Category Archives: PCA

Death and Sacrifice: Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Posted on by under Buffy, Buffyverse, Grad School, PCA, Pop Culture, Whedonverse, Words for Wednesday, Writing

Welcome to Words for Wednesday! Below is a paper I presented at the Popular Culture Association conference in San Antonio, Texas in April of 2011. I’ve included the images used in my original power point presentation. I originally wrote it the paper for graduate school in 2009 and revamped it for presentation to a Whedon-y audience. Enjoy!


Joss Whedon created a contemporary mythology for a modern audience through Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Within the storylines of this mythology lie powerful characters and endless parallels to issues individuals face in society today. Throughout the seven seasons of Buffy, Whedon offers metaphors that speak to the trials and tribulations of life. These include everything from the teen angst of high school to the loss of loved ones. As a series that involves vampires and other demons, Buffy constantly depicts the metaphor of life eating on life (an idea frequently discussed by mythologist Joseph Campbell), and symbols of death abound. In the fifth season of the series, death becomes an exceptionally poignant element as Buffy suffers the loss of her mother and later the Slayer sacrifices her own life. Ultimately, Joss Whedon utilizes season five to depict the pain of such loss and show viewers how to embrace death. Like all useful mythologies, Buffy reflects the current societal state, giving viewers something to relate to, while also offering another approach to dealing with concerns of life and death, an important concern also addressed through ritual.


In our modern American society, our funerary rituals do not grant us the time needed to effectively manage the loss of loved ones. Americans do not have the opportunity to embrace the experience of death and loss for months or years. The process of the funeral and the return to “normal” daily life is rushed. The experience of the shock and grief involved with losing a loved one is powerful, and the fifth season of Buffy aptly and necessarily demonstrates this experience.
According to religious historian Mircea Eliade, “the supreme function of the myth is to ‘fix’ the paradigmatic models for all rites and significant human activities” (98). While a television series does not offer viewers new rituals, it opens a space for individuals to consider and contemplate events they have experienced and reflect on how they respond to those experiences. Whedon speaks to the American way of encountering death and ultimately embraces ideas from traditions outside of America, accepting “[t]he challenge death poses for the cultural community” and working “to integrate it into cosmological schema” (Grillo 22).


Before sacrificing her own life, Buffy faces the loss of her mother, Joyce. Whedon masterfully captures the horrors of this event. Though Buffy has faced death and tragedy throughout the first five years of the series, nothing compares to this loss. “The Body,” which includes no musical score, is arguably the most powerful episode of the fifth season of Buffy because of its chilling realism. As the title reveals, the episode sharply focuses on the image of the dead body. The episode begins with the moment Buffy finds Joyce dead on the couch and ends when she again sees her mother’s body in the morgue.

When Buffy finds her mother’s body, she promptly calls 911. She explains to the dispatcher that, “She’s cold.” When the dispatcher questions if, “the body is cold,” an offended Buffy declares, “No, my mom!” Before the paramedics enter, Giles arrives and rushes towards Joyce. Buffy exclaims, “We’re not supposed to move the body!” (“Body”) She raises her hand to her face in shock of what she just said. That shift in her language signifies that ghastly moment of realization – her mother is not coming back. This episode is painful to watch; however, it demonstrates reactions experienced with loss, reactions we sometimes try to hide.


When the episodes show the Scoobies reaction to the loss of Joyce, Anya poignantly articulates the pain and confusion of death. Though she often fashioned death and destruction during her thousand years as a vengeance demon, it never personally affected her. Anya expresses frustration with the mystery of death:

But I don’t understand! I don’t understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she’s, there’s just a body, and I don’t understand why she just can’t get back in it and not be dead anymore. It’s stupid. It’s mortal and stupid. And, and Xander’s crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever, and she’ll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why. (“Body”)


This discussion impeccably echoes Joseph Campbell’s discussion on death: “The question is, What has happened to this body? It was walking around, it was warm, it lied down, it was cold. Where has it gone? This idea of where it has gone is the first clue we have to a mythological thought” (Hero’s 70). Through Anya’s questions, Whedon is discussing prominent mythological concerns.


Why are people supposed to avoid asking the questions Anya presents? “Are we going to see the body? . . . Are we going to be in the room with the dead body? . . . Are they going to cut the body open?” (“Body”). Willow declares, “It’s not okay to ask these things.” This is the American approach. However, “Death, a fundamental, inevitable, physiological fact, seems to point to the most objective aspect of human existence – that we are material creatures subject to the physical conditions of the physical world” (Grillo 21). We should not be afraid to talk about it openly and directly. In addition to addressing mythological thought, Anya’s questions open the door to questions we are not “supposed” to discuss. Whedon intentionally makes viewers uncomfortable throughout “The Body.” In America, we do not have an appropriate manner of coping with death. By making us uncomfortable, Whedon demonstrates the need for change in our culture.


