ultimately at its heart, it’s about the terrors of intimacy

NY Times: "...I think all writers are armchair psychologists to some degree or another, and I think a character’s sexuality is fascinating. It’s a great way to really get at the root of their identity, because it’s such a personal thing. Certainly if you read Charlaine’s books, that’s a big part of it, and they are in one sense romance novels. Or as some people refer to romance novels, lady-porn. [laughs] I don’t think anything about our show is pornographic. I think porn is about body parts and art is about souls. Hopefully, it’s just a way of telling the story and the story is so much about people’s yearnings and people’s desire to connect and the primal nature of sex, and the primal nature of nature, for that matter. Vampires are total sexual metaphors, there’s just no way around that. And the fact that it all takes place in this wet, humid, swampy, primeval madness, of course you’re going to go there. And because we’re on HBO and because we have a cast that doesn’t get uptight about it, it doesn’t have to be, like, “Ooh, sex.” You can let it be sex without it being so forbidden...My thinking has always been less about something that exists outside of nature than something that’s a deeper, more profound manifestation of nature, that perhaps humans, with our years of cerebral, self-reflection have gotten away from. Of course sex is magical. It’s a force that’s bigger than us. In fact, early on in the development process, I was called upon to give a one-sentence thematic pitch to the higher-ups at HBO as to what the show was about, and I thought, “Oh, dear God, what am I going to say?” I said, “Well, ultimately at its heart, it’s about the terrors of intimacy.” Which is an answer I just pulled totally out of [nowhere] at that moment. But I do think that actually, there is some truth to that. That is kind of what it’s about..." (He’s Created a Monster: Alan Ball Talks ‘True Blood’)

Alan E. Ball (born May 13, 1957) is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television. Ball has written two films, Academy Award winner American Beauty and Towelhead. He is also the creator, writer and producer of the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and True Blood. For his work in television and film, Ball has received critical acclaim and numerous awards, including an Academy Award, an Emmy and a Golden Globe (Wikipedia).

True Blood is an American television comedy drama series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, and details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana. The series centers on Sookie Stackhouse (played by actress Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a bar, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). The show is broadcast on the premium cable network HBO in the United States. It is produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. It premiered on September 7, 2008. The series has received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe and an Emmy. The show's second 12-episode season had its premiere on June 14, 2009 and the third season on June 13, 2010. On June 21, 2010, HBO renewed True Blood for a fourth season (Wikipedia).

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