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wFeb 25, 2010 | |
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Sailor Moon, Season 1 I am no stranger to Sailor Moon, although this is the first time I'm attempting to write about the show in any great detail. I collected the manga in volumes as it was released by MIXX/Tokyopop. Sailor Moon was my first anime, although I didn't grow up watching it on TV when I was a little kid. My best friend showed me the R movie when I was a freshman in high school, and at that time, SuperS was airing on TV after school. My Sailor Moon history is pretty extensive, but it's also an extensive fandom. --I have read and reread the entire manga many, many times. --I have seen S and SuperS (seasons 3 and 4) a fair number of times in English dub, S once in sub. --I have seen the entire live-action series. This is the first time I've seen Season 1; my goal is to watch the rest of the series, and then I might try watching fansubbed copies of the Myus (Sailor Moon live-action stage musicals). When dubbed and edited for American broadcast, DiC made a lot of alterations that changed the tone of the show. I feel that this is best shown (concisely) by the different opening sequences. The Japanese OP focuses a lot on duality (Sailor Moon v. Usagi), and is very flowery and twirly. The American OP focuses on action, speeds up a lot of the animation, and adds gaudy frames and electric guitar. [Note that the Japanese Season 1 gets a new OP after Jupiter and Venus join the team.] Japanese opening: American opening: I really like Serena's voice in the first few episodes of the dub, before they change it. She actually sounds like a 14-year-old girl. After about 20 episodes, Serena's best friend Molly (before she met the other Sailor Senshi) accidentally falls in love with one of the enemy! Serena tries to tell her not to love Nephlite, but Molly doesn't listen. She knows that deep down inside, he has a good soul. Too bad that in the English dub, Nephlite sounds like a total pedophile, and her trying to save him just ends up being confusing and WTF. "MOLLY, HE'S EVIL," doesn't hold sway with Molly. After Nephlite bites the dust, Queen Beryl asks Zoisite to attack the Sailor Senshi. Zoisite does so, while fellow Minor Big Bad Malachite watches on. At times, Zoisite can be a little effeminate - crossing his legs and holding his fingertips to his lips when laughing. It is soon apparent that Kunzite and Malachite are totally in love. Kunzite dies in Malachite's arms, and later Malachite angsts over a photograph of himself and Kunzite. So of course, in the DiC dub, Kunzite is made female. (This becomes more disturbing in Season S, when the lesbian pair Sailors Uranus and Neptune are referred to as "cousins" in the English dub.) While I didn't mind Mamoru in the manga, I basically hate Darien in Season 1 of the anime. He's so mean and useless! The dramatic plot is stupid too - he already has amnesia, so then when he's captured, he gets amnesia AGAIN. I won't spend a lot of time on it because so many other people have elsewhere on the Internet, but Sailor Mars is my favorite sailor senshi (although it is really hard to choose....I love everyone except for Mercury). And in the anime, she's boy-crazy and constantly nagging/arguing with Usagi. In the manga, she's arguably the most mature of the Inner Senshi, and ends up taking a chastity vow for Sailor Moon. She has absolutely no interest in men (and Naoko Takeuchi loves to draw her provocatively with Sailor Venus). DiC edited the series pretty heavily throughout. While the write-ups at this site are irritating to me this site comprehensively describes the changes made to every episode of Sailor Moon. None of the editing was as extensive as the editing done to the last two episodes of Season 1 (at least, not yet). The ending is much more dramatic in the Japanese version; Sailors Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and Mars all die, in addition to Tuxedo Mask. After Sailor Jupiter dies and Sailor Moon wants to capitulate to Queen Beryl to end the death, Sailor Mercury actually slaps her. All of this was deleted from the dubbed version. The sacrifice of each Senshi is so moving! And I love how Usagi is so naive, and how the other girls are all in silent agreement that this is necessary. After Sailor Mercury volunteers to stay behind, Sailor Mars leads the way forward while Sailor Venus literally pushes Sailor Moon away so that they leave Mercury behind, taking advantage of her sacrifice in getting farther away. Hearing their death screams is also a lot more dramatic than DiC's dub, in which the girls always give quips about the "Negaverse" (apparently "Dark Kingdom" wasn't a badass enough title) being "Negatrash," etc. I take personal satisfaction in that Sailor Mars' death was the most dramatic - her screams were most nightmare-inducing, and I LOVED her grabbing the tail of the second youma after the youma and Sailor Moon both thought she was dead, and yelling, "I'm not done yet!" and then killing the youma with Fire Soul. It's also way more dramatic when she faces the mind-controlled Endymion (/Darien/Tuxedo Mask) - he holds her up by the neck while she screams. It's probably because I just re-watched all of Buffy, but there are a lot of parallels. Buffy as a whole is a better-developed show, and Buffy is not so whiny as Usagi, but it's relatively the same: a blonde chosen one who experiences a lot of growth over the course of the series as she is helped by her friends (oftentimes much more mature than she) to defeat supernatural enemies. When Endymion gets mind-controlled, there are many overtones of Angelus. And I'll probably revisit the parallels when I write about the S Season, specifically between Dawn and Hotaru. Pioneer used to own the license to distribute Sailor Moon in the U.S., but they have gone out of business. Currently, nobody holds the license. Because the DVDs/etc. are out of print, it is possible to watch them online at YouTube. I highly recommend using Wikipedia to keep track of episodes (Japanese and U.S. numbering are different, as the US cut some episodes). Reward for making it to the end: a fan-made version of the OP, in which Japanese fanboys make a live-action version. American fans who are unfamiliar with Japanese fandom: YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HEINOUS IS. [My favorite part is the man in the cat-suit.] Labels: anime, anime: sailor moon, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 6:24 PM 
