Representations of Women in True Blood: Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood)

This post continues on the same path as my previous post on Lorena Krasiki’s character and representation as a powerful female vampire.



There are not many examples of powerful female vampires in True Blood. Queen

Sophie-Anne Leclerq is arguably the most powerful.

Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq is played by actress Evan Rachel Wood.



Like Lorena, Sophie-Anne is unsatisfied with herself and shows the desire to be a 'normal girl' instead of a powerful vampire. There are two problems with this: first, she appears to reject her status and power in favour of normalcy, and second, her appearance, behaviour, and desires are strongly gendered.

Sophie-Anne LeClerq is the vampire Queen of Louisiana (and later, of Mississippi as well). At 500 years old, she is the oldest and most powerful female vampire to appear in True Blood. However, she is represented later as struggling to maintain her power, and because of her incompetence and scheming, she is blackmailed into a marriage with the 2500-year-old vampire King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington. Her behaviour, both when she is in power and after she is blackmailed, reproduce dominant ideologies of femininity and patriarchy.





 Viewers meet Sophie-Anne when Bill goes to her luxurious mansion for advice on how to defeat the Maenad terrorizing Bon Temps (“Frenzy”). She is beautiful and glamourous: dressed fashionably in all white, with curled hair, dark eyeliner, and red lips. Bill struggles to respectfully ask for help while she offers him dinner (a delicious Latvian boy), lounges by the pool, and reads a magazine. She briefly displays some knowledge on Maenads while applying makeup and inspecting her manicured nails. However, she does not give him the information he wants right away and insists that he spends the day. The following night, Sophie-Anne forces Bill to play Yahtzee with her and two of her human companions. Finally, she explains the origins and weaknesses of Maenads. In a mirroring scene when Eric visits Sophie-Anne, her childish mannerisms are displayed further (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”). She forces Eric to play Yahtzee as well, and in her conversation with him, she is very scattered: distracted, uninterested, and abruptly changes topics. In these scenes, she is portrayed as powerful and intelligent, but her aloof manner and luxurious femininity raise concern regarding her interest in her queendom.



Sophie-Anne feeding on her human lover, Hadley.

Sophie-Anne flaunts her decision not to mainstream; however, it seems this is a strategy of hers to appear more powerful to male vampires. Though she teases Bill about his 'restricted diet' of Tru:Blood, Sophie-Anne's kindness to humans is apparent, especially when compared to King Russell Edgington. While he is known to be vicious and prejudice towards humans, Sophie-Anne clearly enjoys the company of humans. She lives with several in her home and spends her nights playing games with them. In fact, there is evidence that she envies humans and desires to be a normal girl instead of a vampire queen. Most notably, she spends most of her time in her mansion's 'day room'—a luxurious pool room imitating an outdoor beach setting with luscious plants and lounge chairs but also vibrant, day-like dioramas outside the windows and false skylight windows in the tall ceiling.



Queen Sophie-Anne's day room.



Sophie-Anne understands that “romance complicates the ability to construct an independent identity. Power and heterosexual romance seem to be incompatible” (Jowett 3). To retain her status as a powerful queen, she emphasizes her own homosexuality and frowns on monogamy, gossiping with Eric about Bill's romantic relationship with Sookie: “You know I think Bill is monogamous with his human?” Eric confirms that Bill is “in love with her,” to which she warns Eric by saying, “one vampire falling in love is bad enough” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”). When she says this, Hadley (a human girl) looks up at her curiously. This is the first of many indications that Sophie-Anne loves and confides in Hadley, though she tries to keep it secret. Sophie-Anne feeds on her, but she is gentle, so it is sexually pleasing for Hadley (“Frenzy”). Later, her love is used against her in order to get information from Sophie-Anne: Eric tortures Hadley and forces Sophie-Anne to watch.

Sophie-Anne is held in a cage while Eric tortures Hadley.

At the end of season two, Sophie-Anne is shown to be manipulative when a conversation with Eric reveals that she is ordering him to sell her blood (even though vampires believe that their blood exists only to make other vampires, it is also a powerfully addictive and illegal drug known as V)(“Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”). In season three, it's revealed that she is selling her blood because she is desperate for money, which reinforces the stereotype that women are not capable of managing finances. Her calculating nature is proven as she betrays Eric and frames him for selling V the moment she is suspected. Unfortunately, it is this betrayal and her financial incompetence and leads to her loss of agency as an independent queen.

