#because this same racist and victim-blaming rhetoric is reflected in the dehumanizing way they write Louis

[showmey0urfangs]

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See, posts like this one here are what makes me think that some people must have watched a completely different show than I did.

This idea that Louis is drawn to Lestat because Lestat emasculates him is an odd one given that—do you know who else emasculates Louis? Literally every fucking white man he meets on a daily basis;

Tom Anderson, who calls Louis a most discrete negro and to whom Louis still has to say “Yes sir Mr. Anderson sir.”

The white lawyer who calls Louis an exceptional negro before condescendingly tapping him on the head like a dog—and whom Louis rips to shreds shortly after as a result.

Fenwick, who looks down on Louis and resents that Louis turned down his scraps. Who accuses Louis of being arrogant for wanting to rise above his station— and whom Louis guts like a pig and leaves on display as a warning to other white men who would want to disrespect him.

So does Louis also want to fuck all these other white men? Is he irresistibly aroused by their racist comments towards him and by the humiliating way they treat him?

Not to mention that Louis also grew up with a mother who emasculated him constantly, in whose eyes he was never good enough. She treated him as less than his whole life despite the fact that he provided for her and his entire family—including his good for nothing brother-in-law Levi, who Florence later replaces Louis with because, in her eyes, he makes a better son than Louis ever could.

His own mother who tells him “Don't come back fragile son” and who mocks him for the way he dresses and for his sexuality.

And yet you think being emasculated is what seduced Louis and drew him to Lestat?

It was nothing special to Louis, he was emasculated every single fucking day of his life.

What was different about his interaction with Lestat is that Lestat tells him they are “destined to be very good friends”, that Lestat openly compliments Louis and praises him, that Lestat says he is only in New Orleans because of Louis, that Louis is his destiny.

That's what draws Louis in and not the fact that Lestat initially talks down to him like every other racist piece of shit he meets when he enters into spaces where his society dictates he is not supposed to be.

Louis does not get drawn to Lestat because Lestat wins the dick-measuring contest—which makes Louis angry to the point where he wants to slit Lestat's throat with his cane sword—but in spite of it.

In that scene, Lestat was like one of those lame pick-up artists who insult you to lower your self-esteem so that you will respond better to their advances when they later compliment you. It's a classic manipulation technique and it works as intended because, in all his anger and frustration at the exchange, Louis still liked the way Lestat tied a string around his lungs.

I mean did you even listen to the speech Lestat makes in the church to convince Louis to accept the dark gift?

Notice how among all the things Lestat lists he includes deferential businessman.

That's because being deferential to white men is not Louis's true nature, and Lestat knows this. It is something that was forced upon him by the primitive country he lives in.

Louis says yes to Lestat in the church because Lestat promises he can free Louis from all of it and allow him to finally live, not just as an equal, but as something far superior.

Lestat promises Louis—a man who has been disempowered his entire life—a power he can't begin to imagine (and also love and acceptance as an added bonus).

We later find out this was a lie, of course—becoming a vampire does not free Louis from having to experience structural racism and homophobia. As Jacob said in this interview, as a black vampire you can kill and eat one racist or maybe even a thousand but you can't singlehandedly dismantle systemic racism.

So this implication that because Louis is disenfranchised by the racist society he lives in, it must mean he enjoys being degraded, enjoys being talked down to, enjoys being treated as less of a man simply because of the colour of his skin or his sexual preference is INSANE to me.

This kind of discourse, coming from people who claim to be Louis fans is frankly baffling because it's no different than the racist Lestat stans who always want to shift the blame onto Louis for everything Lestat subjects him to during their relationship. This is no different than saying that Louis chose to be abused, was asking for it, and even secretly enjoyed it. That Louis was looking for an excuse to fight with Lestat and probably loved getting beaten within an inch of his life like I saw some idiot say in a comment the other day.

Listen, I'm all for everyone having their own interpretation of the show but in my humble opinion, if you think along these lines then you have fundamentally misunderstood both Louis and Lestat as characters and the dynamic of their relationship. But most importantly you have completely missed the main point that both the show and the book are trying to make.