust a relationship should be built upon further? Will they have an open and honest discussion or will this drive her further underground with her vlogging? Give rise to his further snooping?
• Should Hoyt have veto power over Jessica's activities and pursuits? What is the role of compromise in healthy relationships? If he can legitimately make the case that her vlog is negatively impact him and/or their relationship does she have a responsibility to her partner to be considerate of his feelings and stop the behavior that is upsetting to him?
• What role in her life is Jessica's vlog playing; what needs is it fulfilling? If it is an important outlet for her, should she have to hide it/give it up? Should Jessica and Hoyt - who are both somewhat isolated in their relationship, without family support or many close friends - be exploring ways to build up their supportive circle together?

What do you think? Has anything similar ever happened in your relationship? How do you negotiate the terrors of intimacy; of domesticity? I'm curious, please let me know in the comments section below!

~ Rachel

Surrender

Oh, the city's alight with lovers and lies
And bright blue eyes.
Oh, the city is bright, it's brighter than day tonight.
(Surrender, surrender)
(Surrender, surrender)

Sadie said she couldn't work out what it was all about
And so she let go.
Now Sadie's on the street and the people she meets you know.

She tried to be a good girl and a good wife
Raise a good family
Lead a good life
It's not good enough
She got herself up on the 48th floor
Gotta find out
Find out what she's living for.

Oh, the city's afire
A passionate flame that knows me by name.
Oh, the city's desire to take me for more and more.
It's in the street gettin' under my feet
It's in the air, it's everywhere I look for you.
It's in the things that I  do and say
and if i wanna live I gotta die to myself someday                             

                                                                 ~ Surrender lyrics - U2

     I had every intention of re-watching this past episode of True Blood (If You Love Me, Why Am I Dying?) and taking plenty of notes in order to write this post... that didn't really happen. I took notes, just not plenty of notes! Instead I found myself glued to the screen, desperately trying to take it all in again. I looked down at what I wrote, a mere line or two and for a split second, I got a little worried. Had I not watched closely enough? Did I not pay attention? I turned to Rachel, sitting beside me and shrugged, then we began to discuss and it was clear we both made very similar observations. We noted the recurring themes: dishonesty, temptation, religion, addiction, recovery; I turned to Rae and suddenly a light went on in my head! "Write down 'Surrender' for me", I asked. When she told me she already had I said again "Surrender", you know as in U2?!" and held up the hard cover book U2 by U2 I was leaning on to further make my point.

     Sur-ren-der- verb (used with object)
     1. To yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress 
     2. To give (oneself) up, as to the police
     3. To give (oneself) up to some influence, course, emotion etc.


     During the course of this episode we bore witness to no less than 10 different moments of surrender (to quote U2 again). These moments ranging from the traditional definition of the word, to more esoteric characterizations, can be seen throughout almost every plot and sub-plot in the episode.

     Alan Ball has a way of brilliantly stringing together seemingly unconnected story lines. You could say his style is the literary equivalent to pointillism; you need to take a step back at times to see the whole picture. What I saw when I stepped back ran the gamut from emotional, to sexual, to religious surrender; every character giving up or giving in to some force seen or unseen.

     From the very start we learn just how much Eric has been forced to surrender, be it his memory, his identity or his clothes! Where did those clothes go anyway? We watch as he stands there, dazed and disoriented in front of Sookie, desperately trying to remember some piece of who he used to be. In turn we see Sookie, re-inviting Eric into her house. Giving up her space, her sanctuary, surrendering if you will, to a man who only days before informed her that he had purchased said house out from under her...rendering her powerless to his advances.

     Although Jessica's  moment of surrender occurred in the prior episode, she is now left to deal with the aftermath.  Weighed down by the guilt of acquiescing to temptation, she is advised to "vamp up" and come clean to Hoyt. What we tend to forget, given the fact that Jessica is a vampire, is that she is a seventeen year old vampire and still quite naive when it comes to love, lust and life in general. Unable to deal with the pain she has caused Hoyt she opts to confess and then Glamour her way out of what would undoubtedly be a messy fight. This proves to be our next flirtation with surrender as Hoyt, amid protest, succumbs to Jessica's influence thus putting an end their troubles....for now!

     Andy, Andy, Andy oh, excuse me Sheriff Bellefleur (my apologies)! Over the years we have seen Andy rise and fall and rise again from temptation. He managed to curb his addiction to alcohol only to trade it in for a nasty "V" habit. Many recovery programs advocate giving yourself over to a "higher power". We can only assume Andy is aware of this process through his previous addiction and recovery. We get a hint of Andy using his instincts through reaching out to a "sponsor" by calling Jason, and when that didn't work he started reciting the serenity prayer, a prayer often used at support meetings. When his cravings didn't subside he gave in....surrendering to his addiction, starting the cycle over again. While on the topic of addiction and recovery let's not forget to mention an almost unrecognizable Debbie. When we last saw her she was strung out and hung up on revenge, now she claims "I got the program and I got Jesus on my side". Ready to make amends or not she seems to have given her life over to that "higher power" as well.

