Buffy; Seasons 4-7

POSTED BY: DaveB
UPDATED: Friday, January 30, 2004 17:38
VIEWED: 5926
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KALATHENA

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 11:56 AM

Lennier,

I completely agree with your thoughts about Buffy being the most thematically developed television series. You are right; the over-arcing themes did not truly develop until the later seasons.

There are many works out there in literature that have been extremely successful by sacrificing plot to theme. James Joyce leaps to mind. Some say he was brilliant; others, like me, don't care much for "twenty agonizing minutes inside my head" stories.

My almost decade and a half of being married to an author has trained me to look critically at books, movies, television, etc. I think I may be misunderstood here. Just because one part of a text is weak, does not mean that other areas of it cannot be brilliant. One of my favorite novels is GONE WITH THE WIND. I love it to death, but I am also very aware that it's racism in inexcusable and that it's ending is far too abrupt. But as a die-hard, card carrying liberal, I treasure its themes of the horrors of war and those willing to adapt and change are the ones who will survive and thrive.

I feel the same way about the latter seasons of Buffy. The technicality of the writing was off, particularly in S7, not so much in S6. But yes, the themes were unmistakable. Not always the message I wanted to hear, such as every evil witch just needs the unconditional love of a simple carpenter to be saved (pretty scary coming from an athiest...), but the themes and messages are to be marveled at.

--Kala

ARAWAEN

Thursday, January 29, 2004 3:42 AM

When I first saw season 4, it was followed by Angel season 1. My preference for Angel and Cordy biased my initial viewing. Aftering seeing season 4 again on FX and then on DVD I didn't find it any less powerful than season 2 or 3.

I think that the adjustment period for all the changes was a little abrupt. It was also hard to top the Mayor and Faith as villians.

My only real season 4 complaint now is the total lack of transition of Willow to her homosexuality. I don't have a problem with her 'becoming' or 'realizing' that she was gay (how it works exactly I don't know and could never say) but I feel that inner turmoil and self-doubt would be a part of the process and I never saw that on the screen.

Season five, despite having some really great episodes, has never appealed to me that much. Don't think it was bad just average for the most part with a couple of exceptional episodes.

Season six I loved. Some people hate it because it was dark and depressing, I am a down-beat kind of guy, so it struck a chord.

Season seven started strong in my mind and then fizzled. While it wasn't the first time they have used deus ex machina, it seemed the most obvious. 'The First' in my mind should always have been an intelligent super-villian that gets people to turn on each other or fall to self-doubt. It should have been sneaky, mean and very, very clever. The goal of 'the First' never seemed clear nor did its approach to Buffy make sense in my mind.

Arawaen

LORDJ

Thursday, January 29, 2004 4:52 PM

Kala--a decade and a half? I'm very, very sorry

I wasn't referring to the power as rape metaphor of the revelations of the making of the initial slayer; to me the notion that the power of the slayer was needlessly limited to one girl in all the world is also about the way that social structures act to restrain individuals in the name of rationality etc., as a mask for maintaining dominance. (And as I recently saw a link to yet another feminist critique of Buffy as a show privileging the male gaze etc. by someone who did not follow the show I am glad of this resolution).

And of course you're right about Spike! Ach! I didn't think of that for some reason.

And the point about Buffy finding a theme at season 4 is a really good and interesting one!

KALATHENA

Friday, January 30, 2004 11:40 AM

Heh heh, no need to apologize. It does have its advantages. He's *very* imaginative. And he makes cookies.

Yes, the soial structure breakdown was awesome. I had the opportunity to re-watch the finale at WisCon last May, which is a feminist sci-fi con in Madison, Wisconsin. There was barely a dry eye in the room during Buffy's "every girl" speech. To me, that segment said very loudly that "We cannot succeed by your rules; your rules, therefore will not apply to us." This is usually my way of thinking when I confront unnecessary social constraints.

--Kala

KALATHENA

Friday, January 30, 2004 3:29 PM

One more quick thing...

It's amazing how quick some feminists are to judge Buffy exclusively on what the actors look like. It's the same way they reacted to 7 of 9 on Voyager. While I was never a big Voyager fan, 7 was one of the best developed characters the ST franchise has ever explored.

Fear not, however, Buffy is HUGE among WisCon goers. We generally love the show and this is the con where they present the Tiptree awards. Named after James Tiptree, this award is given annually to the work of science fiction or fantasy that has the most innovative way of presenting gender issues.

If you ever get a chance to go to Wisconsin over Memorial Day weekend, I would highly reccommend this convention.

--Kala

LORDJ

Friday, January 30, 2004 5:14 PM

Although I am an academic (and a feminist!) I have been in general really disappointed with the MANY academic treatments of Buffy; with rare exceptions they are written by people who do not watch entire seasons etc. and are as a result have little sense of the larger context of the moments they analyze.

WisCon sounds fun! We live in Central Illinois so it wouldn't be that far to go, and both my wife and I are into scifi etc. Hm.

KALATHENA

Friday, January 30, 2004 5:38 PM

LordJ, you absolutely should. It is an AWESOME con. The first year I went I got to see an incredible presentation on Wonder Woman. The woman presenting pointed out that the very earliest years of the WW comic were extremely pro-feminist, especially for the time(1940s). It went downhill in the 70's and with George Perez coming on the the 80's got much closer to the original concept.

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