In her essay on “Funerary Rituals,” Laura Grillo explains, “the Toradja ‘cult of the dead,’ far from being a horrifying or morbid preoccupation with death, can be understood to affirm the continuity between the animated world of the living and the spiritual world beyond which it depends” (5). The Day of the Dead and the Cult of the Dead are examples of communities embracing death and allowing the processes of acceptance and transformation to take place over time. The Day of the Dead allows members to “memorialize [the dead and give] ritualized attention . . . to the deceased” (Turner and Jasper 139). The Texas-Mexicans are able to “use the tools of tradition to externalize their encounter with death and loss” (Turner and Jasper 149). They allow the time needed for coping. The Toradja keep their dead for up to a year, allowing for the process of moving from one realm to the next. This also allows for an unrushed grieving process: “Death must be apprehended, its chaotic and terrifying potential arrested and regulated by culture. The Toradja funeral rituals recognize death as a consumption but regulate it with prescribed steps circumscribed by the determinative meaning that culture ascribes” (Grillo 16-17). While the Toradja way will not likely become the American way, we are in need of a longer progression for our death rituals.


In the episode after “The Body,” Buffy has to make the arrangements for her mother’s funeral. Afterwards, Buffy explains to Angel, “The funeral was . . . brutal, but it’s tomorrow that I’m worried about . . . Tomorrow the stuff of everyday living resumes” (“Forever”). In America, the rituals and traditions typically end after the funeral. There may be a gathering after the funeral to share memories and a meal, but then life must go on. In “Intervention” Buffy explains to Giles that she is considering taking a break from slaying because she doesn’t like what it’s doing to her. “To slay, to kill, it means being hard on the inside. Maybe being the perfect Slayer means being too hard to love at all” (“Intervention”). Giles informs Buffy that previous Slayers went to “a sacred place in the desert” for “regaining their focus, learning more about their role.” Buffy accepts Giles’ offer to take her to this sacred place. Of course, as Eliade explains, “men are not free to choose the sacred site . . . they only seek for it and find it by the help of mysterious signs” (Eliade 28).


Giles takes Buffy into the desert and performs a ritual to invoke Buffy’s guide. He cannot take her any further. A mountain lion soon appears to lead Buffy to the sacred site. According to the philosopher Macrobius, “lions are emblematic of the earth” (qtd. in Cooper 98). Since the Earth “is the universal archetype of . . . sustenance,” the symbol of her guide indicates that this spiritual quest is going to provide her the nourishment she needs to move forward with her life and cope with her loss” (Cooper 59). Whedon and his team of writers masterfully utilize these symbols to affect a resonating image for viewers. Whether Whedon or the readers are consciously aware of the meanings can be argued; regardless, the collective unconscious, to use Carl Jung’s term, recognizes them.


After the lion leads Buffy to the sacred location, she awaits the arrival of her spirit guide. This guide appears in the form of The First Slayer. She speaks to Buffy’s fears and informs her, “You are full of love. You love with all of your soul. It’s brighter than the fire, blinding . . . Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. Love, give, forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift.” While this sentiment initially comforts Buffy, the First Slayer then reveals to Buffy that death is her gift. Buffy argues, “Death is not a gift. My mother just died. I know this. If I have to kill demons because it makes the world a better place, then I kill demons, but it’s not a gift to anybody” (“Intervention”). According to Joseph Campbell, “We live by killing, which is what you do even when you are eating grapes. You are still killing something. Life just lives on life. And it’s the one life in all of these different heads of mouths eating itself. It’s a fantastic mystery” (Hero’s 12). Buffy must reconcile herself to the role she has a Slayer. The acceptance of death as a function of life is imperative for Buffy. Whedon utilizes this episode to set up the climactic conclusion of the season, but also to demonstrate the time of reflection we need to take for ourselves after facing death. Buffy’s spiritual quest presents the difficulty of accepting death and represents the post-funerary rituals that America is missing.


After the presentation in season five of various mythological and ritualistic elements, Whedon speaks directly to the significance of sacrifice and ritual in the season finale “The Gift.” To begin with, Glory prepares to sacrifice Dawn and, consequently, unleash hellish dimensions. In Read’s discussion, she indicates that “people must calculate their actions so that they do not upset their family’s, city’s, or sun’s spiraling motion” (152). Buffy must work to spare not only her remaining family and her city, but her world and many others, from spiraling into a destructive atmosphere.


Concerning the ritual, Glory forces Dawn to change into a ceremonial dress, honoring the sacredness of ritual sacrifice. When Read discusses “ritual costume” in “The Cosmic Meal,” she indicates that every “costume . . . embodie[s] a particular force” (147). There is an “exchange” made to create “a new force” (147). Although Dawn was not born human, she is a completely innocent creature, another element typical of ritual sacrifice. As Joseph de Maistre explains, “sacrificial animals [are] the gentlest, most innocent creatures, whose habits and instincts [bring] them most closely to [being] human in nature” (qtd. in Girard 241). Dawn characterizes the notion that “the ritual victim is an ‘innocent’ creature who pays a debt for the guilty party” (241). It is important for Whedon to demonstrate such elements of ritual here because he has been speaking to the ritual processes involved with death throughout season five.


When the ritual has begun and Dawn’s blood is being drained, Buffy realizes what she must do, how “death” is her “gift.” She will sacrifice herself to stop the ritual, rescue her sister, and save the world from great destruction. Buffy gracefully jumps off the tower, sacrificing her blood and body to the mystical portal. After Buffy dies, a series of shots show the grief of her friends while a voice-over indicates what Buffy said to her sister before she jumped: “Dawn, listen to me . . . I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles . . . I figured it out . . . and I’m okay . . . You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me” (“Gift”). In this moment of clarity, Buffy reconciles the pain of life and passes her wisdom on to her younger sister. Buffy’s death reflects Campbell’s view that “death . . . is understood as a fulfillment of our life’s direction and purpose” (Thou Art That 34). Whedon uses the mythological and ritualistic elements of death and sacrifice to show viewers ways of accepting the painful and unpredictable nature of life alongside the certainty of death. Like the Toradja’s “conception of death [it is] not as an end but . . . a metamorphosis that leads to life” (Grillo 11). After Buffy struggles with the loss of her mother, she embraces her own death and the unknown that lies ahead of her.