     Our next moment of surrender comes in a very literal sense of the word. Fearing for his life and the lives of his loved one's Lafayette was looking to surrender himself to Eric, to throw his "black ass at his mercy and beg his forgiveness". LaLa was looking to wave the white flag, offer an olive branch to Eric in order to "hopefully keep us all from getting killed". This has proven to be  a very static character trait for Lafayette, he has done and will do whatever it takes to survive even if that means giving [himself] up.

     Straddling the lines between physical, emotional, and religious surrender we have Marnie. One of my favorite additions to the show! Masterfully played by Fiona Shaw, Marnie personifies the outcast- timid and misunderstood yet dangerously powerful, to the point of frightening. She offers all that she is to some unseen spirit. "Invade me, fill me up" she begs. She is desperate, longing for some connection "I will be your instrument on this plane to utilize as you see fit, I trust in you completely". This kind of statement requires nothing less than blind faith...absolute sacrifice. She gets so swept up in the fervor she exhibits little to no regard for her own safety, continuously slashing her wrists as an offering. "Make me your servant, I beg you PLEASE COME!"

     We have been told that Jason is the character that "has the hardest time staying alive" this season. It is for this reason I chose to write about him last. Tied to a bed, tortured, drugged and raped. His is by far the most shocking and disturbing of all our moments of surrender. Jason has been made to give up his very humanity. Forced to become Crystal and Felton's pawn, he finds himself on the verge of being reborn as the "ghost daddy" of their inbred village of the damned. The plot sickens as Jason awakens to see Crystal on top of him, writhing and riding him in ecstasy, and he too weak and restrained to do anything about it can only moan in horror at what is happening. This adds yet another layer to this theme as Jason is being forced to surrender his seed, to impregnate Crystal (and I suspect every other girl in Hot Shot) in order to carry on their race.

     Where does all of this lead? What lies ahead for these characters? Will they be able to carry on, get back up or rise above? Will they ever be able to recapture all that has been lost or taken from them? For these and so many more questions I fear I have no answers, I can only watch and wait with bated breath to see what fate will hand them. I hope you will watch along with me! ~ Rebecca

Keep This Party Going: National Women's History Month

March was National Women's History Month, and since it's now (already!?!) early April, a riff on the title of True Blood S2E2 seems only appropriate...let's keep this party going!!!

During this past month, I have been involved with planning and facilitating events in honor and celebration of National Women's History Month, both at my full-time job as a social worker in the non-profit sector and at my part-time gig as a college professor. The overarching theme of these events carries over from the strong messaging of great organizations like the National Women's History Project  and the Long Island-based Herstory Writers Project:  the need to write women back into history.

These organizations are dedicated to bringing the contributions and voices of women - often unsung and historically silenced - from the margins to the center of our collective narrative. There is a need for women's stories to be brought forth in such a way that - as Artistic & Executive Director of Herstory says - moves a stranger/reader to care, towards the ends of both personal growth and healing and social justice and transformation. There is a need to open space in our culture for women's stories to be seen as worthy or being told - received and truly heard.

I strongly believe that stories and storytelling are basic to human existence; they're the communicative and meaning-making spindles we use oh so naturally to spin the flax of our lived experiences into the glittering gold of our personal narratives.

We meet and shape the world through story; what is history but a story?

Story is basic to humanity, but it's also a very feminine means of expression that's deeply connected to women's ways of knowing and being.

And boy oh boy, can Alan Ball and the True Blood writers spin a story!!!

Where would the True Blood tale be without the female characters who populate it, not least of whom would include Miss Sookie Stackhouse herself - the eponymous heroine of the Charlaine Harris-penned novels that birthed the show?

Could the True Blood story even be told without them?

For me, the female characters True Blood invites us into the lives of are drawn with bolder lines and brighter colors than are the less fully developed women on other shows; they are multidimensional and relational, complex  personalities. No all-brain-no-affect-socially-crippled intellectuals, empty-headed-buxom-bimbos, or any other types of caricatures here.

I feel like these are real, actual women. A little eccentric, kind of crazy at times, conflicted and wild, yes; but real.

Do they contradict themselves? Yeah, sure, but don't we all? As Walt Whitman wrote in Leaves of Grass over a century ago, Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) If we are living, breathing human beings, how can we not?

In light of National Women's History Month and the associated slogan, "writing women back into history" I got to thinking about how the lives of the women of Bon Temps and its environs are portrayed on True Blood, how their stories are told.

I came across something that got me to thinking more...





As the video says, this isn't a means of determining the quality of a movie (or TV for that matter, the formula applies), or whether or not it's feminist; it's a gauge for the presence of women in film.

How do you think True Blood stands up to this test? How do you think the test stands up to True Blood?

Do you think there's anything to this test? Taking it in the context of True Blood, what does it say to you about the presence and representation of female characters? I'm hoping you'll share your thoughts :-)

~ Rachel