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wJan 25, 2010 | |
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Buffy rewatch: Seasons 5 and 6 I haven't been posting much about my Buffy re-watch lately because I feel like in the later seasons, I blogged enough that I've already said what I needed to say about things. Currently, my ranking of the seasons (best to least best) is: 5, 3, 2, 6, 4, 1. Apparently I like seasonally-structured story arcs! I've been very caught up with Buffy in general, lately. I read a good spoiler for the Season 8 comics, and have thus been reading them and catching up on Angel: After the Fall (I'll probably have at least a minor post on that in the future). Have also been reading recently-acquired academic essay books on Buffy, which have been awesome-sauce. Does this mean I like Buffy more than The West Wing?? I don't know! I need to re-watch that shit. In the meantime, A note with minor character-arc spoilers for Seasons 5-7: I'm learning that I really like Dawn as a character. I don't think most people find her irritating in Seasons 5 or 7, but mostly in 6. But in my re-watch, I'm learning that, unlike Xander, I don't find her irritating at all. In fact, it isn't Dawn who suddenly matures in Season 7 - it's everyone around her, especially Buffy. It's the way they treat her that make her scenes more enjoyable. Dawn's just getting the treatment she's wanted all along. Also her lines, frequently make me actually laugh out loud ("I gave birth to a pterodactyl.") Maybe I sympathize because it took until college for my parents to respect me, in addition to loving me - like as soon as I moved out, I magically became a different person or something. I think Xander only annoyed me in the re-watch in Seasons 1-3. He is much more tolerable now. Still like Spike. Still love Buffy the most (does this make me narcissistic and/or self-centered??) Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 6:18 PM
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wJan 1, 2010 | |
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Question for the Audience Has anybody read any of the Buffyverse novels? I see used copies of the Buffy/Angel spinoffs in bookstores all the time, and I am always tempted to buy them. When I was in middle school, I used to love the Star Wars expanded universe novels, and I still pick some up from time to time, like cheap candy. I'm wondering if anyone has favorite ones? Are there good ones about Wesley? Any good ones in general? I like most of the characters, except probably not one focusing on Xander, and not focusing on Cordelia post S3 Buffy. ~~ I don't need any recommendations on the comics, thanks. ...Unless you have recs outside of Season 8, Fray, Tales of the Slayer, or Slayer; Interrupted. I also don't need recs on collected meta essays of Buffy....I've been devouring those from the library lately as well. Labels: books, the internet knows all, tv: angel, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 10:16 PM
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wNov 1, 2009 | |
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Dollhouse, 2.4 Watching Topher Brink suffer through his "moral crises" is like listening to Whoopi Goldberg struggle to explicate the difference between "rape" and "rape-rape." Other people have already written extensively about why this I don't really feel the need to justify my continuing to watch it. Every week it's like another dose of, "Okay, so who mind-wiped Joss Whedon?" It's almost fascinating to watch. Also, at some point in the future, I intend to make a post analyzing why people only value the opinions of others regarding TV shows/books/etc. if the person has question has "seen all of it." Clearly, in order for someone's opinon to matter, they must have seen every single episode, or read every page, etc. This was a key component in the breakdown of RaceFail: people's opinions being undervalued because they were not informed "enough." Fandom is a really weird place. But back to Dollhouse. It's almost hilarious to read other people accuse those of us who critique the show scramble, saying that we're "missing the subtext" or "we're trying to find the worst in this show." I hate to brag (okay, that's a lie, I love to brag), but I've been reading at a college level since the 5th grade and I chose English as one of my majors at one of the best public universities in the world. I'm not missing any subtleties here, and in fact I am trying really hard to like the show, because in the past I have adore Whedon-shows. Don't insult with me any excuses, people. My critique is valid. Everyone's critiques are valid. Mostly it's unsettling because Buffy means a lot to me, and I'm wondering increasingly whether it meant anything to Mr. Whedon, or if he was just trying to sell an image. Labels: tv: buffy, tv: dollhouse scribbled mystickeeper at 3:37 PM
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wAug 13, 2009 | |
