Sex & Society » Television, Pop culture, Sexuality: "True Blood’s Sexual Conservatism"
EdenFantasys Store

True Blood’s Sexual Conservatism

  •    
  • Print
  • E-mail

Comments

Subscribe to comments
Contributor: Christopher J Sparks
Christopher J Sparks  

perhaps
but look at the narrator of this tale of morality. The character is rather given to blind oversimplification, and his conversation with Hoyt did not touch on his cult days, which I feel is really the message here: that sexual conservatism merely for the sake of acquiescence to social controls, be it to avoid a label like slut or simply to fit in, is an inadequate and thoroughly doomed enterprise.

If Jason's thoughts and actions are to be understood as a definition of the show's moral message than his murder of a black man, which was covered up by law enforcement (I mean, if you can really take Andy seriously as the Law), and which led to his position on the force is considerably more disturbing than the lessons of his lustful escapades.

07/27/2011
Contributor: Aslinn Dhan
Aslinn Dhan  

I don't know as I would call it sexual conservatism to see Jason sort of looking at his sexual past as actions with consequences, and I think that is exactly what we are seeing when he is weighing his sexual past and what happened to him during his gang rape ordeal. Jason's character was doing this as far back as season two and was doing it in season three after he shot Eggs and Andy Bellefleur was telling him conscience off, dick on when he said he wanted to be the new Jason, the new Jason with some level limits. I think what the writers are trying to show is a certain level of maturity and wisdom in the otherwise air headed man slut.

07/28/2011
Contributor: Aubrey Sitterson

@Aslinn - You're right that there's nothing particularly sexually conservative about recognizing that sex has consequences, but where I think Jason's attitudes veer off from responsible into conservative is when he starts thinking in terms of God punishing him for his sexual escapades. Interestingly, a fair argument could be made that this is the OPPOSITE of taking responsibility, as it just writes off bad things that have happened to him as some kind of divine retribution, not just a simple causal result. Once you bring God into the equation, the argument definitely changes.

@Christopher - I never said that Jason was RIGHT in his attitudes, just that they were in fact there, so you're absolutely correct that Jason's arc has also demonstrated the futility and hypocrisy of full-blown God-centric sexual conservatism. But doesn't that just add to my larger point of True Blood's thematic complexity when it comes to this matter? Not exactly clear what Jason killing Eggs has to do with this though, especially since it's questionable whether that should even be called a "murder," as Jason acted in good faith when he saw an angry guy shaking a knife at a scared law enforcement official.

07/28/2011

Forum

No discussions yet.