True Blood on the Cover of Rolling Stone – Too Much?
True Blood is on the top of my ‘Must See TV’ list, and this season has been one of the best so far. It’s been a battle of Vampire Hierarchy throughout that is no doubt going to culminate in a season finale that is full of blood, sex and vampire/werewolf showdowns! This is not Twilight people.
So when I saw the current cover of Rolling Stone magazine, I was mesmerized. Honestly, 3 of the shows beautiful stars, naked and covered in blood – wow. As a grownup I loved it – but as a parent I wonder, have we gone too far? Is this really something I need to explain to my kids when they see it on the shelf at the grocery store?
In the interview with Rolling Stone, True Blood creator Alan Ball states “To me, vampires are sex,” “I don’t get a vampire story about abstinence. I’m 53. I don’t care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed.”
For the record Alan Ball, I totally agree with you! But walking through the grocery store to see a picture of 3 naked people covered in blood is a bit much for this mother of 4! I mean I love the show – absolutely love it. And normally seeing Alexander Skarsgard naked is not something I would object to, but seeing him on the cover of a magazine that my 8 year old daughter will also see is a bit much, and frankly I’m not ready to have that conversation yet!
True Blood is an adult show, on an adult network. I watch it when my kids are in bed and they have no knowledge of it or exposure to it. So is it ok for a magazine to put a picture like this on its cover? I understand that Rolling Stone is a magazine for adults, but it is still a mainstream publication that is on display at most newsstands. Have we gone so far into the ‘shock and awe’ state that we have lost sight of the fact that some things are better left for HBO.
So what do you think? Is the True Blood cover going too far?
Source: Rolling Stone
No, it’s awesome.
I have to agree with you Ashley – it is a pretty full-on image to have on the grocery store magazine rack – I also read it as a bit rapey with the associations of blood/violence and sex (as an image alone it doesn’t provide narrative context to young people who might see it) – basically it’s a pretty standard soft-porn image, but it seems to be an indication that nudity is no longer shocking enough – we need to push the envelope even further to sell magazines…this kind of cover content used to be only available behind the counter…
And here we have another case of the rest of us have to adjust because someone decided to have 4 kids. Sorry, this is kool. You are going to have to deal with your many kids in whatever manner you feel is right. It does not include censorship for the rest of us. Thanks.
Ok, you need to deal with your family in whatever way makes sense to you. The rest of us might like it so I say, very catchy cover.
there will be a black cover over the issue .. so you cant see the nudity.. .sheesh
I love the show and love the cover even more. Kids know more than what we think and I am quite sure that children are exposed to alot of things just walking throughout the world. What are you going to do keep them in the house now.