Week 10 - cult TV

Hey guys this week I’m answering the following questions;

First up...... In what way is Buffy influenced by the romantic Gothic tradition? Yet how does Buffy also provide a contemporary critique of this tradition?

" The initiative and the creature Adam, Buffy and the Scooby gang embody a modern re imaging of Romantic ideology that Mary Shelly herself would likely appreciated" (Rose, 2002).

In many ways Buffy is influenced by the romantic gothic tradition as it follows the redemption of man, the main men in the show are constantly trying to redeem themselves and get their souls back in order to become better people. Buffy is the main centre around this focus, which is the centre of the romantic gothic tradition their relationship is kind of dark, twisted and un-natural. With Buffy having relationships with Angel and Spike who both are vampires but have had their souls re installed to them. Most of the focus of these relationships are them fighting for good, and spending time within the evils of sunnyville. The show is basically a med evil setting with monsters, vampires, bugs, wolves, demons, all being the main focus of the show. The relationships have darkness about them that you don't see on television these days, it creates an electric tense vibe, and secretly the audience wants Buffy to be with the vampires, even if they are bad.

This provides a contemporary critique as the whole time Buffy just wants to be a regular 16 year old year, in a normal relationship, which she is obviously not. She often refers that she is not a damsel in destress that needs saving, although she does want her knight to come along.

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

When watching Buffy the traditional literary notions are all in reverse. Buffy is a blonde, hot girl who wears short clothing, she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and sure knows how to kick butt. She isn’t some pathetic girl waiting for someone to come rescue her in every situation. In Buffy, you don't really know what is good and what is evil, according to The Ambiguity of Evil in Supernatural Representations, Braun states that Buffy is a good example, but not a new example of “using supernatural settings and characters to play out narratives of good versus evil,” Braun (2000, p.1).. The bad characters turn out to be good and the good turn out to be bad, it can get confusing at times, but I think that is what makes the show so interesting, a prime example of this is when Spike was once a evil person turns into a good person and ends up helping Buffy, now with Angel, he is a vampire and this is because of a curse given by one of his victims that Angel’s evil side is controlled by the human essence. When Angel meets Buffy, he helps Buffy to fight other vampires, which shows him being good.

The guys on the show are often being rescued by Buffy which is a big chance to what the "Literary notions" are. With hell being underground in Sunnyvillle, it is ironic that all these people are walking on top of it without being physically aware on what is beneath them. The characters no what is right and wrong, which is weird to have in a show as usually the bad guys have no conscious at all.

REFERENCE PAGE.

Braum, B. (2000) The X-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The ambiguity of evil in supernatural representations. Retrieved 18 October, 2005 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_2_28/ai_64688900

Rose, A (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R.Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.