“Who someone or something is, then, is a matter of the kind of powers that one’s mahceua has. And while in the course of a person’s life she is given a great deal of merit that helps determine her nature, she also can determine to some degree her own merit through her actions and the rituals performed at appropriate times and places” (Read 152). Buffy has no choice about having Slayer powers. She is automatically elevated to the role of hero. However, in her continual choices to embrace that role, she demonstrates her own merit. We too can make these choices. It is inevitable to discuss the importance of the hero when discussing death. As Campbell indicated, “one part of the mythological motif of the hero’s journey is acquiescence. For instance, I am moving toward death, as we all are. That’s also yielding. And the hero is the one who knows when to surrender and what to surrender to. The main theme is to yield your position to the dynamic. And the dynamic of life is now this form eats that form. Yield” (Hero’s 12). Of course, we are not all to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good, but to consider the metaphor that Buffy offers us, which is akin to the Mexica sacrifice: “Sacrifice was a way of re-forming things in order to create an appropriate order again” (Read 153). Literal sacrifices are metaphors for the emotional sacrifices we all make in life to bring forth balance and harmony.


According to Campbell, “the fourth function of mythology is psychological. The myth must carry the individual through the stages of his life, from birth through maturity through senility to death. The mythology must do so in accord with the social order of his group, the cosmos as understood by his group, and the monstrous energy” (Campbell, Pathways 9). Buffy functions so powerfully as a mythology because it fulfills this function, demonstrating Buffy’s life as a Slayer and her death, specifically in modern America. Surely one of the greatest mysteries we cope with is facing death.


Finally, we should remember that “Death is a paradox – it can be understood as both a changeless state and transforming process, as a definitive end or harbinger of new beginnings and rebirth” (Grillo 20). Buffy demonstrates both aspects of death. Although Joyce loses her life, her death functions to transform Buffy. While Buffy herself then sacrifices her own life, she provides new beginnings for those she loves. The sixth season of Buffy, then, deals with another prominent issue – rebirth and resurrection. Buffy faces what Campbell refers to as “the rescue from without” when her friends resurrect her from the dead (Hero 170). Future projects will explore the significance of Buffy’s unwanted resurrection and the implications it has on the cosmology of Buffy and the minds of the viewers. That discussion will also include an analysis of the afterlife as presented by Whedon and its relationship to the various depictions of heaven.

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero’s Journey. Novato: New World, 1990.

— The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato: New World Library, 2008.

— Pathways to Bliss. Novato: New World Library, 2004.

— Thou Art That. Novato: New World Library, 2001.

Cooper, J.C. “Earth.” An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. London: Thames & Hudson, 1978.

Cooper, J.C. “Lion.” An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. London: Thames & Hudson, 1978.

Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Florida: Harcourt, 1967.

Girard, Rene. “Violence and the Sacred: Sacrifice.” Readings in Ritual Studies. Ed. Ronald L. Grimes. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996. 239-256.

Grillo, Laura S. “‘Rambu Solo’: the Toradja Cult of the Dead and Embodied Imagination.”

Read, Kay. “The Cosmic Meal,” Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos. Bloomington: Indiana UP 1998. 123-137; 144-155.

Turner, Kay, and Pat Jasper. “Day of the Dead, the Tex-Mex Tradition.” Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life. Ed. Jack Santino. Knoxville: U of Tennesse P, 1994. 133-151.

Van Gennep, Arnold. The Rites of Passage. Chicago: The U of Chicago P, 1960.


PCA/ACA 6

Posted on by under Buffyverse, PCA, Pop Culture, Whedonverse

And after three wonderful, geek-filled days, the PCA finally had to come to an end. I must say it’s been so fun revisiting all these great panels through writing these blog posts. Many thanks to those of you that have been reading along! It’s really been fun to share.

