Now that you have read the remaining material, please broaden your response to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. How did "A Very Special Buffy" change your understanding of the episodes you encountered? What seems rhetorically significant about the article? It gives you insight into how the series develops--what does that change about your understanding of the show from the first two episodes? How do you interpret the events differently? What adolescent social problems might be lurking under the supernatural plot?
In "Vampire Culture," Frank Grady argues that critiques of economic systems play a significant role in vampires. Can you see this reflected in Buffy and Nosferatu? How? How do race and gender tie into this? How can we understand Buffy in light of Grady's discussion of Akasha? How are they different?
After reading “A Very Special Buffy” I was better able to understand how Buffy came into her role and how, not just Buffy, but her friends also played such significant parts in helping her slay vampires. It also seemed that the article reflected the show’s predictability and appeal to teenagers, which I gathered after watching the first two episodes. The article rhetorically expressed how different moral and social issue in a young adult’s world directly correlate to the world of Buffy and her monsters. For instance, when Buffy and her friend go to a frat party and are drugged it shows how drinking and going to parties can have a horrific outcome (almost getting raped). It incorporates monsters into the plot by having some members of the fraternity with souls they sold to a demon in return for wealth and fortune. The members plan to sacrifice Buffy and her friend to the demon. A few of the social problems that seem to appear throughout the show are loss of innocence, the hardships of being an outcast, and becoming an adult. All of these social problems appear throughout the show. Buffy’s decision to have sex with Angel leaves her feeling empty and full of regret. Also, Buffy befriends “outsiders” who become her friends, which can be hard to do in the teenage world. Both of these issues directly appeal to teenagers.
ReplyDeleteI am able to see the critiques of economic systems reflected through Nosferatu but not through Buffy. In Nosferatu, Count Dracula is wealthy and powerful, similar to how Grady depicts vampires. Money, art, and classical music are important interests of vampires that help distinguish them from others. In Buffy, the vampires are much less traditional and do not seem to care very much about the arts and sciences. Race may tie into this description of vampires. If vampires rank themselves at such a high level, then they may view themselves as the superior race of the world. In today’s society, there may be a superior race as far as income and other factors are concerned. As far as Grady’s discussion of Akasha is concerned, it is obvious that Buffy and Akasha are opposites of each other. Akasha, who seeks to destroy almost all men in order to create a world without war and destruction, is powerful and evil. Buffy, on the other hand, is kind, yet powerful, and only slays vampires. The two have one similarity; women empowerment. Akasha shows great force and power in her ability to lead people to kill men and make women the dominant race. Buffy shows a less extreme version of women empowerment through her ability to fight off (male) vampires occasionally on her own.
“A Very Special Buffy” did not as much change my understanding of the first two episodes as it confirmed and expanded my initial sense of what the series was about. Because the show was assigned in an English class, I expected symbolism and metaphors which caused me to be more observant while watching Buffy than I would have been if I had happened upon the show by myself. Instead of explicitly referencing contemporary teenage issues, the writers used monsters to symbolically portray these problems in ways that sometimes transcend the understanding of the average audience. Part of the problem that I would assume causes so many to overlook the more serious critiques of culture is the overall presentation of the show. People don’t generally watch shows that seem to be aimed at teenagers and expect to find a great deal of symbolic meaning.
ReplyDeleteThe article itself was extremely thorough and scholarly in its approach to methodically breaking down and explaining what was being communicated by the writers. The main thing I overlooked while watching Buffy was the stark contrast between the language usage of adults versus teens and the significance of Buffy’s Mom’s ignorance of the “monsters” in Buffy’s life. Her Mom’s ignorance reflects the inability of many parents to comprehend or even notice the problems that teens face in everyday life. The dichotomy between the language usage of teens and adults further shielded Buffy’s mother from noticing any of the problems in Buffy’s life.
I failed to see any critique of any economic system in Buffy but could see the similarities between Nosferatu and the description of Dracula in which people fear vampires because of their vast economic power. Buffy in many ways plays the violent male role that Akasha seeks to destroy by killing men. This reveals a dramatic change in gender roles and the notion that women are capable of taking roles usually associated with male characters. While Buffy uses violence to destroy evil, Akasha uses violence to eliminate males as a means of creating a pacifist Eden.
