Sign the Guestbook?
Bookmark Buffy Stuff
Layout © mistymidnig
ht
[with Namo Web Editor Six]
Header image © mistymidnig ht
Images courtesy of the
Freeze Frame Network
[with Namo Web Editor Six]
Header image © mistymidnig ht
Images courtesy of the
Freeze Frame Network
I myself have many reflections and ramblings, but I'm not quite sure anyone cares. If you have a reflection or a rambling, no matter how pointless (or deep, as the case may be), send it in. I'll accept any and all. (But they MUST be appropriate. Nothing icky, nothing riddled with profanity, nothing R or NC-17, but I think you all knew that.)
Mostly, the reason I created this page was to have a reason to show off te JavaScript Image Reflection effect above. I love how it looks!
Some Articles To Start You Off?
Don't Let Your Kids Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer...But You Can Tape It and Watch It After They Go To Bed.
By Todd Hertz, assistant online editor for Christianity Today.
**I have a deep belief in Jesus Christ. Just thought I'd get that out there.
Which is why I love this article from Christianity Today. Don't worry, I'm not trying to convert you. It pertains to Buffy.**
Don't Let Your Kids Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer...But You Can Tape It and Watch It After They Go To Bed.
**The reason I love this article? It explains everything about Buffy very simply: It's not a show for kids. It's not just a show for guys looking to watch a "hot chick" for an hour every week. It's not just a show for those folks who are addicted to violence.
It's a show with morals. And messages. And, yes, adult situations. But I don't see any Christians picketing PG-13 movies, do you?**
The Ramblings Of A Reformed Buffy Hater
I sent this to chosentwo.com's Much Ado About Buffy the Vampire Slayer site, but have yet to see it posted there. So I guess I'll post it here.
Ramblings of a Reformed Buffy Hater
By mistymidnight
If you hate Buffy and somehow managed to stumble across this site anyway, this is the article for you. If you absolutely love Buffy, you’ll still appreciate it.
You see, time was when I couldn’t stand Buffy. Why, exactly? Not sure. Maybe it had something to do with the concept: a teenage girl killing some imaginary monster every week. Woop-de-doo. Or maybe it was the name: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What kind of name was Buffy, anyway? Sounded like some blonde girl without a clue. I couldn’t help but wonder: How did this show get such good ratings?
No matter how much the two of my friends that actually watched it insisted, I could not be budged. I had better things to do than watch some girl beat up a vampire for an hour every week.
I still maintained this line of thinking until I went to visit my cousins for a few days in summer. As we cooked dinner one night, my cousin Bobbi asked me if I’d ever watched Buffy.
“No,” I replied, wondering where this was going.
“Well we have the first season on DVD. You should watch it. It’s really good.”
Despite the fact that this was not a very tempting offer, I accepted anyway and we settled down to watch. The first five minutes got me very well freaked out. In the first ten minutes, I was fascinated. By the time “Welcome to the Hellmouth” had ended in that lovely cliffhanger of “To Be Continued…” there was no denying it. I was hooked.
I have become, since that day, an insanely devoted Buffy addict, one that is incessantly trying to convince everyone that Buffy is way more than just a TV show about a vampire-slaying ditz. There’s a certain amount of psychology to this show. For example, the episode “The Witch” uses a clever metaphor for parents who try to relive their lives through their kids. How many kids have ever heard and dreaded the “When I was your age, I used to…” speech? Since many kids try to make their parents proud, they may feel like they have to give in to every suggestion their parents make in order to please them. Likewise, parents remember the good times they had doing activities when they were younger, and they want their kids to be happy; therefore their line of thinking may tend to revolve around thoughts of, “It made me happy, so it’ll make them happy, too.” Put these two factors together and Houston, we have a problem.
