OPENING SEQUENCE
“The Whore in the House of Prayer” – A juxtaposition of Southern, religious elements and sexually charged images
The Emmy-nominated opening sequence of True Blood is filled with contrasting images of religion and sexuality found in the Southern states. Digital Kitchen designer and concept co-creator, Rama Allen, says they settled on the main concept of “the whore in the house of prayer”. They decided upon this idea as collectively it combined the “behind-the-curtains sexuality of the South into the fist pounding spirituality of Pentecostal healings to viscerally expose the conflicts [they] saw in the narrative of the show.”*
“The Whore in the House of Prayer” – A juxtaposition of Southern, religious elements and sexually charged images
The Emmy-nominated opening sequence of True Blood is filled with contrasting images of religion and sexuality found in the Southern states. Digital Kitchen designer and concept co-creator, Rama Allen, says they settled on the main concept of “the whore in the house of prayer”. They decided upon this idea as collectively it combined the “behind-the-curtains sexuality of the South into the fist pounding spirituality of Pentecostal healings to viscerally expose the conflicts [they] saw in the narrative of the show.”*
Allen's above quote perfectly encapsulates the content of the series. True Blood's main plot primarily involves Sookie, a innocent, young girl who surprises everyone in Bon Temps, Louisiana. She becomes romantically involved with a vampire, Bill, and thus an advocate for vampires to fully integrate into the community. Countless conflicts occur in the series because it comes down to 'sinners' versus religious folk, which sometimes becomes mixed. Strict fundamentalists are not accepting of having vampires present in society, and feel they do not coincide with Christian beliefs and should be eliminated. (e.g., Hoyt's relationship with his church-going mother, Maxine, is entirely jeopardized when he begins to date Jessica, a vampire.)
The opening sequence captures the conflicting agendas of sexual desires and piety. This illustrates the themes of “death and rebirth”*, in addition to renewal and forgiveness of sin, which appear as sexual and religious images. In order to portray these themes, creators of the opening sequence utilize night and day to show the culmination of sin to reach the endpoint of rebirth and forgiveness.*
The following religious images are shown in the sequence:
Top: Women clapping along in song among a Pentecostal church congregation.
Middle: A shot of headstones with crosses in a cemetery. This shot is through a window with a screen, implying that it is just outside a building, such as a church, or a home.
Bottom: A backlit, roadside sign stating “God hates fangs”. This phrase exemplifies the vampires’ fight for rights as a legitimate community within society. This struggle is metaphorical of the battle for rights within the queer movement happening in the present day ‘real world’. There are numerous other instances in the True Blood series where oppression toward vampires is evident (e.g., “True Blood – Christians Being Christians” video on The Fellowship of the Sun section of this page). This is also a play on words of the Westboro Baptist Church's phrase "God hates fags"*. Metaphorically the extreme Christians of the South that protest vampire existence and "fangbangers" (humans who have sexual relations with vampires) are symbolic of members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who protest individuals that are homosexual.
Middle: A shot of headstones with crosses in a cemetery. This shot is through a window with a screen, implying that it is just outside a building, such as a church, or a home.
Bottom: A backlit, roadside sign stating “God hates fangs”. This phrase exemplifies the vampires’ fight for rights as a legitimate community within society. This struggle is metaphorical of the battle for rights within the queer movement happening in the present day ‘real world’. There are numerous other instances in the True Blood series where oppression toward vampires is evident (e.g., “True Blood – Christians Being Christians” video on The Fellowship of the Sun section of this page). This is also a play on words of the Westboro Baptist Church's phrase "God hates fags"*. Metaphorically the extreme Christians of the South that protest vampire existence and "fangbangers" (humans who have sexual relations with vampires) are symbolic of members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who protest individuals that are homosexual.
Top Left: A passionate congregation and pastor who is jumping for joy.
Top Right: A church steeple with a cross topping the tower.
Bottom: Two women praying in their light coloured, Sunday best. Details worth noting are the presence of church nametags pinned on their clothing, as well as the cross pendant on one woman’s necklace. This woman also appears to have tears on her cheeks. It appears as though they are praying for forgiveness of sin.
Top Left: A pastor touching the face of a Pentecostal church congregation member while he preaches. It is probable that he is asking that she be forgiven of her sins and renewed as a Christian.
Top Right: A pastor and church congregation member holding on to another female member as she writhes about. It is probable that they are conducting a form of exorcism to relieve her of her sins.
Bottom: Two men baptizing a woman at dark in a body of water. This is symbolic of rebirth washing away her sins and rejuvenating her as a Christian. It is also worth noting that all three are dressed in church attire.
As aforementioned, the opening sequence of True Blood is also filled with numerous sexual images. Several of these images display sexual temptation, seduction, and allure. In most cases women are acting as temptresses from being pictured in lingerie to dancing provocatively. These demonstrations are viewed as sinful when juxtaposed to religious images, especially when viewed in the eyes of Southern, Christian fundamentalists – an idea that is quite prominent in the series.
The notion of temptation is a theme of the song played in the opening sequence, "Bad Things" by Jace Everett. One of the chorus’ lines "I wanna do bad things to you," has a sexual connotation. This is related to Southern ideals about having sexual relations with vampires -- those with close religious ties think of this as sinful, while others (particularly those who partake in it) find it alluring. Of course this overarching idea of temptation ties in with several biblical instances, such as the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis.
Making of True Blood opening sequence
Text Sources:
Indicated with an asterisk.
1. http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00131-true_blood
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Blood
3. http://religionandmediacourse.blogspot.ca/2010/08/true-blood-vs-buffy-vampire-slayer.html
4. http://www.godhatesfags.com/
Photo & Video Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjooosDIFgQ
All screenshots of opening sequence taken from the above linked video. Utilized www.fotor.com to create photo collages.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/9a15bc5c46d75d34fda7a13ebc488747/tumblr_mt3u81M8z31sytc7jo1_500.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LolGcehOQY
Indicated with an asterisk.
1. http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00131-true_blood
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Blood
3. http://religionandmediacourse.blogspot.ca/2010/08/true-blood-vs-buffy-vampire-slayer.html
4. http://www.godhatesfags.com/
Photo & Video Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjooosDIFgQ
All screenshots of opening sequence taken from the above linked video. Utilized www.fotor.com to create photo collages.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/9a15bc5c46d75d34fda7a13ebc488747/tumblr_mt3u81M8z31sytc7jo1_500.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LolGcehOQY