[ via Bellona Times ] Justine Larbalestier of the WisCon brain trust, talks about ‘Buffy‘. Defending the oft-slamed Season Four:
Most of the criticism boiled down to unhappiness with the Scoobies leaving high school. The show, many said, just doesn’t work once the central literalised metaphor–high school is hell–is lost. When the Scoobies are in college or working various odd jobs or unemployed, there’s no easy overarching metaphor that binds the show together. Being a young adult, trying to find yourself; life after high school is more complex. But it does resonate. The Scoobies’ search for adult lives and adult identities is certainly more emotionally real than any number of so-called realist shows about everyday life such as thirtysomething.
Another criticism aimed at Season Four is its preponderance of arc episodes. I have a friend who is convinced that more arc episodes than standalones means that a show is “decadent.” Buffy , he says, has been irretrievably decadent since that dreaded fourth season. The references to previous incidents, once clever and witty, now overwhelm the show, making it an indulgent exercise playing to the in-crowd. Buffy is so dependent on internal references, this friend maintains, that it is now a soap opera.
I disagree. Strongly. Or maybe I don’t. Maybe it is a soap opera, but one screened in prime time with brilliant writing, fabulous acting and far less than sixty pages of script filmed a day.
And she suggests a few mini-festivals to compile out of your DVD/VCR/PVR collections:
All that’s required is some judicious episode selection. Start with the obvious, say a series of relationship festivals: Spike & Buffy (first “School Hard” 2.3, next “Halloween” 2.6 and so forth), or Cordelia & Xander (”What’s My Line Part 2″ 2.10, “Ted” 2.11, “Bad Eggs” 2.12 and “Innocence” 2.14 etc.). Or you could have a Jonathan festival (”Inca Mummy Girl,” “Reptile Boy” 2.5 etc.) Or a Ripper retrospective (”Halloween,” “Band Candy” 3.6 etc). Then you can graduate to the less obvious: the Anya’s-afraid-of-bunny-rabbits festival, the conveniently-located-axe festival, and the slutty clothes festival.
Justine writes “Could you also add that it’s coming out in Seven Seasons of Buffy, edited by Glenn Yeffeth, Dallas, Texas, BenBella Books?” Of course.
