Buffy the Vampire Slayer
analytical Essay
5070 words
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Mentors feature prominently in the Gothic genre. From Dr Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's Dracula, who leads the young heroes into their quest to annihilate the Count, to Rupert Giles, the Watcher in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, older and more experienced adults have provided essential guidance for the younger protagonists of the genre. The differences in media of expression and the subsequent adaptations from novel to television series has not affected the presence of this character, more than a hundred years after the publication of Dracula in 1897. What also unites the novel and the series is their fin-de-siècle resonance.
According to Elaine Showalter, sexually and socially subversive themes feature strongly in periods of cultural insecurity. In addition to the century that separates Buffy from the Count, there has been a plethora of vampire movies and books of various merits. As a result, the late-twentieth-century average spectator knows the basic facts of vampirism. Therefore, the creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer need to challenge their audience through another aspect of the series. Turning to their advantage what might have been a serious hindrance, they adopt a self-reflexive ironic perspective on the genre. This tenuous but innovative tension between borrowing from the tenets of the Gothic and moving away from them is especially appreciable when one evaluates the Watcher, Giles. Giles embodies both the principles of continuity and daring innovation that characterise the series and contribute to its appeal.
The similarities between Dr Van Helsing in Dracula and Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer create a sense of thematic and structural continuity through different media. They share a sim...
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...Unofficial Critical Companion to Buffy and Angel. Ed. Roz Kaveney. London: Tauris, 2001, 98-119.
8. Wall, Brian and Michael Zryd. "Vampire dialectics. Knowledge, institutions and labour." Reading the Vampire Slayer. An unofficial critical companion to Buffy and Angel. Ed. Roz Kaveney. London: Tauris, 2001, 53-77.
9. Jung, C. G. The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairy Tales. 1912. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967.
10. Heilbronn, Lisa M. "Natural Man, Unnatural Science: Rejection of Science in Recent Science Fiction and Fantasy Film". Contours of the Fantastic. Ed. Michele K. Langford. New York: Greenwood, 1990, 113-9, 115.
11. Auerbach, Nina. Our Vampires, Ourselves. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995, 5.
12. Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists. A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. 1989. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, 114.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the fluidity of the roles played by butch-femmes such as helen ripley and buffy in the alien series.
- Analyzes how giles and buffy share some defining attributes, which blur the frontier between them. predestination and its burden fall on both of them; they struggle between personal longings and communal duty.
- Analyzes how jung argues that the old man in fairy tales has a dark side, pertaining both to the primitive healer and the dreaded concocter of poisons.
- Analyzes giles' inability to bring himself down to the level of the youngsters he deals with on a daily basis, despite his oxford education.
- Opines that giles must put a stop to the terrible thing.
- Analyzes how the conflict between giles's mission as a watcher and his personal care for his slayer forces the council to sack him.
- Describes tudor's monsters and mad scientists. a cultural history of the horror movie.
- Analyzes how mentors feature prominently in the gothic genre, such as dr. van helsing in dracula and rupert giles in buffy the vampire slayer.
- Compares the character of giles with van helsing in dracula and the watcher in buffy the vampire slayer.
- Analyzes how giles and buffy's anarchic tendencies become evident in their dealings with the council of watchers.
- Analyzes how giles and buffy are liminal outcasts with extraordinarily heavy duties and obligations towards a society that rejects them regularly.
- Analyzes how giles' humour saves him from being an unpleasant bookish highbrow. he fulfils the unlikely role of the buffoon before spike takes on the comic relief provider.
- Analyzes how buffy's sarcasm reflects her growing maturity and her ability to get some critical distance from her predicament.
- Analyzes how the dialogues from 'doomed' belie its grandiloquent title. giles shares his deprecating perspective with buffy.
- Analyzes how a conflict erupts between giles and professor maggie walsh as another possible mentor, pushing him at the borders of narrative and of action.
- Describes some of the topics covered in the book, such as: sexual anarchy, gender and culture at the fin de siècle.
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- Analysis Of Buffy The Vampire Slayeranalytical essayThe Buffy the Vampire Slayer series is a very popular show that engages well with most youthful audiences, including teenagers and young adults. Teenagers are quickly captivated by the show’s great amount of comedy, adventure, and science fiction. Although it is remarkably entertaining, the show also teaches important life lessons pertaining to love, friendship, and family. In the episode “Hush” from the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the theme that through clear acts, one can develop clarity in relationships is presented.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that buffy the vampire slayer is a popular show that engages well with most youthful audiences, including teenagers and young adults. the show teaches important life lessons pertaining to love, friendship, and family.
