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The final season of Buffy is released on DVD today in North America (I was tempted to buy one in the UK as it has been out there for awhile, but I didn't want to mess with Reigons)
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A friend capitulates and begins to watch BtVS, as a family endeavor, asking if this is a good thing; I reply:
I think a family Buffy habit could be a good thing. I had a brief email exchange with Jonathan Last from the Weekly Standard. I helped him fix a bad link on his blog, he said "I'm in your debt."I replied, no, you turned me on to Buffy and he said: "Well, if you've converted to the High Church of Buffy, then we can call it even ; - )"
Watching Season One, I think when you see "The Pack" and "Nightmares" you start to get a feeling of how special the show is. I started towards the end and saw random episodes out of order. I have enjoyed watching them in order on the CDs.
Virginia Postrel also wrote a nice column in Reason magazine, "Why Buffy Kicked Ass." Last summer, I read a good book put out by a Philosophy prof at Marquette with a collection of essays using Buffy episodes to illustrate philosophical concepts. It was funded by the Jesuits, which made me laugh, but that probably is not so weird.
The show is beloved by Conservatives but does not propagate traditional conservative themes. You'll soon see it trend into promiscuity, homosexuality and witchcraft. Yet the basic truths of right, wrong, honor and duty hold throughout.
I'll trust your parental judgment, but the art of the show has really impressed me: the writing, actng, and cinematography are all very rich. It transcends being a dumb little teen TV show and yet it always is.
The spin-off, Angel, is fun too. Angel moves to LA, and opens a preternatural Private Eye firm. The shows are just as good but have a noir feel and a more adult cast.
Seven episodes of Buffy, Five of Angel = 12 + (6 * 22) + (5 * 22) = 254 hour-long episodes. It's really the only "fiction" TV I have watched in a year or so. Admitting you have a problem...
I GOT IT! Thanks, Borders...
Posted by: jk at November 16, 2004 02:30 PMI have never watched and probably should. Could be where conservatives and liberals agree? My most liberal friends, a Prof. and his lawyer wife, both Berkeley grads (the university, not the web site), vegetarians, elitist, the whole bit, are huge Buffy fans. They are in to campy cartoons too, The Kids Next Door, Kim Possible, etc.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at November 17, 2004 08:19 AMA key indicator was its coverage in liberal and conservative circles. Like Eva Cassidy, anything that gets lauded on NPR and in The Weekly Standard should get attention.
Posted by: jk at November 17, 2004 09:31 AMWe watched the first two episodes last night. Superb.
"Lessons," the season opener was written by Joss Whedon and sets up the arc of the story so perfectly.
Posted by: jk at November 17, 2004 11:20 AM