Giving True Blood some credit: A paratextual analysis of a TV show’s opening sequence

HBO’s television series True Blood is clear in the statement it is making about the mistreatment of minority groups in society. The show uses vampires as an allegory for these people with thinly veiled allusions. The purpose of this proposed study is to apply Gerard Genette’s theory of paratextuality to explain how the opening credits are an avenue to understanding not only the show, but the statement to society the show is making. The method to discuss paratextuality in the show will be to analyze each clip of the opening credits to see how it relates to the diegesis–the narrative itself–and historical happenings.