Buffy Goes Dark: Essays on the Final Two Seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Television
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Description
Buffy the Vampire Slayer earned critical acclaim for its use of metaphor to explore the conflicts of growth, power, and transgression. Its groundbreaking stylistic and thematic devices, boldness and wit earned it an intensely devoted fan base—and as it approached its zenith, attention from media watchdog groups and the Federal Communications Commission. The grim and provocative evolution of the show over its final two seasons polarized its audience, while also breaking new ground for critical and philosophical analysis. The thirteen essays in this collection, divided into the perspectives of feminist, cultural, auteur and fan studies, explore the popular series’ conclusion, providing a multifaceted examination of Buffy’s most controversial two seasons.
Lynne Y. Edwards is associate professor of media and communication studies at Ursinus College. Elizabeth L. Rambo is associate professor of English at Campbell University. James B. South is associate professor of English at Campbell University. James B. South is associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at Marquette University.
ISBN
978-0-7864-3676-7
Publication Date
2009
Publisher
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
City
Jefferson, NC
Disciplines
Philosophy
Comments
Table of Contents
Foreword by David Lavery
Preface: At Sixes and Sevens in Sunnydale
Section 1. Auteurs (Writers, Directors, Producers)
Marti Noxon: Buffy's Other Genius / David Perry
Understanding the Espensode / David Kociemba
Section 2. Characters (Lovers, Fans and Heroes)
Evil, Skanky, and Kinda Gay: Lesbian Images and Issues / Alissa Wilts
"It's complicated ... because of Tara": History, Identity Politics, and the Straight White Male Author / Brandy Ryan
The Candide of Sunnydale: Andrew Wells as Satire of Pop Culture and Marketing Trends / Ira Shull and Anne Shull
Section 3. Story (Flesh, Style and Purpose)
Buffy and the Death of Style / Michael Adams
"Set on This Earth Like a Bubble": Word as Flesh in the Dark Seasons / Rhonda V. Wilcox
Bodies and Narrative in Crisis: Figures of Rupture and
Chaos in Seasons Six and Seven / Gregory Erickson and Jennifer Lemberg
Reality Bites: Buffy in the UPN Years / Lynne Y. Edwards and Carly Haines
Section 4: Seasons (At Sixes and Sevens)
"Just a Family Legend": The Hidden Logic of Buffy's "Chosen Family" / Agnes B. Curry and Josef Velazquez
Yeats's Entropic Gyre and Season Six / Elizabeth L. Rambo
Season Six and the Supreme Ordeal / Paul Hawkins
Kiss Kiss, Stake Stake: Storytelling and the Philosophical Pleasures of Season Seven / James B. South
Appendix: Episode Guides for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
About the Contributors
Index