tempella: stillhidden: virgovampire: ...

stillhidden:

virgovampire:

stillhidden:

virgovampire:

stillhidden:

him-e:

Excuse me but….wth?!

I’m wondering how long will i have to read people confusing reality with fiction? Cause i’m already having an hard time with my dash….but this, omg this is so… i can’t even….

My best congrats to Anna and Stephen, but the B.C.A.S. post is kinda creepy… and comical as well.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think they are actually confusing the show with reality (they pointedly say “no, not on the show.”) What I find disturbing is the fact that a thing called The Bill Compton Appreciation Society exists. Probably, a better name for it would be Sure The Dude Is Psychotic And He Rapes On Occasion When He Is Not Too Busy Manipulating And Stealing Or Wallowing In Self-Pity But We Love Him Anyway Society.

Isn’t it demeaning to True Blood, that Bill, just doing his job as a good bad guy, is ridiculed so much! That commands absolutely no respect and no reason for others to bother look at a show, with such a ridiculous character! Let’s be angry with him, let’s hate him etc. But why devaluate the show in the process, they should be recommended for dealing with such a controversial and relevant danger he represents! This ‘walking’ all over him takes focus away from the true points and makes it to ‘much’ to deal with, because of all the ‘secundary’ disgust you have to deal with too!

I’m sorry, I can’t tell if you are being ironic and illustrating the point of how the boundaries between reality and the show get blurred in the fandom, or you are serious about this.

There are quotation marks in your comment that lead me to hope you are joking.

But if you are not, if this is in earnest … then, let’s see:

1. Is it disrespectful to the show that crafted a character in a specific way to notice the crafting and react accordingly? No. To call a spade a spade is not a disrespect to those who made it a spade. It’s paying attention. Bill is written and portrayed as a loathsome person. Loathing him is the sane reaction, and the show works hard to get us there.

2. I am not sure what you mean by Bill doing his job as good bad guy? Do you mean Bill is that good at pretending and we are disrespecting him for not … respecting his abilities to manipulate? I assure you, I have the highest degree of respect for his sinister qualities. I never underestimate the depths he will sink to. And that is why I don’t fall into the “Appreciating Bill Compton” category. He is too good at being an evil asshole for me to like him. Do you really mean we should like all the characters, because they try hard to be that bad? I am not sure I follow you.

3. I am sorry, but your claim that ridiculing Bill Compton devalues the show is kind of reaching for me. The show does a great job presenting Bill as a manipulator, a sexual predator, a thief, a liar, a self-serving, often psychotic, and generally assholish being. Dangerous at times and inept at others. Seeing that through the veil of misdirection is what the show wants us to do. These women, in that “Appreciation” society, miss the entire point of the character. They love him, because they take him at face-value and believe he is actually a good guy with stellar motives and crystal clean morals. Now that is sad, and it says something about their psychological state, but it’s not the fault of the show.

To sum up: Ridiculing a fictional character that is presented for ridicule is not a sign of disrespect, and it’s not a disservice to the show. Discussing the show from all angles is not a disservice to the show. Hating a character is not a disservice to the show. The only disservice to the show is not watching it.

I am not, as a viewer, obligated in any way to show respect for any or all the characters. And thankfully, TB is too smart and too layered to ever want that from its audience. I don’t respect Bill Compton, because he merits no respect. Why? Because he is written and acted that way. And I take notice. You know what devalues something? Taking it at its surface level and singing it praises for the gift-wrapping. Selling it as gold when it’s gold-leafed shit. Loving Bill Compton is ridiculous, because he does not merit love, he merits contempt.

I guess it’s a fine line between hating enough and then hating too much!

There are several issues with this statement.

1. You can’t hate a little or too much. Hate is hate. It’s a strong emotion and it doesn’t really lend itself to degrees. Saying “I hate this or that a little bit, but not too much” is meaningless. You hate or you don’t. Mild distaste is mild distaste. It’s not hate.

2. You are implying that in this particular instance hating a character is unreasonable. I disagree. Bill Compton merits my hate. For very specific reasons. Why shouldn’t I feel the way I do? If the character were less loathsome to me, I wouldn’t feel this way. If I didn’t feel this way, I wouldn’t say so. Why is that a problem? You want to argue the points, I am all for it. Tell me why my reaction to him is wrong, and I’ll consider it (or, more likely, I’ll tell you why I disagree), but you can’t tell me I shouldn’t feel this simply because it’s a negative emotion. Life is filled with all sorts of reactions and emotions, and we all approach it from our own perspective.

