I recently watched an episode of HBO’s True Blood and was left wondering. Did all the supernatural creatures in the world wind up in Sookie’s hometown of Bon Temps? Is it because Sookie’s a rare fairy and she simply draws all creatures great and small to her? Or is the small Southern town the primary meeting place for things that go bump—and bite—in the night? Bon Temps has werewolves, vampires, spirits, shape-shifters, witches and fairies along with a gay medium who gets possessed by dead witches and demons more often than I eat a pint of ice cream. And that’s saying a lot!
It makes me wonder. Is our world filled with beings that secretly live and work around us? Ooh, wouldn’t that be exciting?
Or would it be more frightening than exciting? Think about it. If you knew vampires lived in your hometown, would you go running around at night? Wouldn’t you try to do your errands during the daytime hours when they’re not out and about? And yet, the characters in True Blood and The Vampire Diaries think nothing of running to the local convenience store at the stroke of midnight. What brave souls they are!
Then there’s the problem of everyone simply accepting the super-powered beings that hang out around them. If vampires came out publicly on tonight’s evening news program, wouldn’t that freak you out? Yet these people seem to accept werewolves, shape-shifters and vamps with little to no loss of sanity. Although I write paranormal romances, I think I’d still lose my cool a little. Okay, maybe a lot.
Look, I know you have to invite a vampire inside your home before he can enter, but why be faced with the uncomfortable situation of saying no? Why don’t the residents of Bon Temps get peep holes and simply not answer their doors when a known vamp comes a-knockin’? I know I would.
Believe me, I’m not dissing shows like True Blood. I don’t normally worry that the characters seem to accept their odd neighbors with ease. We writers call that “suspension of disbelief.” In other words, if the viewer or reader didn’t buy into the premise that supernatural beings lived among us, they wouldn’t get involved in the book or movie. Therefore, they have to “suspend their disbelief”.
My main problem is this. With all the many supernatural beings and creatures running around the swamps, where are all the dragons?
Come on, Sookie. Have you checked the outhouse? Surely there’s a dragon in there somewhere.
Beverly Rae - www.beverlyrae.com
3 comments:
I am happy to see dragons coming onto the scene more in fiction! They seem to pop up, more often than not, as dragon shifters though. Hmm.
LOL Knowing what my family's like, I don't think I'd have any problems learning there were vampire, werewolves and, yes, dragons in the neighborhood. I'd pit my family against them any day. I expect the residents of Bon Temps feel the same. :-)
In True Blood, vampires didn't come out yesterday, it's been a bit that they've been around. One is supposed to assume that there's been time to adapt to the idea. Once you can accept vampires exist, werewolves seem somewhat natural.
Also, if vampires came out on the news tonight, it wouldn't really change my behavior. They've been around the entire time and have never stopped to attack me on the way to 7-11 at 10pm, why would they start now?
And yes, I want more dragons! I have a dragon-shifter story coming out on Halloween, but I want more, many more, especially on television. :)
~X
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