Prior to reading "A Very Special Buffy", I hadn't recognized the correlation between the use of language between adults and teenagers. A quote that stuck with me from the text,“The bridge of symbolism needed between literal mosters and social problems is recapitulated by the bridge needed between teen and adult language in Buffy” was quite eye opening. Giles speaks with such proper grammar while Buffy, Xander, and Willow all speak with slang. For example, Buffy responds to something Giles has said to the group with, “I think I speak for everyone here when I say, ‘Huh?’” I find it strange that the vampires and adults can easily be tied together, each having an interest with which they try to steer Buffy “toward some sort of awakening”. Buffy’s nearly clueless mother only wants Buffy to get good grades and not get kicked out of school. The ignorance Buffy’s mother exemplifies come across in many of the things she says, “Everything is life or death when you’re a sixteen-year-old girl,” when in Buffy’s case if she doesn’t successfully slay the vampires she may be subject to death. The article awakened me to the idea that the lack of communication between adolescence and adulthood has a lot to do with the fears of entering the new stage of life. Buffy begins to have a sexual relationship with her 240-year-old vampire boyfriend Angel, appearing to be 24-years-old. After their first time having sex, Angel turns into Angelus who is heartless. He says things to Buffy like, “You know what the worst part was? Pretending I loved you. If I’da known how easily you’d give it up, I wouldn’t even have bothered.” Buffy is faced with the realization that once you have sex there is no turning back. She can’t reverse, or kill, the demon Angel has turned into.
ReplyDeleteBuffy the vampire slayer television show is a very addictive show. This Is because much of the episodes build on each other. Not only do the characters grow but the symbolism to today's culture also grows. As each episode Is viewed more and more is understood. "A Very Special Buffy" changed my understanding to the episode Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As I watched these episodes, I did not understand and realize some of the symbolism that was described. In this article it explained the confusion that I was feeling. Many different types of monsters were made throughout the series. Not only did the vampires show monsters but the humans also caught themselves in situations that made them monsters. As well as the monsters being created, society is being criticized in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Throughout the episodes, adults are judged for the lack of communication. Buffy's mother does not understand what Buffy is going through which shows her lack of communication and understanding as a parent. The judgment and criticism that Buffy the vampire portrays, shows the rhetorical significance that it has on society. As the episodes move forward, more symbolism occurs. Communication, fear and also sex increase as season two makes its way. This article helps explain in depth what is being explained through the episodes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In "Vampire Culture," Frank Grady explains how the society has changed. This has changed vampires appear. In one part of the article he says a statement about the absence of ugly immortality. He said that it seems as throughout the years ugly immortality has been eliminated. Frank Grady also shows economic systems through the monsters. Akasha had to defeat the Queen of the Damned. This shows that the monster was a queen, giving her a higher power and a higher rank. I believe that this is also shown in Nosferatu. IT closely relates to Count Orlock, who is a very wealthy man. He lives in a mansion and also can move freely where he pleases. Orlock bought a house because he was interested in the blood of Harker's wife. This shows his wealth and riches which explains the economic systems that play a role In vampires. I am uncertain how it is explained in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The only relation it has on Buffy is the head of "Hellmouth." He is able to stay as the other vampires go out and retrieve the humans. Race and gender tie into this as well. I think that it shows the thought of white males being superior. All of the strong vampires are white males, which show the cultural view. Akasha Is very similar to Buffy through the story line. Just as Akasha is fighting for the town, Buffy fights for her town to keep it safe from the monsters. There are many things that are different from Akasha as well. One difference is the symbolism to its society. Throughout Frank Grady's article "Vampire Culture," he shows similarities of monsters.
ReplyDeleteReading "A Very Special Buffy" did not change much of my initial reaction or thoughts about the first two episodes alone, but did, however, give me better insight to the symbolism in the rest of the series and what it was trying to do. By watching only the first two episodes, I did not recognize the depth of some of the symbolism that seems to develop throughout the show. After reading about some of the symbolism, I could apply it to the episodes we watched and see the symbolism for myself. I did not put a strong connection on the theory that the struggles, or “monsters”, of everyday teenage life were given the face of a real monster. In the first two episodes, I couldn’t find much of a problem in society that would correspond to this besides the conflict with Jesse.
ReplyDeleteThe other point made in this article that I had not put great significance on until I read “A Very Special Buffy” was the distinction between dialect of adults and teens. I had thought of it as one of those aspects of the show that was just a given. The idea that the distinction in speech correlates to a separation in realities was new to me. It does apply to the first two episodes, as Buffy’s mom is completely oblivious as to why Buffy was expelled from her old school and blames it on Buffy getting into the “wrong crowd”. It seems to me that Buffy’s mom is the biggest form of this. She is unaware of what is happening in the majority of her daughter’s life.
