True Blood and Philosophy

Leave it to Eric Northman to tell it like it is. Smart humans in the world of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and True Blood, its HBO incarnation, never forget for a moment that when vampires are “mainstreaming,” they are at play, playing at being human. To create a more even playground, vampires perpetuate certain myths, such as their supposed adverse reactions to crucifixes and their inability to be photographed, in order to appear weaker than they really are. Through play, vampires who desire to mainstream learn the ins and outs of human society. Meanwhile, humans gain a less threatening, less fearful impression of vampires. In the realm of play, vampires who don’t follow the rules of mainstreaming (we’ll call them spoilsports) threaten the fragile boundaries of a society where human beings and vampires (and shifters, too) interact.

When vampires announced their existence to the world, crossing the boundary from myth to reality, their strategy was to appeal to human beings as much as possible by appearing to be nonthreatening. Spokespersons were chosen for their attractiveness, their humanlike mannerisms, and their general appeal. The “virus” explanation for the unique attributes of vampires encourages human beings to be less afraid of their undead neighbors. Because vampires want to live with human beings rather than looming menacingly over them, success depends on their ability to play human.

Bill Compton’s acceptance depends on an act of play: he must pretend to be human to be accepted by human beings. Beneath the surface, both vampires and human beings know the truth. Vampires are incredibly strong and ferocious, and they have the power to glamour. Humans, by contrast, have strong emotions, vitality, and the much-desired blood. Even with the availability of synthetic blood, human blood continues to tempt the vampires, especially when they’re very hungry or in a heightened state of arousal. For mainstreaming to work, both sides must be willing to put aside disturbing differences and treat one another as equals.

To see how this can work, let’s consider a definition of play offered by the philosopher John Huizinga (1872—1945). Play, he said, “is a voluntary activity or occupation occurring within certain fixed limits of time and place, according to rules freely accepted but absolutely binding, having its aim in itself and accompanied by a feeling of tension, joy, and the consciousness that it is ‘different’ from ‘ordinary life.’ ”³ Successful mainstreaming for vampires depends on how well they can play the game of being human. This is why Bill orders red wine his first night in Merlotte’s when he learns that Sam Merlotte hadn’t yet stocked synthetic blood. He understands that a person should be seen drinking when in a bar.

Vampires don’t just play when they’re mainstreaming. Vampire culture actually revolves around “courtesy and custom,” according to Bill, even when vampires are the only ones present. Because they “have to live together for centuries,” the rules and traditions vampires create help maintain a sense of structure, keeping the vampire world secure and familiar even as the outside world continues to change. These courtesies and customs represent the “crystallized” and residual elements of the acts of play that helped shape the culture in the first place.⁴ For their rules and traditions to carry any weight, vampires must agree to perpetuate them. As Sookie Stackhouse enters the vampire world more deeply, she finds herself learning about sheriffs, queens, and kings. In Club Dead, the third book of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Sookie’s heart breaks as she learns that the rules of that world dictate that Bill must leave her to answer the call of his maker.

Do all vampires play by the rules? Of course not. Some vampires cheat, just like some human beings. Others act as “spoilsports,” a term Huizinga uses for a figure who “shatters the play-world itself” by revealing the “relativity and fragility of the play-world in which he had temporarily shut himself with others.”⁵ Some call this “going rogue.” Mickey in Dead as a Doornail, the fifth book of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, is a prime example of a rogue vampire. Vampires discourage going rogue by punishing the spoilsport or leaving him unprotected from other vampires and creatures of the night. Safety lies in the hierarchy and courtesies of vampire culture, in playing the game.

Engaging in play has certain requirements: boundaries that mark off the arena of play in space and time, rules to create a sense of order, and specific goals to accomplish. Participation in play forges a bond between players. As all leave the playing field, they carry away a private shared experience, for no one outside the play will truly understand the inner workings of the game. Consequently, whether a vampire wants to mainstream or make an appearance at Fangtasia, he had better know the rules of each play-world. And the first rule is to know the boundaries.