With King Russell Edgington plotting to take control of Louisiana in addition to his kingdom of Mississippi, he takes advantage of Queen Sophie-Anne's struggle. He arrives unannounced at her mansion where he finds her sitting on the ground surrounded by scratch tickets (“I Got a Right to Sing the Blues”):

Russell: My darling Sophie-Anne, I want you to accept my proposal of marriage.

Sophie-Anne: I've turned you down countless other times. What makes you think I'll accept this time?

Russell: Because, in addition to never touching you, I will settle all of your debts.

She declines his help, but he blackmails her with his knowledge of her selling V. She realizes she has no choice but to marry Russell and relinquish her independence. In a humiliating scene following, Eric (who is furious at her for framing him) pushes her to the ground and says, “I am older and stronger than you. I only submitted to you in the past because of respect [...] I renounce any and all allegiance to you.” He carries her away while she screams childishly, “my Hadley... I want my Hadley!” (“I Got a Right to Sing the Blues”). Sophie-Anne's failure and subordination to Russel (and Eric) reinforces their authority as men, not only Russell as a King.

Much to her delight, Russell is killed in a plot unrelated to Sophie-Anne at the end of season three, and as a result, she gains significant power as the wealthy Queen of both Louisiana and Mississippi. However, another one of her plots may threaten this new power. At the completion of a three-season arc, it is reveal that Sophie-Anne ordered Bill to spy on Sookie because she suspected that Sookie was part-faery (faeries are extremely rare, and they are desirable for vampires, partly because they are beautiful and their blood is delicious, but also because there are legends suggesting that faery blood would allow vampires to walk in the sun as humans do). Sophie-Anne's intelligence and knowledge of the supernatural is proven once more as she is correct in her suspicious about Sookie.

The season three finale ends with Sophie-Anne arriving at Bill's house for Sookie, “Alright, bring me the girl. I've been waiting centuries to find a true fae. I can't wait to feel the sunlight on my skin again. Maybe I'll get a yacht” (“Evil is Going On”). Her motives for finding a faery reinforce her desire to be a normal living girl who is able to go outside in the sun, instead of spending her eternal life hiding from it. However, Bill invited her to his home under false pretences. He intends to protect Sookie, and says “only one of us will be leaving this house” (“Evil is Going On”). The final frame features Bill and Sophie-Anne aggressively showing their fangs and jumping at each other. The way this fight and its outcome is portrayed will be significant for the representation of women on True Blood. As a queen and a vampire over twice his age, she should overpower him without much of a problem. However, her past storyline indicates that conventional gender roles may prevail.

Jowett, Lorna. “The Problem of Romance and the Representation of Gender in Buffy and Angel.” Slayage Online, 2004. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.

 +++

As Southern Vampire Mysteries fans know, Queen Sophie-Anne in the books has a very different story line and presents a more powerful image of women. She is not introduced until the sixth novel, Definitely Dead.

I’m planning a post regarding my thoughts on Sophie-Anne’s TV adaptation that will address the differences between the books and True Blood (similar to my posts on Sam & Tommy and Lafayette & Jesus), but I’d love to hear from you as well.

What do you think the outcome of the Sophie-Anne/Bill fight will be?

Representations of Women in True Blood: Lorena Krasiki (Mariana Klaveno)

As most of you know, I’m a student. I’m finishing up the final term of my degree, and I ended up taking a Women’s Studies class to fill an elective credit: Representations of Women in Popular Culture. When essay time rolled around, I started writing about women on True Blood (…such a fangirl…True Blood always on my mind).

+++

There are not many examples of powerful female vampires in True Blood. Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq is arguably the most powerful, with Lorena Krasiki and Nan Flanigan trailing somewhere behind her.

Both Lorena and Sophie-Anne are unsatisfied with themselves and show the desire to be a 'normal girl' instead of a powerful vampire. There are two problems with this: first, they appear to reject their status and power in favour of normalcy, and second, their deepest desires are strongly gendered.



Actress Mariana Klaveno plays Lorena on HBO's True Blood

Lorena is similar to many other female characters in conventional vampire fiction: a virginal victim of a male vampire, and “once bitten, turns into fanged, voluptuous temptress who desires to infect all the men who enter her life” (Wisker 6). Her power as a 250-year-old vampire is undermined by her feminine desire for eternal, heterosexual love. She is Bill's maker and ex-lover, and she becomes an antagonist and romantic threat to Bill's current, human girlfriend, Sookie. In her appearance and personality, she is represented as the complete opposite of Sookie: pale with dark hair, irrational, manipulative, violent, and undead. However, Lorena was not always this way; she was corrupted by her maker who forced her into enticing “men with [her] flesh, luring them into [his] clutches so that he could murder them as [she] watched” (“I Got A Right To Sing The Blues”). Even when she becomes independent from her maker, she continues to use her body, rather than her abilities as a vampire, to lure men into sex before she drains and kills them.