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Season Three [rewatch] [Link to Buffy Season Two rewatch is here.] Specific Episodes Out of 22 episodes, I really enjoy 14, and by "enjoy," I usually mean emotionally satisfying, significantly advancing the plot, possibly an intense character study that does not feel cliched, and none of the uncomfortable "This is really cheesy" plots. This is a lot of episodes! In Season Two, my list consisted only of five episodes. Season Three List: Band Candy Revelations Lovers Walk The Wish Amends Helpless Bad Girls Consequences Enemies Earshot Choices The Prom Graduation Day, Part One Graduation Day, Part Two The Zeppo sort of gets an honorable mention...I found Xander pretty irritating in this episode, but the juxtaposition of his storyline versus Buffy's, and the fact that the opening of the Hellmouth was the subplot was pretty hilarious throughout the entire episode. Lastly....Is it just me, or did Charlaine Harris totally steal her plot for the Southern Vampire Mysteries from the episode "Earshot"? A girl not judgmental of "good vampires" who can read minds, goes almost crazy from it and can't really be around people, but has a vampire boyfriend whose mind she's incapable of reading? HMMM.... Shallow Notes: I am a big fan of Buffy's blonde hair. Also, the late-90s middle schooler in me swoons over Buffy's butterfly hair clips and unnecessarily complicated up-dos. This season kind of makes me nostalgic for high school in ways that other seasons do not. Like, at the end, when Willow and Harmony are signing each other's yearbooks, and Buffy's like, "I thought you hated her." "Yeah, but I'm gonna miss her!" I remember having these exact same exchanges with my friends. In Relation to Future Seasons It was almost sad watching the episode where Buffy receives her high SAT scores, but in retrospect, I'm kind of glad that the show went this way. Being smart doesn't necessarily mean that you can afford college, or that your life circumstances to permit you to attend college and stick it out all the way through. Or in Willow's case, getting accepted to big-name schools doesn't necessarily mean that you will choose to go to them: you might have perfectly good reasons to attend other schools instead. Characters Cordelia: I really do love Cordelia this season. And I still think that her character assassination on the show Angel is probably the biggest reason why I can't love the show. I think it would have worked much better with Cordelia's snark. You can't take that shit away. Xander: I am still hating Xander a lot more during the re-watch than I ever did the first time through the show. I find his blind hatred for Angel unreasonable, and I also think that he is one of the most self-centered characters. Seriously, even Cordelia, while bitchy, is constantly thinking about (and commenting about) other people. Angel: I like watching Angelus in Season Two. But so far as Angel the character goes, I find him far more interesting in Season Three than in Season Two. His angst is meaningful (to me!), he's there when people need him, people misjudge him and he angsts, HE CUTS THE HEART OUT OF A DEMON AND FEEDS IT TO BUFFY.....HE DRINKS BUFFY'S BLOOD AFTER SHE BEATS HIM....BUT ONLY TO SAVE HIS LIFE! Favorite Angel episode is "Enemies," hands down. I'm a sucker for it every SINGLE time they do it on either Buffy or Angel, playing between Angel/Angelus, but I love it the most when they fuck with the audience and make you think one thing for an entire episode only to realize that it was a lie. I also like how severely this fucks up both Angel's and Buffy's headspace, and I think it's ultimately the reason he leaves at the end of the season (well, that and biting Buffy's neck and draining her of blood). "You still my girl?" "Always." THEIR LOVE IS SO EPIC AND I WILL NEVER DOUBT IT AGAIN. Angel leaving Buffy totally emotionally scars her in ways that I think she never gets over. Wesley Yeah, from a Buffy-perspective, Wesley is a joke, and is super annoying - he makes Faith distrust him, and loses her when everyone needs to find her most. He repeatedly messes things up for everyone else. But from his perspective, he's trying to butt in to a tightly-knit group into a position of power that Giles already fills. His tenure at Sunnydale is a string of failures, especially with Faith, and he is left without dignity, ready to go to a different show, get his soul ripped out and trod on, and morph into a bad-ass motherfucker. It was so weird watching him on Buffy, though....he's so different from the way he is when Angel ends! I kind of want to start re-watching Angel now, just to salivate over the character metamorphosis of Wesley. Wrap-Up I had forgotten Buffy's dream sequence with Faith while they are both knocked out in the hospital, and it is really well done. I think most Whedon dream sequences are. I'll still need to re-watch Seasons Four-Seven, but I really found the Season Three finale to be emotionally cathartic. It wasn't just heartbreaking, like the end of Season Two (although it was also that, what with Angel leaving, which still confuses me and makes me sad), but it's also just....satisfying in a way that the other seasons aren't. The banding together of the entire senior class made me a little teary-eyed, not going to lie. Out of the first three seasons, Season Three is easily my favorite. Then Two, then One. Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 12:03 PM
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wAug 2, 2009 | |
