The presidential campaigns of Rick
Santorum and Michele Bachmann provided the inspiration behind the
latest season of the HBO supernatural drama True Blood,
showrunner Alan Ball has said.
True Blood, which includes a
number of openly gay and bisexual characters, returned for a fifth
season last week.
(Related:
True
Blood:
Ryan Kwanten says his character has grown.)
In a wide-ranging interview with
TheWrap.com,
Ball described the show as a metaphor about “getting to explore the
dynamic of 'fear of the other' in the way that isn't really that
serious because of the nature of the show.”
“You don't need a show saying hating
gays and lesbians is wrong. True Blood is mostly about
entertainment and escape, that's been the joy of five years, after
another show that looked at mortality,” he said, referring to Six
Feet Under.
On the new season, Ball said he began
mapping it out by “watching the Republican primaries, watching
Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and asking what would it be like to
have a theocracy in America – which is way more terrifying than any
fictional monster could ever be.”
When asked, “Why Rick Santorum?”
Ball answered: “What's terrifying is how many people agree with
him.”