Dancing with the reversed King of Wands
Tarot girlie thoughts on AMC's Interview With the Vampire. Includes a free booklet of tarot love spreads
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that if you’re a tarot girlie you must also pledge allegiance to some mythical or legendary creature - mermaids, unicorns, witches, faeries, angels, zombies, werewolves. As a vampire girlie I was excited to watch the latest adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, a series from AMC starring Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Bailey Bass and Eric Bogosian.
I’ll say from the outset, it feels like Anne was hardly cold in her grave (rest in peace) before this series was announced. I wonder if they would have been able to adapt the story as they did, had she still been alive; she always seemed to have a soft spot for Lestat, and AMC’s version of the character doesn’t shy away from portraying him as nasty and violent.
Sam Reid’s performance as Lestat is brilliant: at turns enthralling and repulsive, gentle and savage, he really brings out the brilliance and appallingly garden variety narcissism of Lestat’s character. He is a spider gently tugging Louis (and the audience) into his web with his complication and (pseudo?) vulnerability, before revealing his true self as he loses control of the narrative (and Louis, and us) to be no more and no less than an abuser.
If I had to ascribe him a court card, it would have to be the King of Wands reversed, perhaps supplemented by the Page of Cups reversed. Lestat has the charisma and compulsion of the King of Wands, but rather than use it for something good, it is all for himself, and to lure all to him. He strives to convince Louis and the audience that he has the innocence and neglect of the Page of Cups (standard practice, I think, for narcissists). Louis wastes a lot of time trying to coax that “side” of Lestat to the fore, wrongly believing this to be the true Lestat. The sad thing being that that “side”, insofar as it ever existed, is as lost to Lestat as his humanity.
Louis is in many ways Lestat’s complement - it’s what draws Lestat to him. For Louis, then, I’d give the King of Cups upright, and perhaps the Queen of Wands reversed as a secondary card. Far from a perfect man, he nonetheless has a good heart and a gentle spirit that, from an early age, has had to balance his dual natures: his public self and his private, queer self; his mixed cultural heritage; being mixed race but enjoying certain privileges because of wealth and so on. The moment that attracts Lestat initially is a moment Louis would prefer to forget, when he accosts his brother and threatens him with a knife. Lestat, from the getgo, has been interested in nothing but Louis’ destruction.
As for the reversed Queen of Wands: Louis is more likely to be roused to act on behalf of others than for himself, and the times he does act on his own behalf end up costing him dearly (his “club” and eventually Lestat and Claudia both). There’s also no small amount of pride there. In his conversation with Daniel Malloy, Louis denies Malloy’s insistence that he, Louis, has been a victim of domestic violence. “Are we the sum of our worst moments?” he asks Malloy. So we see the Queen of Wands reversed, thwarted by Lestat’s monstrosity, but too much in denial to admit it.
Jacob Anderson is a good contrast to Reid’s Lestat; more malleable, at turns strong and fragile. One wonders what lurks beneath the “present day” Louis and his seeming implacability.
We can’t talk about Lestat and Louis without also talking about Claudia. She is, somehow, the most inhumane and human of the trio. They had a really good actress in Bailey Bass, who gives Claudia a child-like charm which is at different times horrifying and heart-wrenching. Claudia is a mix of the Knights of Cups and Swords for me; chameleon-like, compulsive, clever, manipulative, with a strong sense of her own rightness and even honour, especially when opposed to Lestat. Had she been allowed to age/grow, the Queen of Swords might have been her destiny. The bitterest irony? That the event Claudia so carefully orchestrates to emancipate her and Louis from Lestat’s control (his death) directly leads to her death*, and that the very person she did it for couldn’t even find it in himself to really let Lestat die. Claudia does find her freedom in death; but present day Louis is very much still shackled by his past.
For all that it is a fantasy series, Reid’s portrayal of Lestat is one of the most realistic I’ve seen of narcissism. The love bombing, the triangulation, the manipulation, the lying and breadcrumbing, the gaslighting… Chef’s kiss.
What will the second season bring? Unfortunately, Bass isn’t returning as Claudia, which I think will make the character’s death less impactful (regardless of the ability of the actress who replaces her). I wonder if they’re going the route of not showing the death at all, or their time in Europe?** I really hope they don’t do a disservice to Reid’s Lestat by trying to give him a redemption arc. Louis would probably insist otherwise, but there’s no redemption for some things, not even when you really want there to be.
*If they follow the events of the book. **Since writing this, photos have been released from the second season showing the European timeline.
Inspired by Louis and Lestat’s relationship, I created a tarot spread for those considering leaving (or who have recently left) relationships with abusers and/or narcissists:
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I put together a little booklet with the above spread and some others from various sources, all having to do with love: loving others, loving yourself and loving life. You can download it by clicking or tapping here.
I’m also having a Valentine’s Day sale on Etsy. Use this coupon code to get 25% off my general Tarot Reading, valid for a limited time only.
Wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day dear reader,
Lee
Lee (she/they) is a diviner and Reiki practitioner. Visit here for more info. If you’d like to purchase a tarot reading or distance Reiki session, you can do that here or here.