Overall, on Buffy, there are subtle and not-so-subtle tidbits of advice. Take alcohol, for example. No “good” character has ever gotten drunk without consequences. When Buffy and Cordelia went to the frat party in Season Two (“Reptile Boy”), both had alcohol and both ended up nearly getting killed. In Season Four’s “Beer Bad”, Buffy drinks and gets turned into Cave-Buffy. And who can forget “A New Man”, when Giles gets turned into a demon after drinking too much? And those are the subtle references. In Season Five’s “Family” a teasing comment is made to Dawn about how she has to drink soft drinks at Tara’s birthday, since she’s underage. Her response is, “That’s okay, alcohol is for losers”…prompting the rest of the gang to glance guiltily at their drinks and put them down on the table.
Addiction is definitely brought up all through Season Six, while Willow battles her addiction to magic and Buffy battles her addiction to, well…Spike. (Ick.) Also, Dawn’s shoplifting is spotlighted, showing that, no matter how much she tries to deny it, she still needs support and attention from her older sister. Willow’s “Will-Be-Done” spell in Season Four’s “Something Blue” also hints at the power of suggestion. Whatever Willow suggested became real, causing viewers to think: How much power do those we hold close have over us? Had Buffy stopped to think about the fact the she and Spike, worst enemies, were suddenly getting married, of all things, she may have realized how ridiculous it all was. Then again, she was under a spell, so maybe I’m reading something into this that isn’t really there.
Now here’s an interesting one: “Tabula Rasa” (Season Six). Willow betrays not only all her friends, but her lover. The episode touches on this betrayal, as well as the fact that ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power. Buffy is happy, not remembering her time in Heaven, thus the bliss, but when it comes time for her to defend herself and her friends, she doesn’t know what to do.
And a clever thing from Angel…
Yeah, I watch this, too, though not as much as Buffy…
The arrival of Illyria in this season is a sort-of metaphor for someone you thought you knew, but didn’t. Where Fred was caring, sweet, kind, and smart, Illyria is tactless, mean, rude, and devious. She still looks like Fred, and from time to time she can still act like Fred, but she just isn’t Fred, which is what many people feel like when a friend they’ve known for a long time suddenly changes for the worse. And as much as the Angel gang wants Fred back, there’s nothing they can do, which parallels the helplessness people feel when they can’t “bring the old friend back”, so to speak.
Now that you’ve listened to my ramblings (and that’s what they are, ramblings) you could send me some feedback: misty2080@hotmail.com. If you’re writing to tell me how stupid I am, or anything like that, save it. I welcome constructive criticism, though. Thanks for reading!
A Short View on Willow, Tara, and Buffy Season Four
by mistymidnight
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, there is a website...jumptheshark.com. It has nothing to do with catching a shark by surprise and beating it up. It asks you, "When did such-and-such a show reach its peak?" You can also leave your comments behind, and I, never being one to resist a good soapbox preaching oppurtunity, just had to leave one myself.
Just some things to know before you read:
-Many people said that Buffy peaked when Oz left and Tara came in. I never knew how many people hate Tara! It's all "Tara should go away and not say goodbye" this and "I hope Tara dies" that! Someone even said that they don't mind Willow being a lesbian/bisexual, they just think she should get a "hotter" girlfriend. Well, I of course had something to say about that. Read on...
In my opinion, Buffy never jumped. Yes, season four was disappointing, but it had its high points as well. (Hush, for example...and Restless.) It also established new territory. As much as I loved Willow and Oz (I cried when they broke up in S3 and S4), I love Willow and Tara even better. (Here comes the soapbox speech...) The best thing about W/T is the fact that they don't go around saying, "Look at us, we're cool, we represent a minority group. Girl power!" Nor do they try to hide it it. Their relationship simply *is*.
I was watching "Intervention" (S5) today, and there was a mini-scene with Willow and Tara watching a special about the Salem Witch Trials on the History channel. Willow says, "Darn those Salem judges with their less-satanic-than-thou attitudes," and Tara says, "Oh, honey, let's just change it. The discovery channel has koalas." It was all just so cozy and comfy and...right. Goes to show that gays and lesbians are not to be labeled weirdos or freaks.
Lastly--to all those who said Willow needs to get a girlfriend hotter than Tara...their relationship is not about looks or "hotness". It's about love and respect and all those Hallmark card-y things. Seriously, anyone who judges the show's relationships on looks needs to go watch Covergirl commercials instead of Buffy.
~mistymidnight