Buffy-- Sci-fi or Fantasy?
POSTED BY: NoVaGrAsS
UPDATED: Monday, August 22, 2005 17:30
VIEWED: 7344
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I've been pondering this lately... does Buffy count as science fiction? Something tells me that a sci-fi classification is stretching it a bit. With the exception of season 4's initiative... and Ted the robot, April the robot, and the Buffy-bot... is there really anything that would say classify it as science fiction? It seems to me more fantasy/horror.
A thought: Could Buffy transcend genre classifications? Does it incorporate the elements of so many genres (horror, comedy, drama, soap opera, fantasy, science fiction, action, etc...) that it becomes a new genre unto itself? If so... what should it be called?
--Dylan Palmer, aka NoVaGrAsS--
"Blood just kept pouring out of them, you'd slip in it half the time, find out bloodbath is not just a figure of speech."
-Zoe; Firefly, "Serenity" Shooting Script.
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i find that more than anything, that it's fantasy that incoporates various genres. it can be pretty out there with the demons and alternate universes and what not, but it still has a strong sense of drama and comed., They didn't do too badly with the musical genre either, but I wouldn't consider Buffy as a musical because it was a one off thing.
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It's definitely not one or the other. I see it as a spectrum. Star Trek is on one end (Sci-Fi) and Lord of the Rings is on the other (fantasy). Star Wars would probably be smack dab in the middle. BtVS would be somewhere between SW and LOTR, but probably closer to the latter.
--- Joe
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I usually refer to Buffy, Angel, and any shows that falls in the middle of Sci-Fi and Fantasy as a speculative fiction series.
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I'm leaning toward fantasy, myself. Although the elements of science fiction that have been implemented in the plots of Buffy, we can't forget that the show is based on slaying vampires (as well as other demons, sometimes from other dimensions). It's not your traditional fantasy, LOTR style, but I think it still counts, especially when you bring witches and werewolves into the mix (although Adam and Riley make a good argument for sci fi).
Whatever it is, it's just lovely.
Pandora
"Logic is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't beat actual thought." -Terry Pratchett, the Last Continent
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My sister and I came up with a genre for Buffy... but gimme a bit... it's a bit of a mouthful and I have to add some more letters
It was originally ...
Thrihoractionamady.
But I might change it to
Thrihorfanactamady.
:)
Thriller, horror, fantasy, action, drama and comedy.
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Definitly Action-fantasy.
Raising people from the dead using magic is not science fiction.
Raising old threads from the dead, well, that's another matter.
Prospecting Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by NoVaGrAsS:
I've been pondering this lately... does Buffy count as science fiction? Something tells me that a sci-fi classification is stretching it a bit. With the exception of season 4's initiative... and Ted the robot, April the robot, and the Buffy-bot... is there really anything that would say classify it as science fiction? It seems to me more fantasy/horror.
A thought: Could Buffy transcend genre classifications? Does it incorporate the elements of so many genres (horror, comedy, drama, soap opera, fantasy, science fiction, action, etc...) that it becomes a new genre unto itself? If so... what should it be called?
--Dylan Palmer, aka NoVaGrAsS--
"Blood just kept pouring out of them, you'd slip in it half the time, find out bloodbath is not just a figure of speech."
-Zoe; Firefly, "Serenity" Shooting Script.
It blends like no one has ever done before.
NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc
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At first it was easy to say Horror, but it quickly beame more Fantasy than Horror. Demons, spells, dimensions, portals--that kind of thing. Most of time I was was not pleased with the forays into science fiction. I enjoyed the Buffybot and could accept Ted. But I thought it got out of hand with Warren's inventions. It just felt like that stuff didn't belong in BUFFY.
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