Man or Monster in the Media

“It's poor judgment, … to call anything by a name. We don't know what a hobgoblin or a vampire or a troll is. Could be lots of things. You can't heave them into categories with labels and say they'll act one way or another. That'd be silly. They're people. People who do things. Yes, that's the way to put it. People who *do* things.” Ray Bradbury. In TrueBlood two of the main male characters, Bill, a vampire and Jason, a human, are shown and  comparable in many ways.  The idea of what makes a man can be seen in very different ways. Both are men, and therefore representative of the gender but what do their behaviors say about masculinity in general or theirs personally?

Bill is a vampire that was turned around the time of the civil war. He carries himself with a quiet dignity and old world charm. He seems very reliable and Sookie even says he seems much older during a walk because he is so serious and responsible acting. He is unruffled when Jason repeatedly tries to start fights with him and defuses the tension Jason’s immature behavior creates with quiet humor.

The beginning of this episode shows Sookie being beaten by two individuals who plan to kill her, Bill comes to her aid- ruthlessly attacking and knocking out the would be killers and then takes Sookie deep into the woods and saves her by selflessly giving her his blood. When she wakes he answers all her questions calmly and even tells her vampire secrets to appease her stress over what has occurred. He makes sure to walk her to her car after she is healed and then agrees to talk to her Grandmother’s reading group to make her happy- even though he is adamant over his dislike of war and the topic in general. He is a perfect gentleman in his actions with her.

When he goes to Gran’s house Jason is belligerent and rude but Bill conducts himself with charm and grace and even requests of Gran to take Sookie for a walk. When she asks, he is honest to her that he has killed the people who attacked her and fed on them before hand and that he had killed before at times. He is very upfront with her. Bill represents a type of masculinity not found in media or real life much these days it seems. He is sweet, honest, honorable and in my opinion the old world type of man- someone who can be relied upon and is upstanding and trustworthy- even though he is the “monster” vampire and is supposed to fit into the villain box.

Jason represents an entirely different type of man. He is the bold, brash, bring it on type of redneck man that it seems is applauded in today’s society. With his own actions he condemns himself to the role of idiot redneck from the beginning of the episode to the end. He is in jail in the beginning of the show being held because he is a suspect in a murder of a woman who he is caught on tape having very violent sex with and strangling her. Instead of trying to resuscitate her or calling 911 when he thinks he has killed her, he runs. He is let out because she was faking being dead to scare him (as shown after he leaves on the video) but immediately runs to another woman (an apparent “friend with benefits”) and uses the poor me play to get her into bed- where he is shown as not only a very violent lover- especially after seeing the vampire marks on her throat- as well as a narcissist- he watches himself as they are at it in the mirror.

Jason repeatedly acts in a rude, prejudiced manner towards Bill and talks back to his Grandmother as well. He is disrespectful to the women he is around and has a strong “better than you” attitude.  Jason acts like an out of control child. He drinks all the time and is loud, quick to anger and whiny  He uses the people around him without even noticing- such as the fact that Terra is head over heels in love with him and he doesn't even notice her. He tries to pull the “man of this family” card to control Sookie’s actions though he is immediately shut down.

Of the two men I would say they both represent very different types of masculinity- Bill is supposed to be the monster, heartless cold and using people but it is Jason who runs from woman to woman, barely acknowledges her death, once he knows he didn't murder her- except to use it to get into Dawn’s pants and acts like an ass to Bill simply for being different. Bill is a gentleman, kind, respectful and willing to do things for others that could hurt or upset him- such as giving Sookie his blood and secrets as well as talking about a past that visibly upsets him.