even iwtv viewers who hate lestat's guts and hate his romance with louis can generally agree that "louis never loved lestat bc lestat himself said so" is a ridiculous take that flattens the nuances of louis' character, so i don't understand why "louis always picked men over claudia bc claudia herself said so" is taken at face value by pretty much everyone who watches the show, from hardcore fans to casual viewers. like i actually know why, it's misogynoir. but it's still kinda fascinating how a fandom of predominantly nonblack viewers have managed to convince themselves that constantly gloating about how a black woman couldn't possibly be more loved and valued by her black father than she initially thought- often framing the very idea that a black woman could be more loved than nonblack men as a ridiculous farce- as a "defense" of claudia's character that honors her pov somehow. and ofc this desire to "honor claudia's pov" is completely selective, bc the same fans who claim claudia speaks the objective truth when she demeans louis or says he picked lestat/armand over her are the same fans who are first in line to dismiss claudia when she writes something about lestat or armand that they dislike. when claudia writes something negative about the nonblack men who abused and ultimately killed her, she's obviously lying or a hysterical teenager or ill-informed. when claudia calls louis a fickle deadbeat dad or underestimates her own worth or calls herself a shingle that flew off her parents' roof, her pov is clearly infallible and it's offensive to suggest that she didn't know the full truth or that she didn't have all the facts. the black woman is only an unreliable narrator when she makes her murderers her look bad- when she's denigrating her black father or denigrating herself, then and only then can she be completely trusted