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Buffy, Season 2 [rewatch] I think that I've been reading new books/manga/etc. and watching new TV shows steadily for a couple of years now. And this is weird behavior for me, as my tendency throughout life in general has usually been to reread my favorite books obsessively. I don't remember what initiated it, but last week I started re-watching the second season of Buffy, and I finished the re-watch today. I'll put my spoilers behind a cut - it was just last year that I was watching this show for the first time myself! Spoilers through the end of Season 2. Characters I had forgotten how much I love Oz. But right after I fell in love with him again, I realized that he actually doesn't appear in many episodes in season 2! This is sad to me. It's still refreshing watching Cordelia. I shallowly wonder if I love her a lot more on Buffy just because I think she looks awful with short hair?? Watching Cordelia on Buffy makes me hate Angel the Series more. I'm hating Xander a lot more than I did the first time around. I find a lot of his sexual comments to Buffy really inappropriate considering that she's made her refusal absolutely clear, and I frequently find him more self-centered than Cordelia. His actions in Becoming, Part 2 are particularly atrocious to me, with him purposely not telling Buffy that Willow was trying to re-soul Angel. I kind of hate that this is never brought up by either Willow or Buffy in season 3 in a "Dude, you suck at life" kind of way. He is never punished by the other characters for his actions. I guess Buffy would never know that Willow delegated the sharing of this information to Xander unless Willow herself told her, but it seems surprising to me that nobody would ever discuss what happened during season 3, especially once Angel came back. His refusal to forgive Angel for his actions as Angelus (namely killing Jenny Calendar) are also pretty weird - out of all the characters, he was probably the least close with Ms. Calendar. While yelling at Buffy for "forgetting about Ms. Calendar so she can be with her boyfriend," he is in reality using Ms. Calendar's death as a way for punishing Buffy, yet again, for not reciprocating his romantic feelings. While I'm liking Xander less, I'm liking Willow more. She is just....adorable. She points to her pouty lip; "Resolve face." Episodes Buffy killing Angel in "Becoming, Part 2" still made me cry. My favorite episodes are Innocence, Passion, I Only Have Eyes for You, and Becoming Parts 1 and 2. Apparently I'm a big fan of rapid plot development combined with epic, dripping angst. I hated the episode "Ted" the first time I watched it, but I found it delightfully hilarious this time around. My favorite scene is Buffy, Joyce, and Ted sitting at the dinner table, with Buffy looking ready to scream. Ted asks Buffy how she would react if her mother married Ted, and Buffy says in deadpan, "I'd kill myself." Other Overall, I'd forgotten how much of a horror show this used to be. By the last couple of seasons, the characters have become so jaded that it's almost amazing to watch them be legitimately afraid of vampires, werewolves, etc. I do like the first two seasons of Buffy a lot. But I do like watching characters post-trauamatic experiences, and I like the jadedness that Buffy gets after having to kill re-souled Angel. Lastly: I was rereading my old entries about Angel the series to see if it was a bad as I remember it being, and I am mildly ashamed by how much squee there is. I think my favorite part is how much I loved Wesley for screaming at Faith to shut up so that he could stab a heroin addict in the shoulder. I might be disturbed, but people make TV shows just for me! It's awesome.scribbled mystickeeper at 1:29 PM
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wJul 25, 2009 | |
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Buffy! I've also been re-reading NANA manga Where the hell did my Buffy icons go? I need to get on that shit. Anyway, because I think that my Buffy board game is so awesome, I started re-watching the series beginning with season 2 (I rewatched season 1 a few months ago.....or maybe like, 9 months ago. I can't remember!). It's pretty interesting re-watching stuff having seen it through to the end, even into Season-8-comic-land. The biggest thing that stands out to me is how much more I like Cordelia on Buffy than on Angel. HOLY CRAP, such a better character (as in, there is more than on dimension of depth). She calls Buffy on her shit in a way that Willow, Xanders, and Giles never do, because they're afraid of being bad friends. Cordelia, though, knows that Buffy needs things said to her, and her position of popularity with other kids at school gives her the advantage of not having to care if Buffy doesn't like her just because of what she says. I really like the way she interacts with Buffy in the first episode of the season. CORDELIA: Buffy. You're really campaigning for bitch-of- the-year, aren't you? I also love watching Angel and Buffy having their little lover's spat, knowing that their relationship is going to get so irrevocably fucked up in the near future.... The results of our gaming tonight (with me, 1) Willow and Xander destroyed the Judge's Arm before he was summoned (Season 2 scenario) 2) Demon Mayor killed all of the Scoobies, although Willow held her own for a long time, considering how early Buffy was killed. (Season 3 scenario) Labels: board games, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 10:29 PM
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wMar 31, 2009 | |
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:[ Andy Hallett died!!!! But Alexis Denisof/Alyson Hannigan's baby was born.scribbled mystickeeper at 6:52 AM
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wJul 17, 2008 | |
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Help me make important life decisions, Internet! Okay, so Shopko still has all of the seasons of Buffy and Angel on sale for $20. At first, I thought I should avoid it entirely and not purchase any of them, BUT IT IS KILLING ME, INTERNET. I already own seasons 1-3 of Buffy, and I don't care to own seasons 1-4 of Angel at all. And while I like certain parts of Buffy season 4, it will be the last season that I buy, I think. THUS, your choices are: Buffy, Season 5 (I remember loving this one) Buffy, Season 6 (Although I loved this one as well. ANGST.) Buffy, Season 7 (I loved certain episodes, and hey, it's the end of the series) Angel, Season 5 (We all know that I loved this seaon) If you'd like to avoid spoilers, avoid reading other people's comments on this entry too closely! ETA: OMG ACT II OF DR HORRIBLE WAS SO GOOD! I mean, the first act was all right; I liked the Laundry Song. BUT THEN I WATCHED ACT II AND IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER. I loved Dr. Horrible in the first song. And then I fell in love with Penny when she sang her nice song! AND THEN THERE WAS THE LAST SONG. I love Dr Horrible! I feel so bad for him! The birds are singing 'cause you're gonna DIE! Labels: dr horrible, the internet knows all, tv: angel, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 8:13 AM
