Tag Archives: Supernatural

Supernatural meets Buffy

Posted on by under Buffyverse, Pop Culture

Spoiler Alert for Buffy and Supernatural.

Not only was the latest season 7 episode of Supernatural worth sitting on the edge of your seat, but it also had some great throw backs to Buffy! This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it’s no surprise since it’s no secret the series creator and writers are big Buffy fans. However, Whedon’s inspirational touch seemed especially prevalent in “Hello, Cruel World.”

To begin with, there was a small nod when Dean used the phrase “big bad.” Am I wrong here, geeks, or did this really pick up its steam with Buffy? First the fans used it, and then the word even worked its way into the series.

Then the entire premise of Sam questioning his reality echoed Buffy‘s season six “Normal Again.” And just as with that episode, when Sam begins to question his reality, even though you know what’s true as the viewer, you can’t help but get a little swept up in it. I still get chills thinking about Buffy sitting in the corner of the room in the psych ward, contemplating whether Sunnydale and all its inhabitants are the real world or the created world. What a way to mess with the psyche!

Finally, “Hello, Cruel World” had some nods to Buffy‘s First Evil. Remember when The First Evil showed its big mouth to Buffy in season three’s “Amends”? And again even more frighteningly through seven season? Did you feel the same imagery when Supernatural‘s Leviathans showed us their teeth?
Furthermore, The First also would trick individuals by appearing as someone else. We could get picky and say The First only took on the image of dead people, but the effect was the same here when Sam’s imagined Lucifer posed as Dean. (Although, Dean has died, so I imagine that The First actually could pose as him were world’s to collide ;) ).
And the final nod came when Lucifer tried to convince Sam to kill himself, just like The First Evil tried to convince Willow to kill herself in season seven’s “Conversations with Dead People.”

There you have it people. All good things come from Buffy.  ;)

I have been so impressed with everything Supernatural has developed after the originally planned five seasons. Can’t wait to see more!

And, on a final note, is Castiel really, really gone this time? I’m fighting back the tears until I get solid proof.

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 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!

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