New Obsession...

Grant has extra special movie tiers on his cable and subsequently, I get to enjoy cable T.V. shows. There are a few differences between cable and broadcast T.V. The first is creative scope, on cable network execs feel like they can greenlight much more adventurous programming. The second is boobs, just gratuitous boobs all over the place.

Well, I've fallen in love with True Blood.

Based on the literature of Charlaine Harris, Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) has constructed a succulent world situated in the Southern town of Bon Temps, Louisiana where the societal divide between Vampire and Humans takes shape in the lives of members of both communities. The beauty of the show is that we get to hear both sides of the story. Ball and his team of writers were sure to consciously create a narrative style which highlights the intentions and actions of many characters as opposed to the singular POV that the books had provided. The program is one part character study, one part biting social commentary. And oh yeah, one part freaking vampires biting people and shit.

What I like best is the inhumanity of both worlds. It would have been easy for the story to have focused on the integration of Vampires into Human society (Japanese scientists have recently developed synthetic blood making it possible for Vampires to exist without, you know, killing some fools), but where's the drama in that? Bell went the Malcolm X route and ignored all of that boring pacifism junk. The vampires that we see, for the most part, are violent and hungry---not for some lame synthetic blood but for the rush of human blood. And the thrill that killing one gets you.

There are, of course, "good" vampires, represented in the form of 173 year old Bill Compton whose heroic demeanor and determination not to kill humans capture the heart of cleavage-loving, mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse. It's a May/December love story in the best kind of way.

Not of that tickles your fancy? Well, what if I told you that Lafayette---the webcam dancing, fabulously gay, killin' it in a turban human---is in huge trouble with the Vampire community for dealing "V" a drug made from vampire blood that gets you totally high? Or that Sookie's brother, who totally got hooked on V from Lafayette now feels guilty about the death of his junkie girlfriend and wants to make reparations by joining Fellowship of the Sun Church where they practice pseudo fire-and-brimstone Christianity that also happens to preach anti-vampire propaganda like "no special rights for dead people"? Or that bar owning Sam is a shapeshifter who commonly takes the shape of doggies? They are some really cute doggies.