On Saturday, the last day of PCA, I first attended the panel Vampires and Heroes.
Megan Stoner Morgan discussed “Dr. Horrible as Byronic Hero.” She examined his blog as his form of resistance as well as a social place to state complaints.  Even though he’s ostracized from society, he connects with his fellow outcasts.  Society here is depicted as the root of evil. We see the loss of his beloved to Captain Hammer drive his rebellion further, with Penny’s death then completing his descent as Byronic hero. Megan characterized Horrible as “charismatic but gloomy hero” and said that while he’s admirable for taking on society, his character is ultimately unrelatable. In her final claim, Megan assessed that Dr. Horrible itself encourages rebellion against the studios.
Anaya Mukherjea presented “Am I a Righteous Man? Vampire masculinity, morality, honor and romance.” She said that the old metaphor of the vampire kiss still persists, but is now compounded with the vampire having love for a young, human female and being in need of redemption. She said this new myth also calls for the frail human woman becoming empowered.  Anaya looked at Buffy as a hero functioning beyond her love of Angel and Spike. She also discussed LJ Smith’s Hanna and Simon and Zooey of the Silver Kiss, series I am unfamiliar with. Anaya concluded that in Whedon’s works, the vampire soul brings forth an ontological and existential argument. She concluded with a quote from Stacey Abbott indicating that it’s not Angel’s soul that sets him on his good path: it’s Buffy.
Tamy Burnett put forth an interesting argument in “Dead Women and Visions of Masculinities in Angel and Supernatural.” She posited these series as the post-girl power male-centric fantasy TV. She identified that when these series kill off female characters, they are not resurrected like their male counterparts. Tamy characterized the women in Angel as guides and motivators for the males; ultimately, the males are defined and shaped by the females. She discussed the idea of martyred mothers as seen on Angel with Darla and Cordy and in Supernatural with Mary. She also examined the dead female friend, Angel’s Fred and Supernatural’s Ellen and Joe. Tamy concluded that this series could enjoy commercial success without sacrificing females.
I would like to add that this very concern came up at this year’s Supernatural panel aat the PaleyFest. Creator Eric Kripke indicated, with a laugh, that they just tend to kill off a lot of people, male or female.
In the final paper, Heather Enrichs Angell presented “The Vampire Lover : Rethinking the Feminist Response to the Fang Phenomena.” She examined True Blood and Twilight, claiming that the good feminist debate has power imbalance, disregards media theory, and misses underlying feminist qualities that reader’s try to bring to the text. Her ultimate claim was that in these texts the female body serves as the landscape that the men fight over, but that Bella and Sookie maintainthe dominant voice. Heather discussed perspectives of the good feminist, the hegemonic feminist, and the academic feminist. I will admit that I’m not well-versed in all the subcategories of feminism. I have noted such extreme differences though that I do find that having all these varying viewpoints under the giant umbrella of feminism sometimes acts as a disservice. I’ve had many people assume I’m a feminist because I’m a fan of Joss Whedon, but what the word “feminist” means to them and what it means to me does not always coincide.  Hmmm, this sounds like a good topic for a whole other blog post some time.

After this final Whedon panel, Tanya Cochran and I had a brief discussion about the idea that people assume you like “vampire stories” if you like Buffy and Angel. I’ve come across this a lot and find it amusing, especially because Buffy isn’t a show about vampires – it’s a show about a vampire slayer! Angel and Spike are the exceptions in a verse filled with very bad, undesirable vampires. Tanya said she’s never drawn to a text because of vampires, and mentioned some popular ones that she’s never delved into. I told her how I keep coming across vampires in narratives that I’ve been drawn to that just happen to have vampires in them.  Take Vampire Diaries for example – I didn’t start watching it because of vampires, but for my love of Kevin Williamson. It’s interesting watching the vampire permeation of our culture, as well as the assumptions made about individuals based on the vampire texts (books and television series) they watch and write about. :)

I was then very excited about the final panel I could attend at PCA: “Pop Culture in the Classroom.” I was absolutely shocked to discover that only one of the presenters showed up! How rude! The poor chair was absolutely stunned. While this could have turned into a dud, the one panelist present dazzled us all! Aimee Blau Robison carried the session with confidence and charm with her presentation “Using Facebook in the Classroom.” She utilizes it as an additional tool to connect with the students. She indicated that one of the problems now is getting students to digitally disconnect in the classroom. Her solution is to connect with their digital world outside of the classroom to keep conversations going. Her ultimate claim is that “knowledge is socially constructive.” She discussed the idea of William Kist to use a “spoonful of sugar to make the print go down.” Aimee utilizes Facebook to get her students discussing possible issues/topics for their research paper. She even encourages them to scan their news feed for ideas, to look at what people are discussing. She lists the goals for student’s Facebook use, and then spotlights good dialogue from the net inside the classroom. It’s important to note that she’s not using Facebook inside the classroom. In fact, she even requests no lap top use so students are focused and attentive when in class.
On a final note, the panel chair, Erik Walker, noted that if you aren’t quite comfortable venturing into the Facebook sphere with your students yet, you can use edmodo.com as a “safer” alternative.

I don’t even know how to end this post! I couldn’t believe the conference was over as quick as it was, and now I can’t believe that, two weeks later, I’m just wrapping up writing about it. There were a lot of great people, wonderful ideas, and many sources of inspiration! Two giant thumbs up for the success of the PCA.

