Special Episode 27: Interview with the Vampire
In Special Episode 27, Flourish and Elizabeth celebrate a momentous occasion: after seven years of collaboration, they’ve finally wound up in the same fandom at the same time—for AMC’s masterpiece Interview with the Vampire. Discussing the show (perfection), the first few Vampire Chronicles books (bananas), and the film (ugh), topics covered include the extraordinary ways the adaptation leans into the inconsistency of its source material, the absence of metaphor and the way race reshapes the story, and the pleasures of watching something so menacingly camp (bless you Sam Reid).
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Show notes
Show Notes
[00:00:00] As always, our intro music is “Awel” by stefsax, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
[00:02:12] Real talk: Flourish’s vampire RPG just might be more cringey than Anne Rice.
[00:06:16]
[00:07:51] TL;DR: Anne Rice was not a fan of transformative fandom.
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[00:13:57] The vampire dip.
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[00:20:41] Stephanie Burt came on the podcast in 2018.
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[00:37:50] The legendary cartoon pony on amphetamines post, but it should be noted that since we recorded this, the line between “acting” and “Lestat possession” has blurred further. AND TO BE FAIR the more press the main cast gives, the more they all seem possessed.
[00:38:18]
[00:39:41] Gloriously, Cruise and Pitt together were AWARD-WINNINGLY BAD, honored with the Razzie’s “Worst Onscreen Couple” the first year they had the category.
[00:43:06] AMC has helpfully put together highlights of some of the stuff taken directly from the books:
(Fun fact: half of Lestat’s balcony speech is taken, as shown here, from Louis’ narration in Interview with the Vampire; the rest is taken from Lestat’s description of New Orleans in The Vampire Lestat: “...wandering out again to glimpse the silent flash of lightning, hear the dim roar of the thunder, feel the silky warmth of the summer rain.”)
[00:44:28]
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[00:56:04] VINDICATION. Since we recorded this, Rolin Jones has said this about Louis in the second season:
There are parts of the book where Louis knows things very, very well, and then there are parts of the book where he goes, “I can’t tell you about this” or “I could barely know, I don’t remember.” And because of that there’s wildly different versions of this story starting with book two, book three, book four, you’re like, “Oh, it was already in there.” And so yeah, we’re playing that. I think you just have to wait, but like with everything in this show, we’re trying to make something that is nuanced. There’s not anybody who’s controlling anybody, but there are influences everywhere, mostly from Louis himself. He has a lot to learn in the next episodes, Louis.
[01:04:25] The official podcast!! Recommended episodes: all of them.
[01:04:56] “The guy in pink feathers,” in Flourish’s words, is Taron Egerton playing Elton John lol.
[00:00:00] Our outro music is Adagio, BWV 974, transcribed by Johann Sebastian Bach from the 2nd movement of an oboe concerto by Alessandro Marcello, performed by Constantin Stephan.