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wJun 26, 2008 | |
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Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? So, I found Allyson Beatrice's Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? quite interesting. The book is about Internet cult fandom, exploring societal norms on the Internet, and how communities are created. Beatrice specifically focuses on the Buffy fandom, so references to people such as David Fury, Tim Minear, and Joss Whedon left me slightly awe-struck. It was interesting to read about the Buffy community in its hey-day. For the most part, my intersections with fandom occur on LiveJournal. It's an interesting tool for social networking, because the entire premise is that everyone has their own journal - their own story, their own space, each with their own set of rules. Each person controls the conversations they initiate, the people on their honored "Friends List," etc. So for me, it was interesting to be reminded of what Internet forums are like, as I haven't spent time on one in years (unless one counts the UW Anime Club forum, but as we all know each other in real life, issues like trolls never occur). I like how Beatrice desribes the Internet as a great way to find other people with similar interests. Internet communities coalesce around a common interest, and sometimes a secret shame. From breast cancer survivors to people who have a diaper fetish, a community of people gather to discuss whatever it is that consumes or interests them. If your community revolves around a "dorky" topic, it's difficult to admit to others what you're typing out into the broadband in your spare time. She also takes care to point out the strange stigma surrounding genre-fiction fandom. And yet, there he was, waering Michael Jordan's game uniform. No one in The Coffee Bean blinked, or stared, or whispered. No giggles or pointing. No name-calling. Nothing unusual. Beatrice points out a couple of commonly-known Internet "laws" about rules, such as Godwin's Law (as an online discussion grows larger, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches) and Snacky's Law (whenever two or more groups of people are arguing, inevitably, someone on one side willcompare the group on the other to "those bitchy girls who made everyone's life hell in high school."). I just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time, so I miss out on knowledge of community reactions when the show actually aired. I never knew that a certain character's death upset so many people. However much I liked the character, it was a damned good episode. Also...fictional characters can provide great inspiration to other people, but I can't imagine being so wrapped up in a fictional life that I would issue death threats and the like. I also hadn't been aware that the movie Serenity was so unprofitable. I also found it interesting that the author found the original Firefly pilot script and premise awful, in that it was too depressing (if I read her correctly, I could be wrong). I love the premise of Firefly, but then, I like my shows dark. Anyway, if you're interested in understanding Internet fandoms a little more, I recommend the book. I also recommend it if you're interested in Joss Whedon's work in any way. Beatrice spearheaded the fan movement to save the TV show Firefly, planned parties attended by Joss Whedon and various actors and writers, and has made some great connections throughout the years. Thus, she has some great stories. As an added bonus, her writing is funny and smart, and the book was a quick read. Labels: a: beatrice allyson, books, internet, livejournal, tv: buffy, tv: firefly scribbled mystickeeper at 8:42 AM
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wJun 3, 2008 | |
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Wiscon 32 Panel Report: The Slayer's Legacy 89 The Slayer's Legacy: Ten Years of the Buffyverse Reading,Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Saturday, 4:00-5:15 P.M. ♦ Capitol B Ten years ago, the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer debuted, headed by Joss Whedon, a self-proclaimed feminist. The show created spinoffs, academic disciplines, and a fiercely loyal fan community, and embraced ideals of cooperation, alternative sexualities, smart heroines, and the mix between monster and human. Buffy fans embrace all types, from academics in linguistics and gender theory, theologians, writers, ceremonial magicians, artists, bloggers and more. Buffy is still a viable site for discourse and inspiration ten years later and it came in with feminist ideals—there are even Buffy discussion groups at feminist bookstores today. How does this change the landscape of science fiction today—what is the Slayer's legacy? We'll look at how feminist ideals of cooperation have spread to the support of the WGA strike, and how Buffy has created a new kind of fan, actor, writer, and artist. We'll look at the links between fan culture, feminism, academia and how the Buffyverse has shared feminism and feminist ideals with the world. M: Olivia Luna, Candra Gill, Jody Wurl, Ariel Franklin-Hudson I wasn't really looking for great theoretical value in this panel, so please forgive me for just