PCA/ACA 5

Posted on by under Buffyverse, PCA, Whedonverse


As the fun continued at the Friday panels at PCA, I next attended the panel Rhetoric, Composition & Popular Culture : Teaching Composition with Popular Culture. What could be better? I’ve dabbled with bringing in episodes of Friends, The Fresh Prince, and Scrubs into my classroom for a single activity, but these scholars are really taking it up a notch.
First, Autumn Lauzon shared her paper ” ‘The Tribe Has Spoken’ : Using Survivor to Teach Rhetorical Situation and Rhetroical Strategies in the Freshman Composition Classroom.” Now I’ll confess I might be one of the only remaining American’s who has yet to see a full episode of the series. I don’t have anything against it, but it never really appealed to me. Nevertheless, Autumn claimed success in her class.  Then, Susan Gail Taylor Gernenz entertained us with “It Takes Grindin’ : The Rhetorical, Linguistic, Socioeconomic & Political Power, Prowess, & Relevance of Lil’ Wayne.” She was captivating and enthusiastic, though I will confess she did not change my dislike for rap music. She has found a way that works for her with connecting to her students and connecting them to composition ideas, but it might not work for everyone. You’d definitely have to have her passion for the source material.
Then Cynthia Bateman (one of my favorite tweeps) presented “Mulder, Scully, & the First-Year Writing Student : Exploring the Pedagogical Significance of the X-Files.“ She has cleverly integrated the series into her entire Comp class, even using it to set the class theme : “The truth is out there.”  Cynthia discussed why she chose this series and explained that, in addition to it being one of her personal favorite, she has found it to be more successful to use something that the student’s aren’t familiar with. If you try to discuss something they’re already watching every week, they lose that critical edge.  Furthermore, Mulder and Scully map out the path of inquiry.  Cynthia said she teaches them to keep their Mulder and Scully in check, being wary of being too critical or too dry.  She had a selection of episodes she integrated throughout the semester with carefully mapped out class time devoted to one episode a week in the early part of the semester. Sounds like a very successful project! (Also makes me want to go back and watch X-Files again. I never did see the series in its entirety).
Kellie Deys then ended the panel with “The Power of Spoofing : Using Adbusters in the Composition Classroom.”  She discussed how we analyze the world around us, moving specifically into rhetorical analysis of visual text. She works on a project with her students where they choose an ad, commercial, YouTube video, or billboard and then identify pathos, egos, and logos in it. They are then challenged to differentiate their argument from what the campaign is saying.  She finally uses Adbusters to have her students rethink consumerism. This clever website makes parodies of popular ads.  To take it a step further, she has her students create their own spoof ads.  It forces them to analyze the original ad and approach it with a creative application. She showed us some of their work and it was quite well done. Fun stuff!

For my last panel of the day, I attended The Works of Joss Whedon : The Body and Whedon. So much Whedony goodness throughout this week!
Heather M. Porter discussed ” ‘I may be a slow learner, but eventually I catch on’ : Examining the ever-changing intelligence of Spike.” I also saw Heather present at Slayage a few years ago. She uses a mathematical approach to determine character’s traits and tendencies. Here, using Sternberg’s theory on the 3 types of intelligence (analytical, practical, and creative) she concluded that Spike has a successful intelligence that balances all three.
In “Clasped and Detached : The Symbolic Use of Hands in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,” Natalie Stevens discussed the use of hands as ultimately being symbols of connectedness. You can envision Buffy as the hand in the Season 4 showdown, and Tara and Willow grasping hands to perform magic together for the first time in Season 5.  Natalie also discussed the use of unattached hands to demonstrate disconnect, as we see with Lindsey’s severed hand or the disturbed doctor in season one’s “I Fall to Pieces.”
Finally, the great pair John Michael Richardson and John Douglas Rabb introduced us to “The Role of Tai Chi in Whedon’s Dollhouse, in Buffy, and Hidden in Plain Sight in Firefly/Serenity : An Audience Participation Presentation.” We have clear images of Tai Chi throughout the Whedonverse, except for where you’d expect to see it the most. Buffy, Angel, and Echo all practice Tai Chi, so where is it in the Chinese culture of Firefly? The John’s argue it’s right there in the name of the ship itself. The first character in the Chinese word “Serenity” is in fact an element from the discipline of Tai Chi, which focuses on mental quietness.  To help us get in touch with a bit of serenity, we were led in some basic Tai Chi movements. Very insightful!

And, finally, to top of this wonderful day, there was a Dr. Horrible sing-along. The room was filled to standing-room only in the back, as more than one hundred Whedonists belted out with our lovely NPH, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion. What a great end to a great day!

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PCA/ACA 4

Posted on by under PCA, Pop Culture

As the wondrously long Friday at PCA continued, I got to attend a very exciting panel: Mythology in Contemporary Culture: Mythology and Technology. This panel featured three of my collegiate peers! They all did wonderful work.
Jody Bower discussed “Mythological Elements in Avatar : The Problem of Area and Technology.” She reminded us why the critics ripped the film apart: it supposedly demonstrated technology as bad and presented a white male as the rescuing figure of a minority race. Jody pointed out, however, that the film does show how technology has to be properly used; furthermore, by highlighting that Jake gets his life saved FIVE times by females, she showed us that he is definitely not the save-all hero of the film! Her mythological analysis proved that Cameron has been working out the Ares archetype since Terminator. Ares was controlled by Zeus, but Zeus has been displaced by rationality (Apollo). In Terminator, Cameron shows us what can happen, but in Avatar, he shows us another way. We ultimately learn to be wise about technology.
Rebecca Diggs whisked us away with “Stolen: Under the Electronic Cloak of Hermes.” She caught our attention by discussing a common night time ritual: going to sleep with our tv timers set. She said this is “our electronic usher to sleep and dream, an incantation to Hermes . . . a versatile god friendly to humans.” Rebecca examined a key power in quality television: the volume of time given to the development of multiple characters. As Hermes once used the turtle to create the lyre, he now steals and broadcasts dreams.
Finally, Lauren Howard discussed the disturbing reality of “The Mythological Impact of Reality Television on Contemporary Society” by looking specifically at The Real Housewives franchise. She opened our eyes by sharing that while the series targets the 18-49 year-old demographic, its largest audience consists of teenagers and children! The “sensationalization of reality” draws them in, especially since “basic reality no longer entertains kids.”  This “hyper-reality” provides them with a type of wish fulfillment.  I find it terribly unfortunate that this is the case, and am really surprised that so many parents are permitting this!

