#what not paying attention in literature class does to a mfer

[sofipitch]

I can't stop thinking about how well they portrayed Louis in the show. I think the change in race also really helped solidify the "vampire with a human soul" part of his character. Bare with me for what I mean by this; a lot of readers of the book tend to "not get Louis" and this was especially true of the movie, even AR said where it just seems like Louis is being annoying and whiny, go be a fun vampire. But Louis main conflict is that becoming a vampire changed nothing about him internally. The issues he has, primarily a concern with consumption and damnation don't go away. Louis is afraid of sin and also his own desires for indulgence. To some readers this may seem abstract, but they are often clear metaphors for being gay or alcoholism, Louis is very concerned with regulation, and not because he has any issues with drinking blood but more with how he is judged. He is very concerned about being seen as a monster (see Babette and portrait painter scenes). His big fight with Paul is also about Paul telling Louis that their family wasn't being holy enough. You can quickly see how Paul saying that they need to change their entire lifestyle is a judgement on Louis, the head of the household. Louis also said that he didn't want to believe his brother could have been visited by saints, bc it would be proof his brother is somehow a better person than him. Louis's internal conflict is often easily summarized by his Catholic guilt, which again can be abstract to audiences who have never experienced internalized homophobia or just a large sense of shame/feeling you are being watched

Anyways, why is the change in race smart, it's another way we can see Louis continues to be human governed by human rules, despite being a vampire. We can see it very clearly in how he is treated by society in the show, he is still treated as "lesser". Lestat thinks Louis should be above such things because he is a vampire, and while being gay and being an alcoholic are to some degree things you can hide, Louis's race is not. The opera being the last scene in Ep 2 where the schism between Louis and Lestat begins to get worse, is also where Louis has to act like Lestat's valet in public. If they were both gay white men they could at least act as equals, friends business partners, whatever. But even Lestat "we are above society" has to go through with this act but is notably not upset by it while Louis is. So to audiences that didn't get his issues, Louis desire to basically just be "normal", not an alcoholic, not of a sexuality that would be remarked upon, (while both real these two in the books are not shown overtly and exist in Louis's fear of damnation, which is still fear of judgement by others, but it isn't something that has a scene of a random accosting him in the street, it's more a persistent fear in his head, in the show they showed both these more overtly in the confession scene and the police officers in their home) not of a race treated as inferior, not having to act up his masculinity, by mixing all of those together at least one should make you GET it. I think even Jacob Anderson said it in the podcast that Louis really just wants to have a domestic family life like anyone else, and in the book while it is glossed over Louis says the time he spent being happy was that domestic family life. He just wants to be loved and not judged

In a lot of ways vampirism should suit Louis, and the book IWTV often romanticizes Louis pouncing on his prey from dark corners of the street. And that is what fits Louis the best, the desire to be left alone to be himself