‘Muslim Buffy with a Dick’: Post-9/11 Interpretations of Fundamentalism in True Blood

Abstract

In the recent HBO series, True Blood (2008–2014), the figure of the vampire is presented as a representative of a variety of social anxieties. In the second season of the series, the vampire is used specifically to question attitudes towards religious minorities, and can be strongly argued to represent the figure of the Muslim in post-9/11 America. Through an exploration of the presentation of the Muslim onscreen, alongside a close textual analysis, this chapter argues that the response to the vampire here embodies a particular brand of religiously-informed post-9/11 patriotism. Wilkins uses discussions of post-9/11 cultural responses to support how terrorism may be responded to. The chapter also briefly surveys how terrorism is figured and represented in culture and within the series, ultimately contending that the vampire as a victim of terrorism, here, allows for a more culturally and politically sensitive approach to the topic.

The TV vampire…is all the more monstrous and frightening because it is represented as both ‘other’ and just like us.

—Stacey Abbott, TV Loves Fangs ¹