In the next panel I attended, Fairy Tales Re-imagined : Modern Fairy Tales Examined, there were a couple great presentations that brought us back to the wonderful worlds of Whedon.
In “Joss Whedon’s ‘Hush’ and Katy Towell’s Ida’s Luck: Female Voices as Power in the Modern Fairy Tale,” Kiani Pierce explored the image of the voiceless princess or damsel. She argued that “Hush” and Ida’s Luck establish the need for expression. At the time of the presentation, I was unfamiliar with dear little Ida or the brilliant Katy Towell. I have since seen the animated short and fallen in love! You can meet Ida in Part 1 and Part 2 of Ida’s Luck. Though I assume my readers are all familiar with Whedon’s work, I don’t want to say too much about the presentation because I don’t want to spoil Ida’s Luck if you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it yet.  I will say it is a wonderful complementary piece to Whedon’s “Hush.” And, here is a spoiler-free excerpt from Kiani’s synopsis on the PCA website:

“In these stories the female voice is used as a metaphor for power over evil, ignorance, and fear. When women are silenced they are unable to effect change and help society at large survive and thrive. The overtly feminist implications within both of these works demonstrate the evolution of the helpless fairy tale princess that needed masculine assistance to reach her full potential to the modern feminine model of independent heroine who is able to save both herself and her community.”

Next, Robin Nicks discussed “Sleeping Beauties, Slayers & Actives : What Joss Whedon Teaches us about Fairy Tales and Gender Roles.” Robin looked primarily at Buffy‘s “Halloween” and Dollhouse‘s “Briar Rose.” She discussed both the ideas of having the ability to save self and world as well as the importance of friends, which Buffy particularly so often comes back to. In “Halloween,” we get the Damsel Buffy who is confused by the modern world and the Army Xander who is hyper-masculine. Robin posits that these are examples of extremes that fairytales promote don’t work in the real world. We are presented, then, with a new ideal when Buffy’s 21st century personality is restored in she gets to kick ass in her old-fashioned costume dress.  In “Briar Rose,” we are looking at the innocent active, Echo. She tells the story of Briar Rose and indicates that the prince is a dream, a dream that Briar Rose dreams to ultimately save herself. In this episode, Ballard acts as Echo’s prince, sneaking to her rescue. By the end of the series, however, the different men that have “tried to rescue or craft Echo” are no longer there. We are left with two powerful females: a greatly transformed De Witt and a self-actualized Echo, who has, like Briar Rose, rescued herself.  Robin argues that Echo’s awakening functions as a metaphor for women’s empowerment. 
In thinking about these different images and instances that Whedon presents us with, I started thinking about Buffy be presented as Little Red Riding Hood in both “Fear Itself” and “Helpless.” I think it is significant here that she is very specifically separated from the Scoobies and must perform her own self rescue. There’s a lot of fun ideas here to play with! I believe Robin said she’s working on this paper for publication; I can’t wait to see the final piece!

To be continued…

PCA/ACA 3

Posted on by under PCA, Pop Culture

Friday was an exciting day! I attended panels from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. (and therefore will be splitting this day into three different blog posts).

I started the morning off with another Supernatural panel.
First, Meredith Ayers presented “Myth & Folklore vs. Hollywood in the Supernatural TV Series.” She compared the lore of various creatures/demons to the way they’ve been presented on the series. She concluded that the series often dramatizes the method of destruction required (who wants to watch a show where a demon can be killed by having someone turn his body south when he’s sleeping?).
Then, Cory Barker entertained us with his animated presentation of “Sam Girls and Dean Girls : The Anti-Fan Fans in Supernatural.” You can view his entire piece here on TV surveillance. We’re all familiar with the anti-fan as someone who is against a particular franchise. Here, Cory proposes the “anti-fan fan” as someone who is a fan of the series, but is “against” a certain character. For instance, a Dean fan may be an anti-fan fan of Sam.  This whole world is new to me.  As I mentioned in a previous post, while I’ve been watching Supernatural since its inception, I haven’t been very involved in the fandom.  I love Sam and Dean.  But, apparently, there’s quite an active argument over who the better character is. I encourage you to read Cory’s piece to hear more.
The panel was completed with a piece from Sara Magee and Kelley Crowley: “It was Almost Like a Song : The Classic Rock Rhetoric of Supernatural.” They played a beautiful montage of the series including some of the key songs. It nearly gave me goosebumps and made me want to rush home to rewatch the series!!  Sara & Kelley, admittedly “Dean girls,” argued that the music itself proves that Supernatural is Dean’s story.  Beyond that, they discussed the traditionally rebellious nature of rock and roll and why that suits the series so well.

In the next panel, Mythology in Contemporary Culture: Contemporary Feminine Archetypes, I had the pleasure of seeing my colleague Cary Gardell present “Coraline and the Cave.” She discussed Coraline’s descent as an otherworld/underworld journey. She discussed the safety that existed as Coraline originally traveled between the realms, then comparing the other world here to Plato’s cave. She pointed out that, typical to female descents, Coraline is the only one to have any memory of her journey. On a personal note, I would like to simply add that “other mother” is downright creepy!!

