BtVS is quite possibly one of my favorite shows of all time, and I like a wide variety of television (including reality shows, I love New York is awesome, hello!) that isn't limited to the super natural realm or vampire shows. But that's just it, Buffy is more than "just a vampire show." It has a wide variety of themes like feminist empowerment and the transformation of the typical super hero from a kick ass man into a kick ass blonde teenager.
I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of Buffy or her comrades before the Fall 07 semester. That is until I enrolled in the Buffy seminar. Yea, we all heard of it, the Buffy class, but it's not just a class centered around Buffy.. it also deals with the themes that I just discussed. Books, scholarly articles, and blogs are all dedicated to the different themes featured in the show, along with fan reactions to each episode, fan fiction is also an important aspect to the series. Just to name a few: this article from slayage online discusses the feminist aspects in the series and relates them to Sarah Michelle Gellar's appearance on magazines, the book "Slayer Slang" by Michael Adams features a slayer lexicon, and "Fighting the Forces" edited by famous Buffy and television fan writer Rhonda V. Wilcox and David Lavery. Also, this article located on Slayage, goes into series creator's Joss Whedon's intentions behind why he made Buffy the series (97') and the original Buffy (92') movie.
Just for the class alone, eight books were required for purchase and Slayage Online was visited quite often by me and my fellow classmates. I loved Xander, Willow, and even Dawn so much that I just purchased the season eight comics, own every season on DVD and watched the spin of show Angel, for which I also own every season. I finished both Angel and Buffy in less than 4 months. That might seem like a long time but considering that each season has 22 eps (fan talk for episode) at 45 minutes each and Buffy has seven seasons, along with Angels five seasons, I think I watched them in record time along with some time to spare for those other stupid college courses I had to take.
In short (if you haven't noticed), I'm a fanatic of all the things within the Buffyverse.. I love Spike, I can't get enough of Buffy's drama, and I even own the X-Box Buffy game (Chaos Bleeds). Due to the class and my own personal interests I watched, re-watched and wrote articles all dedicated to "just a vampire show." I would love to hear if other people love the show just as much as I do or if you too, can't get enough.
2 comments:
I am a Buffyologist...I even have a coffee mug that says so.
I gave a paper at the first academic Buffy conference and several since then. It is a testament to the shows complexity and richness that it has inspired so much scholarship.
Ok, so I just looked in my "Seven seasons of Buffy" book and I noticed that Professor Peg is a contributor, I liked the article and I too, love and miss Tara.. who was a good role model on the show
Buffy forever!
P.S. Whenever Giles sings, I melt.. he's sexy.
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