Just because a vampire wants to mainstream, that doesn’t mean that he acts human all the time. To the contrary, the mainstreaming vampire knows the appropriate behavior for each human encounter. This just makes sense since not all humans expect the same things from a vampire interaction. The fang-bangers at the bars want to be a little scared and a little wowed by the vampire experience, which is why Eric requires vampires in his area to appear at the bar in shifts. Other humans, like patrons at Merlotte’s, prefer their vampires to behave as humanly as possible. In either case, the vampire must adjust his behavior accordingly when crossing the boundary into human territory.

In play theory, the boundary sets the limits for play in time and place. Like a ritual, which Huizinga regards as a sacred act of play, the boundary creates hallowed space and is a “temporary world” dedicated to the performative act. Huizinga lists several types of boundaries, including a stage, a tennis court, and a court of law.⁷ Crossing the boundary line indicates a willingness to participate in play for a specified time in that space. Even a gameboard can reflect a boundary, as the rules apply only to the time and place of the game played on it.

In Sookie’s world the actual threshold of a human being’s home serves as one of the most powerful boundary markers between the human and vampire worlds. Vampires can enter public places at will, but only an invitation from the owner can admit a vampire into the home. Sookie learns this early on and uses this knowledge to her advantage throughout the series. When weary of vampire politics and posturing in Club Dead, she rescinds Bill’s and Eric’s invitations into her home, forcing them to walk backward out the door against their will. Realizing that she was finally at peace and that the deadly vampires were trapped outside her door, Sookie reports that she “hadn’t laughed so hard in weeks.” In Dead as a Doornail Sookie rescinds the invitation of the rogue vampire Mickey. This time, however, it’s not for amusement but to save her life. With Eric hurt and unable to help, Sookie realizes the only way to save herself and her friend Tara Thornton is to force Mickey to leave.

In the vampire world, kings, queens, and sheriffs rule over certain territories with clear boundaries. Vampire officials can be quite territorial and expect to be informed of all vampire activity in the area. That’s why in Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead, the second and third books of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Eric dons a disguise to keep an eye on Sookie in Dallas and Jackson when he sends her on missions to those cities (she is his property, after all). Had he entered Dallas or Jackson uninvited as Eric Northman, the sheriffs and others in those regions might have taken the action as an insult or, even worse, as an act of aggression. In the language of Huizinga’s play theory, Eric’s impersonation constitutes cheating, an attempt to skirt the rules, which is nonetheless different from being a spoilsport like Mickey. At least the cheater acknowledges that rules and boundaries are in place. He treats the boundaries as real and significant, even as he crosses over them. Wearing his disguise, Eric pretends to be playing the game and honoring the boundary markers. At no time do the vampires in Dallas or Jackson realize that their boundaries were breached by the sheriff of Area 5.

Within the boundaries lie specific rules for play. Breaking a rule means the collapse of play until order is restored. When the twentieth-century philosopher Roger Callois expanded on Huizinga’s theory of play, he explained that even playing make-believe implies rules, the main rule being that all will agree to act as if this make-believe world were real.⁹ The main rule that must be followed for vampire mainstreaming to be successful is the same rule that governs all make-believe play: vampires must act as if they are human. What’s so hard about that? Vampires were once human, right? Let’s consider this notion of being human.

“Human” in this case is more than a biological designation. To be human in our sense of the term requires participation in a way of life shaped by the rules of human society. Vampires are expected to mimic the customs, manners, emotions, and behaviors of the human beings around them. As human culture changes over time, vampires must adjust. In Dead until Dark, the first book of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bill learns from Arlene’s children that a true boyfriend would bring Sookie flowers. Throughout their courtship, Sookie attempts to reconcile Bill’s actions, including his protectiveness and his habit of treating her like a “kept woman,” with how she believes a boyfriend should act. More than once in the novels, Sookie notes that Bill has never proposed, as if even this gesture, empty as it would be since vampires and humans cannot marry (this is true in the novels, but not in the HBO series), reflects her conception of what a romantic relationship should be like. Elsewhere in the novels, Eric expresses his belief that Jason Stackhouse should be more protective of his sister, Sookie, citing older ideas about gender roles and family duty. Keeping up with the times must be hard for vampires.

