#interview with the vampire is probably second only to Dracula in terms of famous vampire books

[gildatheplant]

So I finally got around to watching IWTV ep.5

First of all, I should preface this that I watched it a week late, so Tumblr had spoiled most of it for me. I went into it fully knowing that it was divisive, and people were either angry about how the show ‘ruined’ Lestat or argued that it made sense in the context of the show.

First off, I’m in the latter camp. While I can see how the final fight between Lestat, Louis, and Claudia could be traumatizing for some viewers, particularly since it’s seen primarily through Claudia’s eyes, I didn’t think it was that shocking in light of many other violent moments in the show. I feel like the reason so many viewers reacted so badly to it was because episode 4 was mostly very light-hearted, even with its depressing ending. Going from arguably the most upbeat and fun episode to the darkest episode is bound to give a lot of viewers whiplash.

That said, it does annoy me a bit to read viewers saying that they want to quit the show, or that the writers are terrible or ruined the characters, that they loved episodes 1-4, but 5 (and maybe 6) have ruined it...because did they forget episode 1? Lestat was absolutely brutal to Louis near the ending of episode 1 but for some reason fans were not only OK with it but were absolutely hyped about the show. The ending of episode 1 had Lestat interrupt Louis’ brother’s funeral out of jealousy, Louis discovering that Lestat had murdered his friend/lover Miss Lily, Lestat driving Louis to have a complete mental breakdown, Louis trying desperately to find solace with his priest friend in the church (during his mental breakdown), only for Lestat to interrupt and murder Louis’ priest friend and another priest in front of Louis, Lestat tossing Louis around like a ragdoll when Louis rightfully tries to stab this bloodthirsty monster...this all happened after Lestat and Louis were already lovers...

So I guess I’m confused why fandom gave Lestat a pass after all of that, but then seemed shocked that Lestat was abusive in episode 5. True, Lestat was more physically violent towards Louis in episode 5, but the show has been building up to it throughout the season.

Also, I’ve read most of the books, so please don’t “Lestat wouldn’t do that in the books”. You all were perfectly happy when the show strayed from the books if it meant amping up the homoeroticism, like Lestat having levitation sex with Louis, but when the show amped up the violence, suddenly there was all this clutching of pearls. In the books, Lestat is described as having murdered innocent men, women, and children without remorse. He and Louis fight, with the insinuation of violence being involved, it’s glossed over, unlike the show, but the insinuation is still there. TotBT has Lestat say he’d never hurt Louis or Claudia but 1) it’s his perspective 2) it contradicts things written in other books and 3) TotBT depicts Lestat raping someone and forcefully changing someone so it’s clear Lestat’s concept of hurting others is seriously skewed. 

I get if people are too triggered by the show to continue, and hey that’s fair, horror isn’t for everybody and some types/styles of horror can be too much even for fans of the genre. But I think it’s very unfair to slam the creative team of the show because they went in a direction that didn’t fit with your personal interpretation of the characters.