I then found myself in the right room but the wrong building for the panel Visions of Heroism. Unfortunately, this lead to me catching only the tale end of the paper I was interested in: BJ Keaton‘s ” ‘All the Best Cowboys’ : Genre and the Campbellian Hero is Lost Season 1.” A couple key points I caught included that Jack must accept that the end does not justify the means, and that his sensitivity makes him a unique hero. BJ also argued that while Jack met the image of the Western genre hero in season one, he ultimately evolves beyond the duality of his original cowboy/doctor role.

Around noon, I took the opportunity to get some fresh (erm, humid) air and went for a beautiful boat tour along the San Antonio River Walk. The most fascinating site: The Nix Professional Building (Texas’ oldest hospital) appears to be completely flat from one position on the river. I didn’t believe the tour guide when he said we were about to see the greatest optical illusion!

Photo © Mythgirl

To be continued…

PCA/ACA 2

Posted on by under Buffyverse, PCA, Pop Culture, Whedonverse

Thursday was a beautiful day in Texas and a great day at the PCA conference. I used the morning to squeeze in some site seeing, and in the afternoon I returned to the hotel for exciting academia!

The first paper that really stirred my excitement was in aLOST panel. Dr. Kevin Drzakowski presented a fun theory on season six: he argued that the flashforward was both a heavenly dimension AND an outcome of “the incident.” Chew on that for a while! It will really get your brain going!!  Apparently there was also a round-table discussion at the conference on the series finale, but I didn’t hear about it until it was over! That would have been great to get in on.

I then attended a panel that examined gender in Supernatural. The Q&A afterward brought out some great dialogue.  There were four women on the panel (Amanda Straw, Kathleen McClancy, Melissa Bruce, and Lugene Rosen) and the discussion eventually got around to the fact that the fandom seems to be greatly female based. As I shared at the time, I’ve never really been involved in the Supernatural fan community, and it never occurred to me that the viewership would be so gender-based. I’ve been watching it with my husband, and we’ve both enjoyed it greatly!!  It wasn’t until he and I went to the PaleyFest panel in March that we learned the female fans have a larger presence the male fans.  One of the panelists then claimed that PaleyFest actually has even more males than the average Supernatural convention.  (I wonder though if females are just more inclined to go to the conventions, and maybe the males are just more quiet at-home viewers?)  The panelists then posed the question to the men in the audience: Why do you watch Supernatural?  I quickly texted my husband, and he replied: “Because Dean is awesome. The Impala is awesome and guns and violence are awesome. Oh, the story is really awesome too.” I then shared his response, and the audience got a real kick out of it.
As the Q&A went on, I was surprised by an audience question: Aren’t Sam and Dean just white trash? A panelist was able to quote Kripke as saying the Winchesters, like all hunters, are clearly blue collar works.  Someone jokingly commented that the boys sure are pretty and in nice clothes for white trash. Ultimately, the panelists drove home the idea that, despite the fact that the boys live out of a car, they have consistently demonstrated strong work values!


In the evening, I had the great pleasure of presenting on a panel with Jeffrey Bussolini and Erin Waggoner.
Jeffrey entertained us greatly with his paper “…Elle s’appelle Buffy: On the Rendering of Buffy in French and Italian.“ With his mastery of language, he was able to make comparisons to the original English version with the dubbed French and Italian version. I regret I didn’t take notes during his presentation, so I don’t have any great examples to dazzle you with, but it’s very intriguing to see how words are changed and how the meaning can be altered and how the puns have to be translated to have cultural relevance!!  I look forward to seeing his continued work.
Erin presented us with, “Did the Professor Really Just Say That? : Teaching the Visual Rhetoric in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s ‘Hush’ “ and cleverly showed us how to integrate Buffy into the classroom!!  Using “Hush” to demonstrate the significance of language is brilliant!  Students learn to watch and listen, pick up on visual cues, and discuss rhetoric in a refreshing way.

Erin's Final Slide

In my presentation, I discussed “Death and Sacrifice: Season Five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” In my essay, I argue that the way Whedon presents death and the characters responses to it (particularly in “The Body”) demonstrate to us that our culture is lacking appropriate death rituals. I also speak to how powerfully Whedon depicts the human experience and moves us, mythologically, throughout this season. The full presentation is now available here.

After my panel, I was in for a great treat: a Once More with Feeling sing-along! The audience was smaller than I expected, and there were complications with the audio and getting started… but I was in a room with singing Whedonists, so I was pretty darn happy!

Click here to read more…

PCA/ACA 1

Posted on by under Buffyverse, PCA, Pop Culture, Whedonverse

Here’s my first of several posts on the wonderful presentations I heard last week at the Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association conference. I hope y’all enjoy! My original idea was to write about every presentation on every panel I went to, but once I got home and settled in and looked at all my notes, I realized I listened to 48 presentations!  Kind of impossible right now to write on ALL of them, so I’m just going to write about the highlights of each day.

Wednesday night at PCA was a delight – there were three Whedon panels back to back to back in one gloriously large, though freezing cold, conference room: Science Fiction & Fantasy: The Works of Joss Whedon; Power and Whedon; and Sex and Whedon.