Some cross it and then the fine words looses some of it’s meaning to me.

That’s fine. If that’s how you feel. But I am not the guardian of how you feel or how you perceive what I say. I can only be honest about my feelings, and if they lose meaning to you, so be it. It’s no call for me to adjust how I feel or to stop expressing it while talking about the show. That’s what these discussions are for.

If you are a fanatic, you quickly sound propagandistic and people know it’s a given what you think.

I take the biggest issue with this. A “fanatic” implies irrationality and blind following of an idea. I am neither blind in my dislike of Bill, nor am I irrational about it. I give plenty of reasons why I feel this way, and I hear none from you on why I shouldn’t.

I hate Bill Compton because he is manipulative, self-serving, and violent. I hate him for what he did to Sookie. I hate him for what he did to Eric. I hate him for every self-righteous speech made and every self-justification uttered.

I am fully aware that he hears voices of better angel on occasions. I am also aware that these voice get shouted down by his more base needs. That his desire for control (of himself and others) will always and forever win over whatever purer desires he may experience.

Those are facts presented by the show. Now, you can come at me with counter-facts, with something I should love Bill Compton for. I am willing to hear you out.

But do not tell me I am a fanatic for having a reasoned opinion and not flip-flopping on it. That is not an argument, it’s a dismissal at best and an insult at worst.

I just think you can reach more by not standing on the edge of your feelings (still learning that myself)!

Reach more of what? I am not a preacher. This is not a sermon. And it absolutely isn’t my job, my duty, or (least of all) my desire to reach some sort of an audience with a lecture on how to feel or think. This is an opinion, and you can agree or disagree. That is all it is.

Like I said, some in here are cultivating their hate for Bill, in it self, rather than reaching and educating people without all that thunder and burning them.

No. Once again, that is not the purpose of “in here.” This isn’t a classroom, no more than it is a pulpit. This is a conversation. I am not in the business of educating anyone. If someone wants to learn something, I am open for questioning, but you can’t tell me I am doing something wrong that I didn’t set up to do in the first place.

Also, what do you mean by “cultivating their hate for Bill”? It’s not a flower that gets watered with Bill’s Telenovella tears for nourishment and growth. This isn’t a self-perpetuating thing. I speak as I find. If there’s a redemption for Bill Compton down the road somewhere, I will consider it, but as things stand, I don’t need to feed by dislike for him, because with every action and every speech he does a fine job of reminding me why I don’t like him.

I know it’s serious, I don’t know how many time I have to point out I Hate Bill as well, it’s like people are numb unless it is wrapped in 10 adjectives!

But lighten up, you’re burning the points on the same fire you are burning Bill. It is to much in my opinion, I lose my respect and/or give up and shrug, but so be it.

You know, I wanted to give you 10 adjectives in response, but what’s the point?

Let’s recap instead:

You cut in on the ongoing discussion of the misguided “Bill Compton Appreciation Society” by lecturing me on why I shouldn’t speak my mind in the way that I do. When I replied to you, you (once again, you do that a lot) ignored what I said and instead concentrated on the fact that you didn’t like me saying it.

Here’s the deal: My opinions, however wordy they may be, are my opinions. You don’t have to respect them. You don’t even have to read them. But if you want to debate them, you better be prepared for a rebuttal. It might not be the one you’d like. That’s the nature of a debate. Don’t start one if you aren’t prepared to argue your point instead of calling names or dangling your respect as some sort of a prize to be presented at the end of this. If you cannot win an argument you’ve started, you have a perfectly good option of discontinuing it. But that is not what you are doing, and telling me you are “shrugging it off” after a lecture on how you are annoyed by my opinions is not the same thing as actually shrugging off anything.

DIS DIS DIS AND DIS

Well, I stand by my words, but you are right in that I cut in on this “ongoing discussion of the misguided “Bill Compton Appreciation Society” “, on the day we congratulate Stephen and Anna, on what seem to be very happy news! I shouldn’t have done that!

(Source: luvtheviking)

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