Are Our Favorite Vampires Shows a Little Too PC?

Don’t get me wrong, I love The Vampire Diaries, and I love True Blood, but there’s something going on here that not a whole lot of people are talking about. There is a lot of play on the minorities in both shows. I have a list actually, of weird little facts about the two shows. Spoiler Alerts, obviously!

  • All the witches (male and female) in the Vampire Diaries are black, as mentioned by another author here.
  • Lafayette, a gay and black fringe character in the Sookie Stackhouse series, who dies very soon in the series, becomes a point of major focus in True Blood.
  • Tara, another black fringe character in the series, also becomes a major focus in True Blood.
  • Gay political events occasionally pop up in the background and subplot of True Blood.
  • Hotshot, a community of inbreeding shapeshifters, suddenly becomes a hotbed of illegal activity, and the center of the area’s meth trade, as opposed to the quiet reclusive community in the book.
  • Jesus Velasquez, a Hispanic ‘witch’, is a non-entity as far as the books are concerned, also seems to be an additional minority addition.

Why the focus on minorities and gays? Not that the gays and minorities shouldn’t have focus, but I think for them to intentionally add more focus is a bit condescending. Do the producers think that black people as a whole will have hurt feelings if there are only a couple black characters in the show? If you ask me, what really sucks about the show is that the heavy Creole and Cajun southern accent found in Louisiana is very lacking. Also, why the huge focus on gays and gay rights? The whole ‘gay’ thing is a big high note, and yet, at the same time, the show demonizes consensual relationships between relatives. So, are they deciding for us which kinds of sexual liberty is more appropriate and acceptable? Or which amount of black people or Hispanic people or gay people, is acceptable?

The blacks and gays in the show are great characters; the actors fill their roles seamlessly, and I’m sure everyone has a great time. But I do believe there was some subconscious desire to make sure no one got ‘left out’. I think it insults the intelligence of the black community to say, “let’s add some more black people to the cast, we need black viewers to feel more confident”. The same with the Hispanic, and gay audience. As an inter-racially married, openly bisexual individual, I don’t find these character selections so much offensive, as I do a little tactless and over-the-top. Does it take away from my enjoyment of the show? Well, I wouldn’t know any better, if it did, so I can’t say. Overly PC show-writing though… well, it makes things corny, and less empathic for the audience. Especially since the whole vampire politics and segregation theme in the books and show is pretty much just one big PC statement about minorities and gays in the first place. Let’s keep it honest people, and if you have any answers to my questions, let me know in the comments.

By annimi

Ashley writes for Vampires.com, Werewolves.com, and other sites in the Darksites Network. She's involved in several seedy and disreputable activities, smokes too much, and spends her late nights procrastinating for work on her first novel.

15 comments

  1. Interesting question. IMHO there’s no easy answer, because we’re in a society trying (to some degree, which is more than most) to move away from racism. Bound to be some awkwardness, mixed reactions, stumbling steps here and there.

    But methinks the telling thing is whether it feels like a formula or not. Honestly TVD feels that way to me somewhat, with its high school full of pretty people and no geeks, nerds, losers, etc.

  2. there is a couple om answers I think I can give you. First of all in old folklore when vampires and other creatures similar to them, the sexuallity is often mentioned and also often gay. People who were suspected of being vampires was often sinners wich includes homosexuallity. And the sexuallity of vampires has developed over the years because its something exciting.

    It is also very easy to use minorities when it comes to vampires. By making minorities seem very common and “accepted” gives a contrast to the less accepted vampires. Like saying “Id rather have my son be gay than a vamp” And when we find symphaty in the vampires and the hate against them we can easely relate to have minorites live with everyday.
    If you take the church that basically makes the biggest anti-vamp center in true blood you can see lots of similarities with the chuch against homosexuallity irl.

    Hope I cleared things up for you, and hope this will give you chans to take this discussion to then next level.
    Sorry for bad spelling

    1. I’m sorry, but that first bit is not true. I’ve been studying vampire folklore for years and it has rarely come up that a vampire was gay. Yes, back in the day the Church used vampires as a way to get people to behave by saying something on the lines of “If you don’t behave, you’ll turn into a vampire” but the focus wasn’t necessarily homosexuality. Also, I kinda doubt the producers of True Blood are drawing from history and folklore.

      1. I don’t care about the gay vampires really. I mean, 300 years of pussy? Eventually, you’ll want to try a dick. Besides, your morals are going to modify, after all, as a vampire, you’re killing people or at least, turning into a parasite, to survive. So I can understand a vampire’s lack of sexual preference. I meant the focus on gay humans, really.

    2. Ive red alot about old vamps and gayness are mentioned. the earliest ofc wasn’t sexuall at all. the were emontionless and their punishment was to walk alone on earth and spread deasises without feelings. like I said, the sexuality have developed over the years.

        1. Well the sex stuff did develop yes, but as far as I know only in fiction since the 19th century, I think, but definitely not before the 18th. The “real” vampires before had nothing to do with sex. But to his “defense” I wouldn’t be surprised if he had it from a non-fiction book. One-two months back I read a book from an Oxford professor of literature and he claimed that all vampires have fangs, burn in the sunlight and have to sleep in their home soil, despite the fact that he even quoted reports where the first two “facts” were definitely missing. Its astounding how often fiction can turn into “facts”. Try “A Girl’s Guide to Werewolves” its the most silly book on werewolves I ever read, the author obviously doesn’t even have a valid definition of werewolves. :D

          1. The first English fiction to feature a sexy sophisticated vampire was in 1819 in The Vampyre by John William Polidori. There wasn’t necessarily sex, but it was the first time vampires were desirable and not monstrous in fiction.

            And yes, most vampires in folklore and history were never considered sexual. There are a few tales about vampires that feed on semen and blood. And also some about female vampires that seduce men only to drink their blood. But overall, they weren’t all that sexual.

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  5. Thinking about it I wouldn’t take any of these two shows a seriouse take on vampires. I don’t know why vampires have become so sexualized. Yes, they always had a sexual allure to them but as the director of 30 Days and Nights says vampires are no longer scary or taken serious. I guess leave the serouse take to movies such as Let Me In/Let the Right One In, etc. I am starting the watch the Vampire Diaries and you would think the black witches would have some white pagan relatives. True Blood is starting to get to far off the book ( I do like that they kept Lafayette though). His personality on the show is different then in the book (in a good way).

  6. ok, like everyone knows about varmpires. But does any one know how to be come one. I think people think if you get bite, you turn into one. Is that true? or is there another way.HELP!!! TTYL,:>

  7. Ok, like everyone knows about vampires.> But does every one know how to become one. I bet poeple think if they get bite from a vampire they become one. So is it true? Or is there more to it. HELP!!! TTYL.:>

  8. As a black person, I think that what you’re describing is at best, a well meaning, albeit misguided attempt at combating Hollywood’s inherent racism. And at worse, them just adding minorities to appease Hollywood watchdog groups(like racebending.com, which is a very good site).

    http://atlantapost.com/2010/09/08/the-persistent-issue-of-black-representation-on-television-and-why-more-roles-wont-fix-a-thing/

    http://www.proz.com/kudoz/English/idioms_maxims_sayings/3566918-token.html
    http://www.racebending.com/v4/current-diversity-highlights/actors-of-color-in-hollywood/

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