I can definitely see parallels to the economic system in Nosferatu, but struggle to find any in Buffy. In Nosferatu, Count Orlock is depicted as a very wealthy man. He is very powerful in the sense that he has a great influence on the rest of society since they fear him. Also, his mansion is depicted in the same way that Grady describes them as “virtual museums”. As far as race and gender go, I have noticed that the majority of vampires depicted are white males. However, in Buffy, there are female vampires depicted also, along with the main theme of female empowerment brought by having Buffy as The Slayer. The main similarity I see between Buffy and Akasha is female empowerment, though it is much stronger in Akasha’s sense. They are both females fighting for what they believe in. They both are trying to rid the world of some sort of population (males and vampires) because they believe that the world would be better off without them.
After reading “A Very Special Buffy,” I feel that I understand the episodes much better and appreciate more of their subtleties. For instance, after reading the article, Buffy’s new job at the high school ties in with the theme of parents and teens not communicating well and teens feeling misunderstood. The principal emphasized several times that her role was to help students feel that they are being “understood.” Although I have not seen any episodes from the previous season, the storyline about the blond haired vampire who tried to rape Buffy after she had slept with him ties in well with the article’s analysis that as soon as “a girl has sex with even the nicest-seeming boy discovers afterwards that he becomes a monster.” The article also mentions that society creates slayers that are needed at a given time based on the current culture. Buffy’s role as a strong, independent, fearless female mirrors many of the messages sent to young women. Furthermore, the plots in both episodes were very intense. All the major problems that occurred were life-threatening. This ties in with the theme discussed in the article regarding the drama that teens feel in their social lives. The author points out that a mother said, “Everything is life and death when you’re sixteen years old.” The episodes’ plot lines most definitely echo the type of intensity in which most teens feel they exist in.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the most rhetorically significant things about the article is that it is extremely convincing that there is nothing really unique in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rather, the author effectively takes apart each element of the show that appears to be unique to its time and analyzes how it ties in with vampires of the past. The author identified various themes to make her arguments credible and thus showed the predictability of the plot and characters in the show.
As far as economic systems are concerned, I did not see any overt reference to them as I did in Nosferatu. There was a lack of mention to money—which may be a message in of itself. Possibly a societal value of the “ideal childhood” is being used, meaning that ideally children and teens are to have no financial burdens, but rather be free entirely from all real-life problems adults are forced to deal with.
Akasha and Buffy both are strong female figures that break away from gender roles. However, when I evaluate that the two of them are really only fighting for a safe home environment, represented through their neighborhoods, it seems that they are not breaking away from gender roles as much as it appears on the surface.
When you first look at Buffy, she looks like a petite, honest, and fragile girl. In this TV show, what surprised me is that she fights not only vampires, but all different kinds of monsters. It reminds me of the many kinds of threats that regular people face these days, such as terrorists, thieves, and child molesters. Even though Buffy is a fictional character, we can relate to her because she resembles a normal person in many ways. While she is always on the lookout for monsters, we also should be on the lookout for dangerous people in our own lives. At the same time, Buffy possesses superior strength, which makes her stand out from the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteBuffy’s mother is lonely. Unfortunately her husband left her when Buffy was still young and it is perfectly understandable that she has hard time getting along with a teenage daughter who doesn’t have a father. This situation isn't so different from real life.
In the first few episodes, it is not clear whether Buffy likes her school friend or Angel. She seems to have feelings for both of them. I suppose we should ask ourselves, what does she know of love? Her duty is to save people. She never had time to live a normal life and act like a teenager.
In the fourth episode, the most disgusting scene is when the teacher eats a sandwich with bugs in it. Later on we find out that she is also a big bug, whom Buffy kills. At the end of the episode we see that the teacher, as a bug, has laid her eggs in a classroom and we are not sure what is going to happen with these eggs. Perhaps they will grow to become dangerous bugs and behave like their mother, which will put the students in possible danger. But because Buffy is always around, they have nothing to worry about. It would be amazing to be as superior as Buffy, to be aware of all our surroundings and know how to deal with any dangers that come across our paths.
Modern movies that involve monsters or vampires are presented differently from old films. Vampires are portrayed so beautifully that you want to interact with them. For example, True Blood makes vampires appear enticing and beautiful. In Buffy, you feel like you want to be her and have the same power she has. By watching Buffy, we can feel the excitement of killing vampires and saving the world, even though we don’t have the strength to do similar brave acts in our own lives. In this way, watching Buffy and connecting to her story can actually make us feel like we are larger than life, killing vampires along with her.
mariam
Buffy the vampire slayer television show the actors and actresses are outstanding they all worked brilliant together and made the show come alive At the young age of 15, Buffy was chosen to hunt vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. After the ordeal at Hemery High Buffy Summers wound up at Sunnydale High. Made friends with Willow Xander fights the challenges of High School and saves the world.
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