posting the squee. J is a teen librarian. O has taught a class on Buffy. Candra is a huge sci-fi TV fan (among other things), and wrote an essay on Buffy called "Girls Who Bite Back." The first thing that was noted was that the panel description deserves some analysis. Buffy did bring a new brand of feminism to TV,but there were activist feminist writers before Joss Whedon. O pointed out that Whedon caters very much to the mainstream crowd; he isn't a radical. For example, while the man claims to be a champion of gay rights, the show missteps. G noted that Buffy is a very normalized woman who happens to have power. Also, she has an awesome origin story. What's a good successor to Buffy? Candra suggested Veronica Mars, and multiple panelists agreed. It takes a class genre (noir) and combines it with high school life. It is a show created by a white man that takes a blonde, petite female with a single parent, and places her as the lead. It was noted that the first season of VM deals with race and class in a way that Buffy never did, but the show sadly didn't keep this up for the next two seasons. Battlestar Galactica has complex female characters. Smallville was also thrown out. Someone suggested Angel, which almost made me scream, "No!" But people luckily pointed out that Angel is a study of masculinity that doesn't subvert anything. I learned something! The original purpose of the community The season 2 episode about the mummy and the Thanksgiving episode were brought up as cringe-worthy episodes where white guilt is treated as a joke. Someone said that last Monday (from when the panel was held; not from when this post was made) on NPR, a reporter in Baghdad talked about how she watched Buffy to get her through her time reporting in Iraq, which I thought was pretty cool. People discussed Spike's attempted rape of Buffy as an insult to fans because they were told to like him by the writers of the show, and then told by the text that it was not okay.....until it was again. Not much time was spent on Faith, but Cabell brought up the fact that not only does she represent class issues, but her female interest in pursuing sex is used as a mark of evil, which is true. Lastly, the episode was referred to in which it's posed as a question to the audience whether or not Buffy's life is real, or whether she's living in a mental institution. I liked this episode a lot because I like pondering questions like that, but a friend privately pointed out to me that every single female character of Joss Whedon's (with the possible exceptions of Inara and Kaylee on Firefly, although I'm sure he would have gotten to them as well) are put in the crazy house. I find this troubling, although I must admit that I love mental issues and realities of trauma and relationships in fiction, so I am not as appalled as I possibly should be. Overall, this was a fun panel to sit in on, having just finished watching all 7 seasons of Buffy for the first time. I am open to suggestions of further Buffy readings, if anyone has them. By "Buffy readings," I refer to comics (have already read most of Season 8, Fray, and Tales of the Vampires), novels (are any of them any good?), or criticism (online or in book-form). If anyone else attended the panel and has information that I forgot, or different opinions about how the panel went, please express them! Labels: a: whedon joss, tv: buffy, wiscon, wiscon 32 scribbled mystickeeper at 10:14 PM
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wMay 12, 2008 | |
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Buffy: Through the last episode, :'( This is a highly imperfect post, but I really can't organize it any better. It's finals week. Don't hate me. The sweeping orchestral score remains stuck in my head, and probably will for days. For the most part, Buffy music (aside from when the characters sing) has faded into the background for me, and hasn't been particularly notable. The exception to this was the background music in the final episode. Anyway, spoilers through the last episode of Buffy. Episode-Specific Notes "Dirty Girls" Holy crap, "Dirty Girls" was such a good episode! Although, I really don't like him dressed as a Catholic priest. I loved the gushing wine, Xander's eye getting mushed out, Potentials getting killed, and Buffy on the floor. She really is being stupid, even though I hated Giles for trying to kill Spike, too. I was actually not digging this episode too much until it all came together at the end and there was gore. The fact that Wood wants Buffy to be a general and Wood is being controlled by the First is unsettling to me. "Empty Places" I liked Spike just holding Buffy all night long, although I did like the throw-back to his attempted rape. "No." (Spike counters somehow) "You really have problems with that word, don't you?" I'm sure that there were some fans who were angry about Buffy's re-acceptance of Spike after his attempted rape. I forgive him too, and I agree with her that his having a soul makes things different now. I do feel like she forgave him a little too quickly, though? It doesn't make sense to me that everyone would kick Buffy out of the house like that, :/ I liked Spike sticking up for her, fighting with Faith, and trying to find Buffy. I loved the expression on Buffy's face when she sees the weapon - when she knows that this is right. "End of Days" and "Chosen" I get that it's the end of the world and whatever, but it would have been nice to see a little bit more of Buffy making up with her friends. I mean, they kicked her out of her own damn house after telling her why she sucked. With that, I now give you my caps lock-ridden play-by-play. GUEST STARRING DAVID BOREANAZ, THANK YOU JESUS I LOVE YOU! LOVING: Buffy/Xander talk, Buffy/Faith talk, Buffy/Spike talk Especially the Buffy/Faith talk. FAITH: "Feels like mine. Must be yours." OH MY GOD ANYA/ANDREW. I adore their