- Analyzes how buffy and riley's secrets are exposed through acts of heroism, but their romantic relationship remains unclear.
- Analyzes how xander and anya's relationship becomes clear after an act of love.
- Analyzes how tara and willow's powers are exposed after acts of self defense, which helps them establish a bond.
- Analyzes how the characters from the episode "hush" from buffy the vampire slayer illustrate that clear acts can develop clarity in relationships. xander and anya's relationship becomes solidified after an act of love, willow and tara establish a bond after their powers are exposed.
873 wordsRead More - Free Essays - The Hounds of Tindalosanalytical essayThe Hounds of Tindalos is a short science fiction story containing many and varied elements that have been long associated with the genre of science fiction. This essay will identify these elements, examining their placement within this short text and also the interchange of these elements with the characteristics of other genres, more specifically, horror. Belknap Long, the author, was clearly intent of incorporating the elements of horror within the genre of science fiction and this amalgamation of these two genres was a popular combination employed by future horror and SF writers. Perhaps the inclusion of horror within the SF genre is a comment in itself about perceptions of SF held by writers, the elements of horror being a cautionary warning to those in the science world.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how belknap long's the hounds of tindalos is a short science fiction story containing many and varied elements that have been long associated with the genre.
- Analyzes how long's main character, halpin chalmers, is a self-proclaimed "rebel and champion of originality and lost causes." many writers have as their main characters people who are non-conformists, who wish to boldly go where no one has gone before.
- Analyzes how chalmer's apartment room is in keeping with his character as a rejector of modern science. chalmers believes that making his room devoid of sharp angles and strange curves will avoid detection and the scenting of the hounds.
- Analyzes how long employs a minimalist language approach that is efficient in its description, enabling the reader to visualise vividly the scenes that take place in the room.
- Analyzes how chalmers' story contains strong overtones of religion. he sees and experiences all the events in history that have been written about and recorded.
- Analyzes how the overtones of religion are not the only characteristics of the story that enable it to resemble the sf genre. long also references the greeks frequently through the use of his main character chalmers.
- Analyzes the overtones of greek mythology in this text are almost cyclic in where they are placed within the text. verne was strongly influenced by the use of myths
- Analyzes how long's morals are often obscured and can be misinterpreted at times. chalmers acknowledges dinosaurs and unicellular organisms, which raises darwinism and biblical features.
- Explains that binary oppositions within sf texts are more clearly illustrated when we examine the different discourses that exist with the text. the hounds of tindalos is no exception.
- Analyzes 's desire for the story to be a story that inspires and urges people to question science constantly and never be satisfied with just one scientifc discovery. chalmers accomplished this by using natural eastern drugs.
- Concludes that the hounds of tindalos is a story of primarily science fiction genre with horror elements overlapping the genre divisions.
- Analyzes the juxtaposition of a supernatural discourse and an ancient chinese/eastern discourse that allows chalmers to time travel. the chemist and bacteriologist at the end of the text challenge scientists' belief that living matter can exist without enzymes.
1883 wordsRead More - The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jacksonanalytical essayMorgan, J. The biology of horror: gothic literature and film. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2002.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the story revolves around miss adela strangeworth, who is portrayed as a relatively calm and harmless old lady who believes in the fact that she owns her town.
- Analyzes how the theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses.
- Analyzes how shirley jackson uses and her ambiguous character as an avenue to pass across to the readers that with bad traits, we are bound to make mistakes.
- Analyzes how miss adela appears to be a harmless neighbor but secretly does things behind the people who regard her highly. her major adventure is to go around the village in search of gossip.
- Analyzes how the story presents a two-faced personality as the main character of miss adela. what she appears to be in the physical appearance is completely opposite of the true personality and character that actually is hers.
- Analyzes how describes the main character in the story, miss adela, as a mean and stingy personality who does not entertain the giving of favours.
- Analyzes how the woman's version of love is complicated because he claims to have a theory which doesn't come out clearly and leaves the reader more confused than understanding of the entire story she told.
- Analyzes how michelleson's behavior could be attributed to the fact that she was a secretive and selfish woman, but she is an old woman who is bitter because of the nasty past she may have had.
- Analyzes how shirley jackson uses and her ambiguous character as an avenue to pass across to the readers that with bad traits, we are bound to make mistakes.
