Post by Just Willow on Apr 23, 2009 21:29:31 GMT -5
so, the other day in class i had to write a report on something. anything, really. So i chose Buffy, because, well, obsessed, here. I got good marks on it, but i was wondering what you guys thought of it. Whaddaya think?
Why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Awesome
When most people think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer they think of an old TV a show with the worst computer graphics ever, about stupid vampires and some chick with the most ridiculous name a person could come up with. The truth is that the show is hardly about vampires at all. It’s a show about people and about real life, and dealing with the problems and stress of the every day world. True, there is plenty of mythology and battles that the fate of the world depends on, but nearly everything on the show is a metaphor for something else. The whole show sends messages to the audience hidden in every episode.
Not only does this show make you rethink your own life, it can also make you laugh, cry, scream, and truly live in the same world the characters do, rather than just looking at it through a the big colourful window of your television screen. In addition to all of this, Buffy creator Joss Whedon has taken TV to places it’s never been before. He introduced many new ways to write an episode, including flashbacks, episodes made up entirely of dream sequences, and perhaps the most revolutionary of all, the season four episode Hush, where there is only about fifteen minutes of dialog, and the rest of the episode is done in silence when a group of possibly the most terrifying Buffy monsters comes to steal the voices of everyone in the town. Not only was this episode both exciting and terrifying for viewers, but it was written to teach viewers about communication, and how complicated it can be to speak to someone without words, and also the sheer horror of being chased by something deadly and being unable to scream for help. The second most memorable and different episode is not until season six, in an episode called Once More, With Feeling. This episode starts off with Buffy patrolling a graveyard for vampires, which is no new concept for Buffy fans…until she bursts into song about it. The rest of the episode is spent as a musical, all songs written by the crew and sung by the cast. The third and perhaps most disturbing episode of the three is in the centre of season 5, and is called The Body. The Body starts off with Buffy coming home to find her own mother dead on the couch. This entire episode is done without music, and the first few minutes are done without any camera cuts, to truly capture the sense of isolation and the how a few minutes can stretch on forever when in that situation.
Each season of Buffy has its own theme and message that everyone can relate to. The first season is shorter than the others, so the message could not be as far stretched out as the others, so it is simply about coming to a new school, feeling like you don’t belong, and hundreds of other feelings felt by hundreds of teens around the world. The second season’s theme is more mature, and involves relationships, the good and the bad parts of them. The third is about high school, and how it can indeed feel like hell, even if it is not sitting on the actual mouth of hell like Buffy and her friends’ school is. The fourth and fifth seasons are about simply growing up, dealing with real life problems each of the characters encounter separately. Buffy herself is dealing with the overwhelming concept of college, and shouldering responsibilities, especially caring for her fifteen year old sister after their mother’s death. Her friend Xander is the only one not to go to college, and is trying to deal with being left behind by more intelligent and talented friends. Buffy’s other friend Willow has to learn to deal with her newfound homosexuality, and finally stepping out of her shy, quiet shell. The sixth season becomes far darker for every character, and therefore for the audience as well. One of the main concepts for this season is drug abuse and its consequences when Willow becomes a full fledged witch and gets addicted to dark magic, which later on becomes a very clear metaphor for drugs. Season seven does become more lighthearted, and winds up to an enormous battle that ends with the destruction of the town and the ultimate triumph over the ultimate evil.
Even though this show has a far deeper meaning, hidden messages, and many connections to real life, there is magic, mythology and butt-kicking action that appeals to hundreds of people who just want to lie around and watch TV. The characters are also one of the most appealing things of the show. Each has something everyone can identify with, along with their own unique traits that makes you love or hate every one of them. Another very different part of the show is the scripting and the way language is used. Creator Joss Whedon is famous for adding the suffix ‘-y’ to words, and for playing with sentences to find a flipped around way to say something, for example, one of the lines said after a confusing conversation is “This is making the kind of sense that’s not.” which is a much more interesting way to say something doesn’t make sense.
Feminism also plays a huge part in making the show appealing. Everyone hears about the manly hero who comes and rescues the girl when she’s being cornered by an evil guy in a back coat. In Joss Whedon’s world, the tiny blond girl gets cornered, and then sends the guy flying with an awesome roundhouse kick and then beats him into a pulp. Exactly like Whedon planned, Buffy became a worldwide excitement quickly. Previously unknown actors became famous, jewelry and weapon replicas are selling on Ebay for hundreds of dollars, fan sites, fan fiction, conferences, discussion panels and clubs were everywhere, and just like Disney before it and Harry Potter after, a worldwide phenomenon was born from nothing other than one person’s dream.