+++

The context in which Lorena made Bill into a vampire reveals a mixture of female stereotypes; she is presented as a deadly temptress, but her loneliness influences her to make Bill into a vampire instead of killing him like the other men who “proved to be no more than savages once [she] let them into [her] home” (“Sparks Fly Out”). When Bill finds Lorena's cabin after the Civil War, he is starved and injured trying to get home to his wife and children. Lorena cunningly presents herself as a nurturing, lonely widow, and intending to feed on him, invites him to stay the night with her.

When Bill declines her sexual advances, Lorena decides she wants to turn him into a vampire instead because she admires his loyalty to his wife. She reveals her history of abuse when she says to him, “You're an honourable man. The others have not always been so” (“Sparks Fly Out”). Lorena maintains her passive, feminine demeanour and doesn't reveal her strength as a vampire until Bill is about to leave. Her actions in this scene show her preference for her victim to stay the night by choice, rather than by force (through her strength or power to glamour humans). She has been taught that her value is in her appearance, so her self-esteem depends on validation from men. As a result, she prefers to use her power as a beautiful, manipulative woman than her power as a vampire.

Before Bill gets out the door, Lorena overpowers him and drains most of his blood. She reveals her dream of finding an honourable man to love her when she says, “I've waited a long time for a man such as you.” She straddles him and slits her neck, telling him “if you do not drink, you will die. Together, we'll be forever” (“Sparks Fly Out”). Lorena's representation here is complex: though many of her qualities conform to conventional female stereotypes, as a female vampire, she is also “masculinized because she penetrates her victim” (Creed 70). Her role as a maker is further masculinizing because, in addition to her maker-progeny power over him, it is her blood inside him that creates his eternal life.

Lorena turning Bill into a vampire ("Sparks Fly Out").

+++

The unappealing portrayal of Bill and Lorena's 70-year relationship “characterized by sadism and an aggressive sexuality” is a confirmation of traditional sexual ideals, and it validates Bill's romantic relationship with Sookie (Burr 350). In a flashback, Lorena seduces a couple for her and Bill to feed on, and they violently torture the couple before killing them. There is a clear sexual tone as they alternate between kissing each other and feeding on the couple, and later, they have sex on the bloody bed beside the body of one of their victims (“Hard-Hearted Hannah”). Lorena is “an active predatory seducer” (Creed 70).

In another flashback, Bill begs Lorena to release him, and Lorena is simultaneously portrayed as physically strong but psychologically weak (“Release Me”). Again, Lorena's poor self-esteem is apparent as she determines her self-worth by her physical appeal to men, and fails to understand Bill's rejection: “Men have readily laid down their lives just to spend one night with me. What more can I give? What is it that you want from me?” (“Release Me”). Lorena's uses her power to fill her need for male companionship, and it is her irrational dependence on Bill that prevents her from forming an independent identity required for her power as a vampire to be respected.

+++

Lorena enters the current storyline in seasons two and three (over 70 years after releasing Bill), and in both cases, her obsession with Bill is used as a tool by more powerful male vampires to help with their plots. In season three, when Bill is held prisoner at the King of Mississippi's mansion, he tells her again that he will never love her, but she begins kissing him. Bill roughly throws her off him and initiates extremely violent sex with her (he twists her head around), but Lorena embraces her masochistic position and is sexually aroused by the pain he inflicts on her (“It Hurts Me Too”). Later, she is ordered by the King to execute Bill for attempting to murder him. She tortures him and allows his blood to be drained by werewolves. When Sookie finds him, Lorena bites her (“I Got a Right to Sing the Blues”). Bill pulls Lorena away and holds her down while Sookie stakes her (“Hitting the Ground”).

Although Lorena wants true, eternal love with Bill more than anything, Lorena is also “voracious, seductive, and deadly” (Wisker 2). In conventional vampire fictions, female vampires' “sexuality, seen as dangerous in terms of a patriarchal status quo, must be constrained, their deviant energies must be destroyed and order restored” (Wisker 2). In this case, order is the romantic relationship between Bill and Sookie; “their roles—delineated by clear gender categories—complement each other ideally” as Sookie needs nurturing and protection and Bill is validated as a lover through his ability to provide it (Spicer 3).

Sookie meets Lorena at Godric's nest in Dallas.

+++

Thoughts from @LorenaTheMaker.