supply-gathering scene in the hospital. EVERY MOMENT OF IT, especially their wheelchair fight. WHY WAS SPIKE WATCHING THEM KISS? WHY WAS HE THERE? OH NO OH NO OH NO!!! Oh man, I loved the Principal Wood/Faith scene. I didn't think I liked them together when they hooked up, but with them dishing their crap right back at each other, it made a lot more sense in my mind. I hope he's in the comics! I LOVE THIS SHOW. I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. Giles and Xander playing D&D with Andrew was SO FUNNY. "You go through the door and encounter Trogdor the Burninator." LOLOL. I loved the Buffy/Giles/Xander/Willow moment. I LOVE THIS SHOW! I WANT TO RE-WATCH IT FROM THE BEGINNING RIGHT NOW! I don't really like Kennedy, but man does she look good when she kicks ass. BUNNIES. OH NO!!! HOW CAN THEY KILL ANYA AND THEN PRINCIPAL WOOD AND THEN AMANDA?! MEAN! MEAN! MEAN! JOSS WHEDON, YOU BASTARD! I didn't cry until Andrew told Xander that Anya died saving his life ("Storyteller" makes this so bittersweet! He's telling a story but it's useful!), and Faith thinking Principal Wood was dead. Of course, Joss Whedon made both incidents mildly amusing. Wow. The ending? Especially with the girls fighting? I think I could watch the Slayers' empowerment and fighting whenever I'm feeling bad, and never be depressed again. Really. That, combined with the Slayers getting empowered, made me that happy. I loved watching the girls throughout the world get their power, starting with Kennedy. The little girl playing little league softball. And especially, that girl in the trailer, stopping the fist, and ending it. Caleb I get that it sucked that Firefly was canceled. But I feel like Gina Torres's role fit in a lot better into season 4 of Angel than Nathan Fillion's did into season 7 of Buffy. I don't think that Caleb served any narrative purpose whatsoever. The First was controlling the Bringers, the vampires, etc. Why need a mortal to do it? Needless. Caleb was fun to watch, yes. But still detracted from time that could have been spent fleshing out some details a little better - how Buffy reconciled with her friends after they kicked her out, WTF with Dawn's story arc, Xander & Co. tolerating Spike in their midst, and there can always be more time for Faith. Also, I'm sure that I'm in the minority here, but it also bothered me that Caleb was a Catholic priest. I feel like the show was making statements about the meaning of feminism being diametrically opposed to the Catholic Church, which bothers me a great deal. Even if Caleb was a necessary Big Bad for this season, I don't agree at all that it was necessary to make him into a Catholic priest. I think this bothered me also with the way faith was crossed with the Big Bad on Angel at the same time as this, which I'll go into in more detail when I post about Angel season 4. Season 7 as a whole Overall, season 7 is not my favorite. I liked 2 and 3 more for sure. Probably also 5, and maybe even 6. I liked parts of 7, and I liked the ending especially. Overall, there are lots of loose threads, and I am eager to see what the comics are like. After I watch Angel, Season 5, of course. I've seen a lot of people complain about Xander getting the shaft in terms of his own storyline this season, but I think the person who suffers the most from this is Dawn. I liked her being grown up, though, and I liked her kicking Buffy for trying to take her away. She also totally kicked ass, in the end. I still remain unconvinced of Willow and Kennedy's relationship. I feel like this is always what happens to Willow, though. With Oz, Tara, and Kennedy, every time it's the other half of the couple who notices Willow first. I get why they love Willow. And I get why Oz fell for Willow (it was so cute!). But with Kennedy especially, I don't think I was given a very good reason for why Kennedy fell for Willow, except to serve Willow's storyline. I still have another season of Angel to watch, but for now my top three favorite characters of the Buffyverse are Buffy (Buffy has always been #1 for me), Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, and Spike. I should note, perhaps, that I'm not huge on Buffy/Spike. I love Spike's unrequited love for her. I understand why she slept with him in Season 6. But I agree with Spike - she doesn't love him ("But thanks for sayin' it." OMF, CRY!). My fairy-tale ending for Buffy and Angel is that Angel redeems his soul and becomes human again, and then he and Buffy spend the rest of their lives fighting, and die in battle. I don't really understand the people who hate seasons 5-7 and pretend they don't exist, or say they're terrible. They were different from the first four, but they definitely didn't suck. Can someone explain this to me? Maybe I've just been desensitized by The West Wing. You want to talk about a huge break in quality between seasons 1-4 and 5-7, and you need look no further. Is there good online criticism of Buffy somewhere? Or any books that I should check out? I'm not huge on fanfiction (unless it's Final Fantasy VII), but I am an English major, and greedily consume academic criticism on the things I adore. I wish that I had watched Buffy earlier in my life than my last year of college. I wish especially that I had watched Buffy in high school. I love the show Buffy more than words can express - the characters, the themes, the humor, the drama, all of it. But I think that The West Wing is and always will be my favorite TV show. Buffy is a very close second, though. I guess Buffy is more notable in that while both series had 7 seasons, I liked all seven seasons of Buffy, whereas in West Wing it was only the first four. Also, I'm kind of spoiled for things that happen in the comics (I know, I suck! I can't help myself from looking at things on the Internet!), but try not to discuss spoilers for them in the comics. If there's anything I don't already know, I'd prefer to keep it that way. I'm lucky that I don't have to wait years for the comic books to come out. Labels: tv: buffy, tv: west wing scribbled mystickeeper at 10:28 AM
