Editorials
The Unsettling Swamplands of ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ [Best of 2018]
*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*
Terror descends with the night in the murky swamps of Lemoyne.
In Red Dead Redemption 2’s Louisiana stand-in, Rockstar’s open world game—equally beloved and reviled for its languid pace— slows to a molasses trickle. And at high noon, I take advantage of the lead-footed way of life.
I crouch on little islands of sedge grass —rolling block rifle on my knee— and pick off sluggish alligators, using the scope to plug bullets between their beady eyes, where dead eye’s heat scan glows scarlet red. When the cops pursue me from Saint Denis, I hide behind walls of peet, taking potshots as the boys in blue struggle through root systems and standing water. I smoke cigars, I drink Kentucky bourbon, I poach alligator eggs.
I don’t rule the swamp. The system is too large and too intricate for that. But, I do infect it; a pathogen borne along brackish water, pursued—if at all—by police and predators too unhurried to stop my spree. As I disappear through curtains of moss under willow boughs, I imagine the police tugging at their sweat-soaked woolen collars, deciding to cut their losses and head back to the precinct. The electric chair’s first demonstration is set to take place any day now; they wouldn’t want to miss the show.
As the light streaming through the ghostly foliage dims, I rely increasingly on sound. The thick splashing of sludgy water at the thigh of my patched work pants. Mosquitoes whining in zigzags past my right ear. Sticks crunching along the river bank. Something big sliding off the mud and into the water behind me.
And the rumble. As night falls, I remember what those alligators—alligators I’ve been murdering in blood as cold as theirs— are: the grandchildren of the kings and queens of prehistory. The rumble reminds me. It’s a low, bassy, growl, stirring up enough buzzing air that I imagine gastroliths rolling frantically around their lizard stomachs like pool balls after a well-executed break.
When the sun is high, these lowrider dinosaurs lay like logs; lazy as fallen trees. As the sun glints on their muddy scales, they seem like easy prey. Their demeanor doesn’t change at night, but when the sun goes down, the way I see them does. Now, they lay like bear traps, ready to snap if I get too close; to shut their jaws on my boot-clad calf.
To wade through the swamps at night is to be tense at all times. Arthur’s gait is always leisurely, and when our cowboy is waterlogged, he moves impossibly slowly, prime bait for any passing alligator. But, to ride through the swamps at night is to be terrified. As my horse wades through standing water up to his withers—dynamic testicles shrunken, I imagine, to Costanza-levels of puniness—I can see the jaws closing on his jet black haunches. I can imagine serrated teeth sinking in and tearing a chunk out of my well-groomed, well-fed, well-petted, frequently “Easy boy”-ed companion. I fear for Absolute Unit’s life much more than I fear for my own.
“I’ve been killing animals just for fun,” Arthur confesses to Mary-Beth, if you take the time to talk to her in camp after one of these swamp-spanning sprees. She encourages you to be a better person, but she can’t and won’t absolve you.
My horse hasn’t fallen in the swamps yet. But, I fear that Red Dead Redemption 2 will demand his blood. I’ve been killing animals just for fun. And, I fear, the swamps may have similar tastes.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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