How do you compare to Lorena's character? What about her can you identify with? What do you like about her? Dislike?

I am nothing like Lorena, aside from her fashion sense. *laughs* It is hard to identify with her in any way. I understand that she adores William, but there has to come a time when you move on. She has horrible self esteem and thinks keeping him is what makes her whole. I cannot even imagine feeling that way. No man is worth so much. It is clear it was her maker that made her this way, the years of abuse that she and William touched on briefly as she was torturing him. I would love to know more about that.

I do adore Lorena and love playing her. I like her being a bit on the unstable side and exploring the way she thinks. I like that she is tough and does not give up on what she wants, no matter how crazy it really seems to me. I like the very obvious layers she possesses, being so devoted to William, yet at the same time, wanting to make him what she sees as the perfect mate, whether he is happy about it or not.

I simply cannot say that I dislike anything about her other than the fact that she is now a pile of goo. *cries bloody tears* If she were a real woman, I would probably not enjoy her company much. *laughs*

+++

Let me know what you think about Lorena's character in the comments!

Burr, Vivien. “Ambiguity and Sexuality in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Sartrean Analysis.” Sexualities 6.3-4 (2003): 343-360. Print.

Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous Feminine. London: Routledge, 1993.

Spicer, Arwen. “'Love's Bitch but Man Enough to Admit It': Spike's Hybridized Gender.” Slayage 2.3 (2002): n. pag. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Wisker, Gina. “Vampires and School Girls: High School Jinks on the Hellmouth.” Slayage 1.2: n. pag. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

True Blood TV Adaptation: Sam Merlotte and Tommy Mickens

In both the books and the TV series, Sam Merlotte is a true shapeshifter that can turn into any animal at will, though he normally shifts into a collie. He is the owner of Merlotte's and cares a lot for Sookie.



Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte in True Blood.



In True Blood, Sam’s storyline is expanded and adapted for the medium. While the differences from Southern Vampire Mysteries aren’t as drastic as with Lafayette (see previous post), there are significant changes to his family and history, which fuels a subplot and a new character: his brother, Tommy Mickens. In addition to the family storyline, Sam develops relationships with Tara Thorton (in Season 1) and Daphne Landry (in Season 2).



Marshall Allman as Tommy Mickens in True Blood.

In the Southern Vampire Mysteries (SVM), the first person narrative only allows readers to experience the plot through Sookie. We don’t know what is happening with other characters if Sookie doesn’t know, or if she’s not involved. Though this works well for books, television requires multiple characters with interweaving plotlines to maintain audience interest every week (and for True Blood, throughout the year!). Alan Ball adapts the books appropriately for the nature of the television format. He gives the viewers a wider perspective on the events happening in the True Blood universe, and to do that, he enhances characters and gives them thier own subplots.

In SVM, both of Sam’s parents were shifters. After his dad died, his mother remarried a human man. She and Sam keep their true nature hidden from her new husband and his two children. Later in the books, when weres and shifters decide to reveal themselves to the human public (as vampires did), his mother is shot and injured by his stepfather.

In True Blood, his family history is considerably different. He was adopted as a child by the Merlottes, but they abandoned him at 15 when his abilities as a shifter developed. As an adult, he visits his biological family (the Mickens) and discovers that his mother and younger brother (Tommy) are shifters. When Sam realizes his brother is being forced into dogfighting to make money for the family, he takes Tommy to live with him in Bon Temps. Unfortunately, it isn't easy for Sam, and their relationship is under a lot of stress. At the end of Season 3, Tommy steals from Sam and tries to run away, but Sam catches up with him. In the final scene, Tommy is walking away as Sam points a gun at him, then we hear a gunshot.

True Blood Season 3, "Evil is Going On"

+++

Unlike Tommy Mickens on True Blood, @TommyBonTemps is literate and regularly RPs on Twitter. He’s been RPing for a few years, but “it just goes so fast that it feels like [he’s] had no experience at all.” He RPs because likes being “a part of something bigger […] No matter where you are, someone else, right at this moment, is reading what you typed and suddenly.. you're not so alone anymore.”

+++

Why did you pick your character, Tommy?

@TommyBonTemps: He reminds me so much of myself. He's like this mirror image of me with a shape shifting ability. He's a wild card, but he has a good heart. He doesn't really know what to do with that because he's been brought up around so much negativity. In the end, he's just a kid who needs love.

+++

What are your thoughts on the changes to Sam’s family history and storyline?