- Analyzes how miss adela secretly does things against the people of her street who regard her highly. her major adventure is to go around the village in search of gossip.
- Cites michelson, d. the historical reception of shirley jackson's "the lottery".
1090 wordsRead More - Gothic Vampires and Modern Vampiresanalytical essayThe genre of gothic text tends to emerge in times of great social stress or anxiety. For many years, authors have described vampires as wealthy, culturally sophisticated, aristocrats who live decadent lifestyles. Today however, average Americans are faced with hard economic times, and are struggling to provide basic necessities for their families. When watching the movie Twilight by Stephanie Meyers, several details in the story seems to enhance these harsh cultural anxieties of today’s social world, such as, the excessive lengths people will go to achieve financial stability, the lavish life style of the modern vampire, and how themes of the economic issues society is facing, impacts and stresses basic human instinct that society has an unlimited wants.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the genre of gothic text emerges in times of great social stress or anxiety. twilight by stephanie meyers enhances these harsh cultural anxieties of today’s social world.
- Analyzes how the modern vampire is pulling away from that negative connotation and becoming difficult to differentiate amongst the public. the cullen family of vampires feed exclusively on animal blood to save human life.
- Analyzes how consumerism enhances this paradox that the more one has of the newest items, creates the illusion of immortality through memories associated with those objects.
- Analyzes how people are drawn to the gothic genre because it is easy to live vicariously through the details depicting the common necessities viewed as luxuries when describing the cullen family.
- Analyzes how cultural anxieties are expressed when watching the movie, twilight by stephanie meyer, such as not being able to provide common luxuries for individual family members, and the excessive life style of vampires.
733 wordsRead More - Transgressive Sexualism In The Vampireanalytical essayWith all their beauty and mystery, vampires introduce us to a glamorous but lonely life. Their secret temptation opens our mind to our own little fantasies. Even though some aspects of vampires have disappeared, they are still the main protagonists in popular culture and media. The vampires are no longer a figure of blood-thirsty predator but a figure of sympathy and sexuality. As a young teenager, one thing left to do is to wait for another vampire
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vampires, zombies and werewolves are the most interesting of all. they have been around for centuries.
- Explains that after the vietnam war, americans suffered from a collective trauma. soldiers were sent to massacre the entire village, women and children with no difference and bring back body parts to prove they've performed their duty.
- Analyzes how the movie interview with the vampire promises a sensual gothic atmosphere, constantly surprising vampire story and an entertaining two-men-and-a-baby section which manages to be playful and creepy.
- Analyzes how louis is the only vampire who experiences the spectrum of human emotions, including guilt, love, rage, and sadness. his refusal to embrace his vampire nature leads him to his destruction.
- Analyzes how a nuclear family created by two male vampires, louis, lestat and their adopted daughter claudia, is revealed. they kiss, arguing and hating each other, running and coming back.
- Analyzes how louis's refusal to feed is a form of self-abnegation which is central to the narratives of dieting and female quest for thinness.
- Explains that transgressive sexuality has always been part of gothic novels, and the fear of infectious diseases has easily found its way into the genre.
- Analyzes how the initial meeting between louis and lestat takes the form of seduction. they exchanged their body fluids and louis was reborn again.
- Explains that vampires don't need a woman to give birth. the fangs possess the penetrative function and power of the phallus, the life-giving fluid is received into the body through the vagina-like oral cavity.
- Analyzes how rice's vampires attack their victims regardless of their gender. like homosexuality, bisexuality triggers negative social reactions.
- Analyzes how vampires introduce us to a glamorous but lonely life and their secret temptation opens our mind to our own little fantasies.
1165 wordsRead More - Sociohistorical context of UFO conspiracism Cold War tensionsanalytical essayTensions from the great global political contest of the second half of this century formed the subject of much news and academic output, but were also at the core of a great deal of entertainment. We can see this in sci-fi movies from this era: "The Day the Earth Stood Still," in which nuclear weapons testing provokes stern warnings from our galactic neighbors; "This Island Earth," where Earth scientists are forced to help their alien counterparts in a losing battle against an unseen enemy; "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," interpreted as either a McCarthyite warning of Communist infiltration of a denunciation of McCarthyism; and even the many monster movies like "Them" with its giant ants, comments on the destructive effects of heedless technological tampering with nature. Science fiction was not alone in discussing fears about invasions from outside or betrayals within, but it was perhaps the most effective genre in projecting these fears onto the increasingly vast and impersonal screen provided by scientific views of the cosmos.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that ufos, whatever their true age, only really took off as reports, folklore, and entertainment during the cold war.