Alyson Buckman kicked off the night with her great paper ” ‘Ship like this, be with you ’til the day you die’ : Place, Time & Subjectivity in Firefly.” To quote Alyson, it is important to note that “Serenity is a place, not just a space.” She shows us how Serenity is truly home for each of the nine main characters who become, in varying ways, physically and emotionally rooted to the ship.  Alyson discussed the effects that changes in time and place have on the characters throughout the series. In explaining this impact and the power of returning to proper place, Alyson used a poignant example from the episode “Safe” : River explains that when the cows were inside the ship, “They weren’t cows . . . Now they see the sky and remember what they are.”

Then in the paper “Buffy, Bahktin and the Blogopshere: Heteroglossia and Reflexivity in Fan Blog Discussions,” Susan Fanetti touched on the fun world of rewatching and discussing Buffy. She focused primarily on Nikki Stafford’s Great Buffy Rewatch, Myles McNutt’s Cultural Catchup Project, and Noel Murray’s Buffy/Angel Blog. I will admit I’m not familiar with McNutt and Murray, so I couldn’t honestly appreciate her dissection of the work they’ve done. I do believe, though, that she was holding up Nikki Stafford as the ideal model, especially considering that Nikki’s blog contains spaces for old and new viewers, allowing individuals to watch along for the first time and remain spoiler free.  On a related note, I will add that I’ve been re-watching Buffy with the fun hosts of Potential Cast.  I’ll confess it’s more difficult (time-wise) to keep up with blogs (I realize the irony of writing this in a blog), but I always have time to listen to the potentials in the car.

In “Pryde and Prejudice: The Origins of Buffy in the X-Men,” Dale Koontz discussed the appeal the X-Men mythos has always had to outsiders (a group Buffy‘s Scoobies definitely identify with!). She also pointed out that X-Men has always had an inclusion of strong female characters; they have been equal partners to males. Dale then examined the inspiration Kitty Pryde had on Whedon’s Buffy. Sure made me wish I was more well-versed in the X-Men! At the very least, I must read Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. In her conclusion, Dale argued that the characters from both verses often demonstrate that having both knowledge and love leads to success.  And, furthermore, they show us that “maturity comes with knowledge of loss,” something we’ve definitely seen our dear Buffy come to grips with.

Lewis Call gave the fascinating presentation ” ‘Love Keeps her in the Air’ : Radical Erotic Pluralism in Firefly.” Pushing up against the work of Gayle Rubin, Lewis examined the “honest desire” of the characters in Firefly.  Ultimately, Lewis argued the following for each character: Wash desires Zoe and commitment; he wishes to be dominated, and she wishes to be dominant. Mal is dominant and attracted to other dominants. Inara wants monogomy with Mal, but her dishonesty about this prevents it. Simon has an unnamed and incestuous desire for River, therefore self-sabotaging his relationship with Kaylee. River’s desire is sensual, not sexual; she is most connected to the ship. Kaylee has a carnal relationship with the ship. Book chooses celibacy, demonstrating that the series endorses all types of sexuality, even re-channeling desire. And Jayne? Well, who could he love but Vera??

Finally, AmiJo Comeford also developed a compelling argument in her paper: ” ‘I’m Ready to Wake Up Now” : Pregnancy and the Absence of Female Desire in Angel.”  She pointed out that the three primary pregnancies in the series (both of Cordy’s and Darla’s) were demonic and supernatural, and demonstrated maternity as disjointed from desire.  Even the pregnancy in the season 2 episode “Judgement,” these characteristics are present.

Now I’d like to take a minute to note that I am really moved/touched/amazed by the way we all connect so instantaneously through our shared fandom. It’s like we all have this history of a shared experience, even if we’ve never met. It’s like meeting someone through a mutual friend:  Oh, you know Spike? So do I! To an outsider, this may sound a bit nutty… but I see the Whedonists reading this nodding their heads in agreement.

“We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.”

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“If it’s not popular, it’s not culture”

Posted on by under PCA, Pop Culture

The last few days have been a wonderful academic pop culture extravaganza!!!!  I attended the PCA/ACA conference Wednesday evening to Saturday afternoon, and even managed to work in a bit of beautiful site seeing.  I don’t remember the last time I squeezed in so much into just a few days.
I took over twenty pages of hand written notes from all the panels I attended.  My idea was originally to make a blog post about each panel… we’ll see if time allows in the coming weeks.  I’m sitting at the airport right now. When I get back home, it will quickly be Easter, and after that I must turn back to my giant stack of papers that need grading, not to mention the giant stack of school books that need reading…. so, we’ll see how it goes.  But, I did want to do a quick post saying how wonderful the conference was!!
There were many panels on the work of Joss Whedon, which was of course the highlight for me. I also went to panels on Supernatural and LOST, as well as panels on integrating pop culture into the composition classroom.  I have so many wonderful ideas dancing around my mind right now!  I am so inspired by all my wonderful colleagues.  And, I’m inspired to go straight to my TV to rewatch all of LOST and Dollhouse!!  Oh, and most wonderfully, I’ve inspired a few folks in my life to want to watch Buffy!!  Success! ;)

April Bliss

Posted on by under Buffyverse, PCA

It’s been an exciting month! I’ve celebrated my three-year wedding anniversary with my husband and my 30th birthday. I’ve spent great time with family and friends, and had great stays in hotels, a beautiful return to school, and an extraordinary visit to an animal sanctuary! And, now, to top it all off, I’m getting ready for an early flight tomorrow – Pop Culture Conference, here I come!!!

Here’s a sneak peek for my paper presentation on death and sacrifice in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.