@TommyBonTemps: I feel that this particular plot change works: it gives viewers a chance to see a different side to several characters. […]I like to think of the books and shows as two separate things, so when something does change I'm not shouting at the TV in anger of adding/leaving an important plot piece in/out.

+++

How do you think the gunshot scene with Sam and Tommy plays out? How do you think your character will be involved in Season 4?

@TommyBonTemps: Tommy'll be back. […] He just has that essence of fighter around him. […] In Season 4, I'd like to see Sam and Tommy work their differences out because they'd be a bad-ass team! What will actually happen though? I have no idea. Something shiftery, I'm sure.

+++

Check out the video below featuring two major betrayals of Season 3: Sookie finding out about Queen Sophie-Anne's orders to Bill and Tommy stealing money from Sam (with some still-delish-even-covered-in-cement Eric Northman in between). The Tommy/Sam scene is at 4:16.

Leave comments below with your thoughts on Sam and Tommy

or if you have predictions for Season 4!

 

You can email me at becoming.truebie@gmail.com,

follow me on Twitter @becomingtruebie,

and ask me anything on formspring.

True Blood TV Adaptation: Lafayette & Jesus

As truebies know, each season of True Blood is based on one of the books in the Southern Vampire Mysteries (SVM) by Charlaine Harris. The books are written in first person from Sookie's point of view. For the TV series, while Sookie is still the heroine of the show, Alan Ball enhances the supporting characters by adapting and creating new plotlines.

Lafayette’s storyline is a major deviation from SVM. He is a minor character in Dead Until Dark: a cook at Merlotte's and road crew worker with Jason and Hoyt. He is friendly with Sookie (though not as close as the TV show portrays). He is a flamboyant, gay black man (though unrelated to Tara), and he had a reputation for being involved with drugs and secret sex parties. The second book, Living Dead in Dallas, opens with Sookie finding the dead body of Lafayette in the backseat of Andy Bellefleur's car in the Merlotte's parking lot.

In the TV series, Season 1 ends with someone kidnapping Lafayette, and later, a dead body is discovered in Andy’s car in the parking lot. The viewers only see the victim’s foot; it is African American with red nail polish. Fans speculated, and when Lafayette wasn’t in any of the Season 2 previews, they braced for the worst. 

Fortunately for Lafayette’s many fans, the painted toenails were not his. Miss Jeanette was murdered instead (though Ball didn’t tell Nelsan Ellis until the table read for the Season 1 finale).

Lafayette's character helps support Tara's expanded role on the show, and his character maintains a subplot that interweaves with multiple characters in the series. In Season 3, Lafayette begins a relationship with a character exclusive to the series: Jesus Velasquez, a nurse from his mother's mental institution. Jesus is a brujo (a witch), which will no doubt mix in with the Season 4 plot (read synopsis of Dead to the World for some idea of where we’ll be going this season).

+++

On Twitter, @LafayetteTB and @JesusTB are a happy couple, regularly tweeting new storylines for followers. @JesusTB has been RPing for 4 years, and though RPing wasn't “something that was going to go on this long, […] with each fandom there came a whole new world to play in.”

+++

Why did you pick your character, Jesus?

@JesusTB: At first, it was because he had pretty eyes. When I picked him there wasn't much to go on and it's always a challenge when you're essentially starting with a blank canvas but as the plots moved on it became evident that I was just drawn to the role and the characters surrounding him. Jesus has a likable personality and I think I can draw a lot from that. Did I say he had pretty eyes?

+++

Thoughts on Lafayette's adapted plot line?

What's the world without a little Lala? He's humourous, but it goes so much deeper than that. He's more level headed than people give him credit for, and it would be a shame not to see that in the series. […] I guess you could say I'm a little biased because if he was killed, where would I be?

+++

Your character is a brujo (a witch). How do you think Jesus will be involved in Season 4?

Honestly? I have no idea! […] I think it will definitely be something to do with Lafayette and developing his roots but then again, since it's set a year ahead, no one really knows! I'm looking forward to seeing what they throw in Jesus's path though and I'm sure it will be something extra magical!    

+++

There are rumours that Lafayette "turns into something." What do you think it is?

As far as that goes, my inkling is that it's something to do with some powerful magic!

+++

Any thoughts on the representation of LGBTQ characters and relationships in True Blood?

I think they are played out well to some extent, though it really is different for everyone. I'm pleased that they're so open and out there with it - man love is adorable, too!

+++



 Leave comments below with your thoughts on Lafayette and Jesus

or if you have predictions for Season 4!

You can email me at becoming.truebie@gmail.com,
follow me on Twitter @becomingtruebie,

and ask me anything on formspring!