- Analyzes how sci-fi movies like "the day the earth stood still," "this island earth," and "invasion of the body snatchers" were effective in projecting these fears onto the increasingly vast and impersonal screen.
- Explains that public confidence in institutional authorities was shaken by several government cover-ups. projects of questionable ethical or pragmatic import undertaken by various government agencies under the cloak of "national security" were not always secret.
- Explains why conspiracism is so inextricably linked to ufos in the us.
- Explains that despite the persistence and scope of the various conspiracist strands intersecting in ufos, there are logical and logistical factors making comprehensive conspiracism difficult to sustain.
- Explains the complex of factors working against a world-wide conspiracy of government agencies to keep definitive ufo information from their citizens.
- Explains that the motives of the accused conspirators to keep their involvement with ufos and aliens secret are not clear.
- Opines that the most unsettling factor for comprehensive conspiracism is the empirically verifiable phenomenon of conflict and competition between government agencies.
- Explains jodi dean's aliens in america: conspiracy cultures from outerspace to cyberspace.
- Explains that the project sign/grudge/blue book was more motivated to propose reasons why ufos were misidentifications of common phenomena than to conduct an open-ended investigation.
- Analyzes how ufological and other sources of disinformation have thwarted serious study of ufos, and conspiracist political thought has been prevalent throughout the us.
- Cites hynek and vallée's progress report on ufos, regnery, jung, and peebles.
1410 wordsRead More - Frankenstein Over Time In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Over Timeanalytical essayMary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is impressive, entertaining, and fascinating so is it no surprise there have been so many films and artworks influenced by her novel. Many of which have put their own spin to the horror novel, especially the character of the creature that remains one of the most recognized icons in horror fiction. However, there have been critics whom argue modern versions and variations have lost the horror and passion that is an essential to the creature. The start of the Creature is bound to one book. However, public impression of the Creature has changed severely since the publication of the original novel, leading to diverse styles and plot lines in its diverse film adaptations. People’s impression of the Creature have become so twisted and turned by time and decades of false film posters and article titles that most use the name “Frankenstein” to refer to the Creature itself, rather than the scientist who created him! It’s a shame! An understanding of literary history is a necessity to comprehend the truth of the Creature’s tragic history and how decades of film adaptations changed him into the hulking beast most people know him as today.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how shelley's novel frankenstein is impressive, entertaining, and fascinating; critics argue modern versions and variations have lost the horror and passion that is an essential to the creature.
- Analyzes how shelley's depiction of the creature is that of a sensitive, intelligent being rather than an non-speaking idiot and killing machine.
- Explains that the creation scene chain began to become elaborate as early as 1910 when the edison company created the first film version of frankenstein.
- Analyzes how universal's 1931 frankenstein film, starring boris karloff and colin clive, is loosely based on the novel.
- Analyzes how the film inspired a sequel called bride of frankenstein. the formerly savage creature becomes capable of forming friendships, speech, and sexual desire.
- Analyzes how stuart beattie butchers the idea of what a "real" frankenstein movie should have.
- Analyzes how the nightmare by henry fuseli (1781-82), has been influenced by mary shelley's frankenstein.
- Explains susan tyler hitchcock's book "frankenstein: a cultural history" that inspired films or artworks will create myths that stray from the original source to keep the story fresh and interesting.
886 wordsRead More - Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley and Metropolis, by Fritz Langanalytical essayLiterature and film have always held a strange relationship with the idea of technological progress. On one hand, with the advent of the printing press and the refinements of motion picture technology that are continuing to this day, both literature and film owe a great deal of their success to the technological advancements that bring them to widespread audiences. Yet certain films and works of literature have also never shied away from portraying the dangers that a lust for such progress can bring with it. The modern output of science-fiction novels and films found its genesis in speculative ponderings on the effect such progress could hold for the every day population, and just as often as not those speculations were damning. Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis are two such works that hold great importance in the overall canon of science-fiction in that they are both seen as the first of their kind. It is often said that Mary Shelley, with her authorship of Frankenstein, gave birth to the science-fiction novel, breathing it into life as Frankenstein does his monster, and Lang's Metropolis is certainly a candidate for the first genuine science-fiction film (though a case can be made for Georges Méliès' 1902 film Le Voyage Dans la Lune, his film was barely fifteen minutes long whereas Lang's film, with its near three-hour original length and its blending of both ideas and stunning visuals, is much closer to what we now consider a modern science-fiction film). Yet though both works are separated by the medium with which they're presented, not to mention a period of over two-hundred years between their respective releases, they present a shared warning about the dangers that man's need fo...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how literature and film have a strange relationship with the idea of technological advancements. mary shelley's novel frankenstein and fritz lang’s silent film metropolis are the first genuine science-fiction films.