Age equals power for vampires, but age also presents problems for vampires who want to play human. Bill reports that the longer he remains a vampire, the harder it is for him to remember what it was like to be human. Vampires like Eric, who are even older than Bill, seem to lack what most of us would consider humanity in any form. In Dead as a Doornail, for example, Sookie has to explain to Eric why he should care about Tara’s enslavement to Mickey. Many of the healings Sookie receives from the vampires occur purely as reciprocation for services she has rendered or risks she has taken on their behalf, not because the vampires (with the exception of Bill) feel any real sense of caring for her.

For a vampire to refuse to act human in a human setting is the act of a spoilsport. The spoilsport ruins play because he shatters the illusion, not just by breaking the rules but by reminding everyone that the experience isn’t real but is just play. In an early episode of True Blood, the roguish vampire Malcolm calls Bill “everyone’s favorite buzz kill,” on account of his mainstreaming goals, and Diane reminds him that “not everyone wants to dress up and play human.”¹⁰ Malcolm and Diane live in a vampire nest, a group of vampires who may live together for centuries and become unusually close. Nested vampires often call one another “brother” or “sister” and reject mainstreaming. When Malcolm, Diane, and Liam (the other vampire in their nest) show up at Merlotte’s, they menace and offend the patrons of the bar, pretty much just by acting like vampires and treating the human beings in the bar as part of a lower order of creature. Their actions make it harder for the patrons to accept Bill, despite his effort to keep the peace, because their actions confirm their worst stereotypes and fears about vampires.

Spoilsports exist on the human side as well. The Fellowship of the Sun is an organization of spoilsports, human beings who don’t believe that vampire mainstreaming, not to mention the very existence of vampires, is a good idea. Their opposition is so zealous that they are willing to kill Sookie because of her association with vampires. Many of Merlotte’s patrons also look down on Sookie for dating a vampire, believing that a good girl wouldn’t act that way. (But, with the exception of the mentally unhinged Rene Lenier, none of them are necessarily ready to kill her for that indiscretion.) On a larger scale, spoilsports are responsible for laws that forbid vampires and humans to marry each other (except in Vermont, according to the show), although vampires have achieved some rights since they “came out of the coffin.”

Vampires live under a strict code of rules in their own world as well, as Sookie glimpses when, for her own safety, Bill announces to the other vampires that “she’s mine.” This designation shields Sookie from the designs of other vampires, regardless of whether she lets Bill actually drink from her. In return for her safety, she must endure being regarded as a possession, even to the point of being called Bill’s pet by some of his vampire associates.

Sookie’s association with the vampires forces her to abide by more and more of their rules. Like Bill, she must answer a summons from Eric whenever he has a need for her, which has taken her away from her home and placed her in peril many times. In Club Dead, she allows Russell Edgington to lick blood from her wound, knowing that act to be a courtesy she should extend to this vampire king regardless of how distasteful she finds it. Why can’t Sookie be a spoilsport and refuse? Because unlike the vampires who make trouble at Merlotte’s, she doesn’t have enough power. The vampires could destroy the bar if they feel so inclined. The bar patrons know it and so feel forced to tolerate the vampires’ bad behavior in exchange for their safety. But Sookie can’t destroy anyone at Club Dead. As useful as her telepathic gifts may be at times, they do not grant her the physical power she would need to fight her way out of a bad encounter with a vampire.

Play occurs for a reason. Huizinga believes that participants enter into play to be able to achieve something. Callois later categorizes types of play by the types of goals attached to the specific activity, differentiating games of competition (such as chess or soccer) from games of chance (such as roulette or flipping a coin) or games of simulation or mimicry (such as theater).¹² If play, as Huizinga argues, shapes the greater culture, then we, as cultural players, enter into each interaction, from the classroom to the grocery store, with a goal in mind. In public play-worlds, such as bars, shopping centers, and schools, people sometimes enter with unique goals that may conflict with those of others. Conflicting goals can lead to tensions within the play-world that can be resolved within the game, provided all players follow the rules of the space (such as the bar). In a public space such as Merlotte’s Bar and Grill, people come in for a variety of reasons. Sookie comes to work and rarely socializes at the bar, so her goal is to earn money. To achieve her goal, Sookie often pastes on a fake smile, tries to tune out the unwelcome and often offensive thoughts of patrons, and quickly hustles food and drink to her stations in hope of better tips. Except on the rare occasion when she has some additional goal, like listening for incriminating thoughts in order to clear her brother, Jason, from suspicion of murder, as in Dead until Dark, almost all of her actions at Merlotte’s can be explained in terms of her moneymaking goal.

