I Wanna Do Bad Things With You
I don’t know if HBO’s True Blood will be a hit, but it had me at hello with its opening credits.
Alessandra Stanley, the TV critic for The New York Times went so far as to describe the show’s opening montage as “amazing, hallucinatory,” and suggested that the actual show didn’t live up to its introduction.
The vampire opus True Blood, from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, is set in a swamp-water hamlet in Louisiana. In the opening montage, we see: shots of the bayou; the KKK; gators; African-Americans in their church; possum road kill; rednecks whopping it up in a bar; a writhing dancer; a rotting fox (in time lapse, with maggots destroying the carcass); a striking snake; a Venus flytrap devouring prey; and an evangelical baptism in a river, among other things. The sum is greater than the parts — take my word for it, or tune in yourself.
Are these images stereotypes of the South, and Louisiana? I don’t know, but Ball is a Southerner himself, so maybe he has geographic license to use these images.
But the crowning touch on the opening is the music, a song with the refrain “I wanna do bad things with you.” I had to go on a True Blood fan blog to learn that the haunting tune, Bad Things, is by country singer Jace Everett. I’ve played the True Blood review DVDs several dozen times over, just to hear that song again and again. Everett may be a country music icon, but I’ve never hard of him. But hey, I’m from Jersey (where no one is named “Jace”), so what do I know from country music?
Everett’s Web site, www.jaceeverett.com, has a clip of him performing the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
True Blood has received some mixed reviews, but I like it. And it’s not that I’m a vampire or Alan Ball groupie. I never saw even one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I was not a particular fan of Six Feet Under.
For one, I find True Blood laugh-out loud funny at times. The show is definitely a send-up of American culture, and its mistrust and mistreatment of outsiders, but it’s the program’s little moments that I like. In one episode, there’s a scene where William Sanderson, playing a cop, mimics a vampire by wiggling his two fingers like fangs. It doesn’t sound like much, but it cracked me up. Check it out.
Some critics have complained about the sex, violence and gore in True Blood. Are you kidding me? This is HBO. And has anyone watched broadcast TV recently? On Bones we were recently treated to a view of a shredded, decapitated corpse. When we finally see the rotted head, its eyeball pops out, a real treat for viewers.
And I, for one, love what many critics have skewered about True Blood: The rocky romance between waitress Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin, and courtly vampire Bill Compton, portrayed by Stephen Moyer.
One critic griped that Moyer played his vampire like a mope. The Los Angeles Times said Moyer was trying to put a brooding, Heathcliff-like spin on his bloodsucker. That works for me.
I guess the appeal is that no matter how civilized and gentlemanly Compton appears, he can’t stop himself from baring his fangs when he sees a naked, outstretched neck. I like that in a man.
Yossale commented:
"I don’t know if HBO’s True Blood will be a hit, but it had me at hello with its opening credits."
Totally!!!
Meade Skelton commented:
Im from Richmond, Virginia- heart of the old Confederacy. Ironically I dont consider New Orleans typically Southern AT ALL- and in many ways LA. Its just another country, like Texas. People in New Orleans sound like they're from Brooklyn!
andres commented:
awesome show! from argentina with love and a bit of blood!
matt commented:
We just got this show in australia, it’s on pay tv so most people won’t see it. but man is it good!! it has our own aussie, ryan kwanten playing jason stackhouse, so i’m biassed but i hope it there’s at least a few seasons of it!
Chanel commented:
Bill - I'm from New Orleans. That's an alligator skull jaw bone hanging, if you are talking about the skeleton
Lisa commented:
TrueBlood is addictive, entertaining, and keeps you glued to the TV with the characters, social issues, and dark comedy. One of the best shows I have seen in years and is far better than mainstream shows currently on TV. This show has all the drama, comedy, suspense, social justice, romance and intrigue, gothic and supernatural qualities all rolled into one geat show. The fan base and ratings would go beyond any series currently on TV if it was on a mainstream channel. I truly hope the Executives at HBO continue the series to cover all the books and distribute to channnels like Fox etc so that everyone can access this truly brilliant show. Due to financal reasons I was going to cancel my HBO subscription. TrueBlood is the only reason I don't!
Opocephalus commented:
I love the show, and tune, myself but I just wanted to add something on a technical not. The link to Jace's website in the blog entry includes the coma (at the end) in the code and the server doesn't understand so it's only directing folks to a browser error page.
Traci commented:
True blood is my favorite! Dexter just isnt doing it for me since i started watching True blood...so glad they are picking up another season...can't wait for more...more...more...
Doug commented:
If you all like the series, then please check out the books that it is based on: the southern vampire series by Charlaine Harris. The first book is Dead Until Dark (this first season of True Blood covers the same material as the first book, but the focus of the book is mostly on Sookie and Bill.)
bob commented:
True Blood has beaten Dexter in my ratings for best show on tv. Period. More cortically shows like BSGalatica don't even get close and neither does most of the network drek-- tho Life on Mars and Chuck both strike my fancy.
STL commented:
I am hooked as well. Well said about Bill being a brooding Heathcliff -- love it, love it, love it! Glad to see it has been picked up for a second season, but hate that I have to wait until Summer 2009!
Charli commented:
True Blood is an interesting show and much as Star Trek showed the social injustices of it's time so does True Blood. Vampires are just the newest minority being "worried" about by the Bible Thumpers and moralists who view everyone not in their narrow definition of normal as "dangerous". Everyone is so worried about Sookie they forget that Bill gives her what love is supposed to give you...the feeling that you are cherished. I hope that this show doesn't get cut short as so many other shows have been.
Sony commented:
I'm from Córdoba, Argentina and -as vampire fan- I can tell this is one of the best series ever. Of course I've already got the song, as well :[
Linda Moss commented:
DJ---
The song is by country singer Jace Everett, whose web site is www.jaceeverett.com.
I'm a tech moron and don't have an iPod to download the song to, and so far have been unable to find any Jace Everett CDs. I even looked in Arizona when I was on vaction there recently, and where i figured it would be easier to find a country artist than the NYC metro area.
DJ commented:
Whc sings this song? Love the show. Bill can bite me anytime.
chrissy commented:
i've always liked vampires and love this show. i got my neighbor hooked on it and we watch every sunday night 9 eastern. she's not a big vampire fan but is hooked!!
Reptilian orgy commented:
I, for one, love this show. I'm not to much of a vampire person as some (I tend to lean on the side of zombies) but it really is a spectacular show. I have been following the show since the first episode aired and always look forward to 7 o'clock on Sunday nights to see what kind of twist Alan Ball throws at the viewers next. As for the opening credits, I had to download the song from itunes and put it on my ipod. ONE and only country song I'll listen to.