- Analyzes how mary shelley's novel frankenstein contains two warnings about the dangers of progress.
- Analyzes how shelley's novel is a critique of this kind of progress. walton and frankenstein are concerned with the metaphysical elevation of man to beyond his natural limits.
- Analyzes how shelley's work is informed by the past, and that progress owes a debt to what came before. frankenstein is able to progress his studies and find the key to his experiment.
- Explains fritz lang's 1927 film metropolis revisits the idea of progress being inspired by the past.
- Analyzes how joh frederson, the figurehead of metropolis, turns to the arcane inventor rotwang in hopes of pushing technology further.
- Analyzes how rotwang's creation is an indication of how far the technology in metropolis has come.
- Analyzes how technology and progress are expressed by a metaphysical quandary in shelley's novel and in lang’s film it is entirely mechanical.
- Analyzes how metropolis plays like an extreme version of frankenstein. the city itself and the seemingly shelley-inspired being that rotwang creates are the two monsters in lang's film.
- Analyzes how shelley and lang agree that progress can be a good thing, while frankenstein urges others to be men, or be more than men.
- Cites shelley, mary. frankenstein. 1818. ed. j. paul hunter. norton critical edition.
1922 wordsRead More - How Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Has Influenced Pop Cultureanalytical essayMany timeless novels have impacts on our everyday culture, not only as a book, but also through music or movies. Many popular novels have multiple adaptations, which shape how we approach their interpretation, in ways we may never even notice. In some films, humans are depicted as monsters, whether through their actions, or through the thoughts of other beings. In these films we find issues with our own society, and in turn see ourselves as monsters, and look for ways we can change, for the better. One particular novel that influences this side of Hollywood is Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”. The ways Frankenstein influences pop culture can be seen in science fiction films in which humans are depicted as monster, and “monsters” are seen as more humane beings, such as I, Robot, and Ender’s Game.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how frankenstein realizes, through an argument made by the beast, that the monster's power has become greater than his own, when they come face to face for their first quarrel since his animation.
- Analyzes how frankenstein's influence is seen in many pop culture films such as i,robot when the power of the created becomes greater than the creator.
- Analyzes how frankenstein's influence is seen in pop culture in ender’s game in the ways that human society views the formics.
- Analyzes how frankenstein's influences on pop culture can be seen in science fiction films in which humans are depicted as monsters, and "monsters" are seen as more humane beings.
- Describes shelley, mary wollstonecraft, and maurice hindle's frankenstein, or, the modern prometheus.
- Analyzes how mary shelley's "frankenstein" influences pop culture by depicting humans as monsters. in i, robot, dr. alfred lanning creates the robots on the basis of three laws.
- Analyzes how frankenstein's influence is evident in i,robot, in the ways that humans respond when the power of the created becomes greater than that of
- Explains that ender's game was produced by orson scott card and alan smithee, and i,robot was directed by alexander proyas.
1116 wordsRead More - “Horror and science fiction tend to present radically opposite interpretations of what may look like comparable situations.” (Kawin, 1981.) Bruce Kawin helps the reader to understand how a story in the genre of science fiction could be adapted, or bastardized if you like, into a horror. This is similar to the film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both “Frankenstein” (1931) and “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) portrayed characters and events differently than Shelley would have desired. Her novel had many deeper implications than the movie portrayed.
In this essay, the author
- Compares the novel and film adaptation of mary shelley's frankenstein. bruce kawin helps the reader understand how a story in the genre of science fiction could be adapted, or bastardized if you like.
- Analyzes how james whale and the adapters/screenwriters involved in both films leeched onto the inhumanity of the monster and terror he could create.
- Analyzes how shelley's "bride of frankenstein" tries to establish framing through the letters of walton but never concludes it. this narrative provides a significant view of the psychology of human development.
- Analyzes how the monster is portrayed differently between film and novel due to the change in genre (science fiction to horror), resulting in a loss of deeper ideas to "frankenstein."
477 wordsRead More