Patrons in the bar arrive with different goals, but they’re rarely in conflict. Most go to drink and socialize. Jason and Hoyt Fortenberry come in to blow off steam after a hard day at work. Andy Bellefleur takes Halleigh Robinson out for a meal. Bill can’t drink wine, but he orders some anyway on his first foray into the bar because, as we observed earlier, he understands that this is the thing to do when you’re in a bar, especially if you show up alone with no one to engage immediately in conversation. Bill’s goal is to mainstream and not necessarily to drink, so when he orders wine from Sookie, it’s in an attempt to fit in. Once Merlotte’s begins stocking synthetic blood, Bill can mainstream and drink at the same time, and he often does.

Bill’s desire to mainstream leads to other unexpected decisions. In Living Dead in Dallas, he appears out and about with Portia Bellefleur to assist her murder investigation but also to further his mainstreaming process. He knows that Portia does not care much for him and has her own agenda and goals, but he goes to football games and other places with her, understanding that it’s good to appear in public in the company of a human. Likewise, he speaks to a meeting of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead in order to mainstream and to please Sookie and her grandmother. Bill’s goal of a mainstreamed life hits obstacles only when his vampire obligations interfere.

Eric’s mainstreaming goals carry more limited expectations, as he wants to mainstream only when it profits him. Eric’s actions make sense in light of his true goal of maintaining power. In Club Dead, he seems to act like a better boyfriend than Bill when he sends a crew to replace Sookie’s gravel drive-way after she complains about it, but he does so with his own ulterior motives in mind, and Sookie knows it. In fact, Sookie comes closest to trusting Eric only after Eric has been cursed with amnesia in Dead to the World, the fourth of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, because he no longer remembers how he used to act and begins showing raw human emotions, such as fear and love.

Sookie realizes that others around her have goals that are independent of hers. That’s why she’s not judgmental of Jason’s playboy ways, Sam’s shapeshifting, or Arlene’s desire to find the next perfect husband. She is irritated most often when people don’t make their motives clear from the beginning. Had the werewolf Alcide Herveaux told her that he needed her to use her telepathic abilities at the funeral of Colonel Flood in Dead as a Doornail, she likely still would have attended the event as a favor to him. But because Alcide hid his true intentions and couched his request as a desire for her company, she responded with anger and disappointment. Unfortunately, honesty like Sookie’s is a rare thing in her world, maybe even in any world.

Play creates significance out of a lack of seriousness. While Huizinga believes that the social order and its institutions all stem from play, we also return to playful activities to feel revitalized and significant again. No other activity fulfills this need in such a profound way. A social activity, play draws individuals out of seclusion and encourages them to participate in the world through a variety of roles. The public “coming out” of vampires provides both them and human beings with the opportunity to play new kinds of games. Vampires can mainstream in the human world, acting mostly human in human settings. And by watching vampires, human beings gain an understanding and partial access to a world previously unknown to them.

All players leave the game forever changed by the experience, having forged a bond with others on the playing field. That bond is why Sookie can’t ignore Eric’s running down the road in the middle of night in Dead to the World and why Bill still wants to protect Sookie even after their romantic relationship ends. Bit by bit, exposure to mainstreaming vampires like Bill Compton and the spokespersons for the American Vampire League, like Nan Flanagan, convince human beings that the presence of vampires isn’t all bad. As long as human beings stay in their human setting, this new positive image of the vampire can become predominant. But once human beings enter the boundaries of the vampire world, the rules of the human playground disappear and things get dangerous.

Play to Learn, Play to Live

Thresholds and Invitations

Rules: What It Means to Be “Mine”

The Goals of Play

Play Changes the Player

NOTES