Why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Awesome
When most people think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer they think of an old TV a show with the worst computer graphics ever, about stupid vampires and some chick with the most ridiculous name a person could come up with. The truth is that the show is hardly about vampires at all. It’s a show about people and about real life, and dealing with the problems and stress of the every day world. True, there is plenty of mythology and battles that the fate of the world depends on, but nearly everything on the show is a metaphor for something else. The whole show sends messages to the audience hidden in every episode.
Not only does this show make you rethink your own life, it can also make you laugh, cry, scream, and truly live in the same world the characters do, rather than just looking at it through a the big colourful window of your television screen. In addition to all of this, Buffy creator Joss Whedon has taken TV to places it’s never been before. He introduced many new ways to write an episode, including flashbacks, episodes made up entirely of dream sequences, and perhaps the most revolutionary of all, the season four episode Hush, where there is only about fifteen minutes of dialog, and the rest of the episode is done in silence when a group of possibly the most terrifying Buffy monsters comes to steal the voices of everyone in the town. Not only was this episode both exciting and terrifying for viewers, but it was written to teach viewers about communication, and how complicated it can be to speak to someone without words, and also the sheer horror of being chased by something deadly and being unable to scream for help. The second most memorable and different episode is not until season six, in an episode called Once More, With Feeling. This episode starts off with Buffy patrolling a graveyard for vampires, which is no new concept for Buffy fans…until she bursts into song about it. The rest of the episode is spent as a musical, all songs written by the crew and sung by the cast. The third and perhaps most disturbing episode of the three is in the centre of season 5, and is called The Body. The Body starts off with Buffy coming home to find her own mother dead on the couch. This entire episode is done without music, and the first few minutes are done without any camera cuts, to truly capture the sense of isolation and the how a few minutes can stretch on forever when in that situation.
Each season of Buffy has its own theme and message that everyone can relate to. The first season is shorter than the others, so the message could not be as far stretched out as the others, so it is simply about coming to a new school, feeling like you don’t belong, and hundreds of other feelings felt by hundreds of teens around the world. The second season’s theme is more mature, and involves relationships, the good and the bad parts of them. The third is about high school, and how it can indeed feel like hell, even if it is not sitting on the actual mouth of hell like Buffy and her friends’ school is. The fourth and fifth seasons are about simply growing up, dealing with real life problems each of the characters encounter separately. Buffy herself is dealing with the overwhelming concept of college, and shouldering responsibilities, especially caring for her fifteen year old sister after their mother’s death. Her friend Xander is the only one not to go to college, and is trying to deal with being left behind by more intelligent and talented friends. Buffy’s other friend Willow has to learn to deal with her newfound homosexuality, and finally stepping out of her shy, quiet shell. The sixth season becomes far darker for every character, and therefore for the audience as well. One of the main concepts for this season is drug abuse and its consequences when Willow becomes a full fledged witch and gets addicted to dark magic, which later on becomes a very clear metaphor for drugs. Season seven does become more lighthearted, and winds up to an enormous battle that ends with the destruction of the town and the ultimate triumph over the ultimate evil.
Even though this show has a far deeper meaning, hidden messages, and many connections to real life, there is magic, mythology and butt-kicking action that appeals to hundreds of people who just want to lie around and watch TV. The characters are also one of the most appealing things of the show. Each has something everyone can identify with, along with their own unique traits that makes you love or hate every one of them. Another very different part of the show is the scripting and the way language is used. Creator Joss Whedon is famous for adding the suffix ‘-y’ to words, and for playing with sentences to find a flipped around way to say something, for example, one of the lines said after a confusing conversation is “This is making the kind of sense that’s not.” which is a much more interesting way to say something doesn’t make sense.
Feminism also plays a huge part in making the show appealing. Everyone hears about the manly hero who comes and rescues the girl when she’s being cornered by an evil guy in a back coat. In Joss Whedon’s world, the tiny blond girl gets cornered, and then sends the guy flying with an awesome roundhouse kick and then beats him into a pulp. Exactly like Whedon planned, Buffy became a worldwide excitement quickly. Previously unknown actors became famous, jewelry and weapon replicas are selling on Ebay for hundreds of dollars, fan sites, fan fiction, conferences, discussion panels and clubs were everywhere, and just like Disney before it and Harry Potter after, a worldwide phenomenon was born from nothing other than one person’s dream.
!