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wMay 5, 2008 | |
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I really need a Wesley icon. Spoilers for Buffy through "Get it Done" and Angel through "Oprheus" are behind the gray. DON'T READ THE BOTTOM HALF, DAVE! BUFFY Andrew references DragonBallZ! BWAHAHAHA! Buffy's speechifying to the Potentials is getting old, :/ I liked the Xander/Dawn moment, though. That nobody notices Xander, or Dawn, and it makes them even more extraordinary. Xander is so nice! I wonder if Dawn still crushes on him. WHY IS GILES SUCH A HARD-ASS? IS HE EVIL? How come he gets to show up for an episode, admonish anybody for not doing anything, AND THEN LEAVE?! WHAT GIVES, GILES? ARE THERE TOO MANY WOMEN IN THE HOUSE FOR YOU? Yay Principal Wood, although it's weird that he wants to date Buffy. My boyfriend is older than me, but not by ten years! I like Buffy sticking up for Spike, but I find it pretty hard to believe that she wouldn't kick him out of that house. This is the girl who killed Angel at the end of season 2. But she'll let a ticking time-bomb stay in her house with everyone she loves because she's needy? Bullshit. I LOVE ANDREW. I kind of hate Kennedy. What was up with Buffy's "CHLOE WAS STUPID" speech? It was pretty mean. I kind of want a :[ icon now, that says CHLOE WAS STUPID. But not as much as I want a Wesley icon. WESLEY SCREAMING AT FAITH TO SHUT UP SO THAT HE COULD STAB THE HEROIN ADDICT IN THE SHOULDER MADE MY LIFE. Okay, why does nobody question the fact that Cordelia never comes out of her room? You would think that at least Lorne would go visit her, even if she was claiming illness. In conclusion: Cordelia was only not!annoying as Evil Cordelia for about two episodes. Now it is stupid and annoying. Angel should be evil. Or Faith. Wesley should continue to angst. Oh yeah! LOVE WILLOW/FRED, OMG. scribbled mystickeeper at 12:38 AM
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wApr 15, 2008 | |
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Buffy, Season 7: Episodes 1-7 As always, spastic spoilerific squee lies behind the cut. Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 12:25 AM
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wApr 4, 2008 | |
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BSG Season 4 Speculation: The Last Supper Photo Analysis Firstly, I posted about Buffy 7.1 here. In case you haven't seen it, here is a link of the picture. I would say that the photo contains one spoiler for the end of Season Three. Ron Moore has said a number of times that this promo photo contains a lot of clues about the end of the series. Analysis of the photo contains spoilers through the end of season 3. The first episode will stream live on SciFi's website today at noon. I'll be at work, and we're having a brat lunch today, so I won't be able to watch until 9pm tonight, like most people. I'll probably avoid LiveJournal until I've seen it. Last year, I was spoiled for most of the episodes before I saw them, but this year I've been trying to avoid spoilers when possible. Labels: tv: battlestar galactica, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 6:54 AM
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wApr 1, 2008 | |
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Angel, Season 3 Spoilers through the end of Angel, season 3 So anyway, done with season 3. Am waiting to sort out a weird Netflix mistake that I made (I had Buffy 7.1 sent to my parents' house instead of here; will have to wait for Netflix to send me disc 2 because I can't have the same disc in my queue twice at the same time, and hope that the library gives me disc 1 soon! Am also using the library for Angel!). While I wait to come into possession of discs, though, it's nice to take a bit of a break. It's like, OMG, what do I watch while I eat my dinner? (Tonight, I started Tokyo Babylon) Life will be really weird when I finally finish watching Buffy and Angel. When I watched a Buffy season 6 featurette of the series as a whole, though, I really wanted to immediately go back and re-watch seasons 1 and 2. Gretchen, are you going to be at Room tomorrow around 11:15, or Friday around 1:00-1:20? Because I could return season 3 to you then!scribbled mystickeeper at 8:53 PM
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wMar 26, 2008 | |
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Season 6 Wrap-Up Spoilers through the end of Season 6 of Buffy I will probably be waiting to start Season 7 until I can finish up Season 3 of Angel (I have watched through "Loyalty," or episode 15). Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 6:21 AM
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wMar 19, 2008 | |
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More Buffy! Dave and I watched this episode at the same time, while chatting about it on Gmail. So fun! I recommend this, it's like watching TV with someone, but no one will ever talk over the dialogue! Spoilers through "Seein' Red," which is the last episode on disc 5. Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 10:55 AM
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wMar 9, 2008 | |
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Musings on "Smashed" Spoilers through episode 6.9 Labels: tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 1:02 PM
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wMar 4, 2008 | |
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Musings on Buffy, "Tabula Rasa" and Angel, "Lullaby" Spoilers through Angel, 3.9 and the first 1/3 of Buffy, season 6 Current Music: Masquerade - Phantom of the Operascribbled mystickeeper at 8:15 PM
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