‘The Vampire Lestat’ Had One of the Funnier Anti-Cop Moments

There is a moment in last week’s episode of The Vampire Lestat that was so perfectly ridiculous that only Lestat himself could have been the one to do it. I’m talking, of course, about the moment when the band’s tour bus gets pulled over and boarded by a police officer with a drug-sniffing dog and it all seems like things are about to go very south very soon.

The band members have been partying, and there is obviously a lot of cocaine around. They’re a rock band, Lestat says, they need it to do their job! Though some members of the band frantically try to get rid of it before the officer boards, they are unsuccessful. What is left is a large–and I mean large–bowl of cocaine on a tabletop.

Though Lestat initially tries to pass it off as a bowl of flour, the cop isn’t having it. And honestly, I don’t blame him. However, this is when Lestat’s vampire powers come into play: He puts a glamour over the cop before he asks him to sit down.

The scene that follows involves Lestat pulling out a makeup brush to dust the cop’s face with the drugs. While he is doing so, he talks about the officer’s job. He compares the drugs to the officer’s body cam, saying that they both need these things to do their jobs. (And then ensures that the camera gets destroyed.)

There are nuances to scenes that you have to pay attention to

Lestat’s monologue calls police work “one of the most difficult jobs in our society.” It is delivered, however, in a simpering tone, showing Lestat’s true feelings. Though the words he is saying to the officer are positive, they’re actually incredibly mocking. None of them on the bus respect the officer, or the police in general.

Online, some people took it a different way. A post asked why Lestat is “basically conservative now.” It appears that some viewers mistook the scene for copaganda (cop propaganda), thinking that Lestat was genuine in his praise during that scene.

“He’s literally PAINTING HIS FACE WITH COCAINE while he’s talking, and they think he’s being genuine?” a user asked.

In fact, the belittling display is one of our better anti-cop moments in media. Lestat touches on all of those things that make some officers feel like they’re invincible and methodically tears them down piece by piece. Insinuating that a police officer needs a body camera to do his job like a rockstar needs drugs to do theirs is in itself satiric. It’s all right there!

(Featured image: Sophie Giraud/AMC)

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