Weeks 10 and 11 – Buffy.
1) Q. Wilcox and Lavery
(2002) identify 9 defining characteristics of 'quality TV' - can you apply any
of these to other television series that you have viewed recently? Are there
any other characteristics that you could add to their list?
2) What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans
play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?
3) Hills (2004)
lists a number of defining characteristics of cult TV that contain similarities
to the defining characteristics of pop genres (e.g. fantasy, science fiction)
discussed earlier in the Pop Genres paper. Can you identify these and discuss
why you think that these characteristics are repeatedly viewed as underpinning
popular genres?
What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?
ReplyDeleteHills, (2004) suggests that the fans play an important role in contributing towards how cult TV is constructed. The role of the fans circulates around what they want to see on TV. Rather than seeing something original and different, a vast amount of people want to see something they can relate too. Something that can make them feel and emit emotions within themselves. Within a strong cult TV series, comes a strong comforting presence. Looking forward to a particular show every week or fort night is an important part of ones schedule for some. Thus Hills, (2004) suggests that a cult TV series acts much like a mirror for many people living there everyday lives. People want to see things they believe they portray in themselves on the screen. Relating this to Bufy the vampire slayer, many teenage girls would have felt an empowering feeling from this show. Many young ladies would want to see a dominant female figures killing vampires, thus they saw it? Or was it really an original idea? Who knows. But you cant argue that cult TV has to resemble some strong main features for people to enjoy it. If peoples views or opinions change, so will cult TV, Hills, (2004) explains.
New media is central to this, due to the accessibility of the internet. People get to voice there opinion far more easily than many years ago, and thus the directors and managers in charge of a cult TV series can alter there story line to sneakily satisfy what the people want. Creative fan cultures have a different influence on cult TV as they seem to have more of a fantasy based taste. Which does result in more fantasy based themes, like Buffy. Whilst this satisfies that creative group of fans, it also stems out and satisfies the female audience, as there main character is a dominant woman figure. So the producers goals are to not to satisfy one group of people, but branch out to relate to different kinds of people. Thus boosting its ratings and creating a strong audience, which recurs a cult like following. Hills, (2004) says the cult TV series also includes a form of history within the primary text, to create something to base its trickling effect on. The trickling effect being what media influences and what actor influences are used to attract people.
This being said, New media has a wide different range of how people can communicate there opinions and satisfaction levels on shows, and characters, which have a strong influence on the content used in the series. Leading us back towards the point that people create the show and the producers and directors are the feeders of the food. We pick what food we feel like, and they mix it up and dish it on a plate in a different style to try and please a large particular group of people. Which is not exactly a bad thing, or a good thing. If your worried about being original and creative.
4) Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Cult TV Show) - How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?
ReplyDeleteThe show focuses on Buffy Summer, the main character and female protagonist who was chosen by destiny to defeat and battle against vampires, demons and any evil forces lurking in the darkness. The show provides entertainment with narratives that usually have an underlying lesson, despite Buffy's destiny to save the world, her journey in Buffy the Vampire Slayer also explores themes and issues that are currently in the social world; one of them being identical. Buffy is already perceived as an outsider because she has these supernatural powers to defeat demonic creatures, so imagine trying to fit in with everyone else whilst trying to maintain a route that you have been destined to. However, Dracula's appearance on this show has raised numerous exchanges on whether his character would be appropriate for this television, it has been an eye-opener for Buffy, looking back he helps her in winding up more mindful of the power she possesses (Wikipedia).
Buffy the Vampire Slayer centralizes around a bunch of high school kids who fight supernatural evils that often map metaphorically over teenage preoccupations. The show constantly adjusted with its own premises of important characters mature, died or became evil: our sense of how the supernatural order works are endlessly complicated (Kavaney, 2004). According to Kavaney (2004), Buffy herself is ultimately the central figure of responsibility in the fight for the world. Although recently this assumption has been strongly challenged by the series finale (Chosen, 7.22). This part had Buffy chose to share her powers as a slayer with every girl in the world who had that potential (Kavaney, 2004).
According to Crawford (2014), Buffy in both the metaphorical structure and the metaphysically enforce good vampire/bad vampire binary hold firm, but the show progresses further, both start to gray around the edges. Buffy’s universe becomes a challenge for the real world and more rather an odd, extremely violent urban fantasy world in its own right, its moral binaries increasingly break down. The introduction to good or harmless, demons such as whistler and Clem places doubt on Buffy’s moral code of killing non-humans on sight. The recurring vampire antagonist makes the assertion that vampires are only capable of nothing but evil (Crawford, 2014). It's always that choice or morally good and bad that places protagonist in perplexity.
5) In what way is Buffy influenced by the romantic gothic tradition? Yet how does Buffy also provide a contemporary critique of this tradition?
DeleteBuffy adopts and adapts many Romantic Gothic rules. Buffy employs Romantic ideology in contemporary contexts and terms and suggests alternatives within that framework. “Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mary Shelley’s 19th-century gothic novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, the two would appear to share an affection for the macabre and unexplainable.” Frankenstein anticipated modern anxieties and fears about industrialization and science and their effects on morality and humanity in Buffy those effects have in sense similarity. (Rose, 2002)
Moreover, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a TV show of seven seasons that aired from 1997 – 2003 also contains vampire and gothic like acts. The show appropriates to the gothic genre through interesting settings, mystery entries and transgressive sexuality which are large components that have a place with the genre (Crawford, 2014).
The 70’s Gothic fiction had been increasingly sympathetic in its depiction of those who were so intolerant as to hunt them just for being what they were. Not saying a vampire isn't evil but most are (Crawford, 2014).
Reference:
Crawford, J. (2014). The twilight of the gothic?: Vampire fiction and the rise of the paranormal romance. UK: University of Wales Press.
Kaveney, R. (2004). Reading the vampire slayer: The new, updated, unofficial guide to Buffy and Angel. USA: Tauris Parke Paperbacks.
Rose, A. (2002). Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R. Wilcox & D.Lavery (eds) Fighting the Forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Wikipedia: Buffy the vampire slayer. Retrieved 18 October 2017, from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Hills (2004), fans play a huge role in the constructional of a television cult. Fans create fandoms that increase the popularity of the show. It is often known as the "grassroots" phenomenon which is created by fans themselves rather than the media promotors (Hills, 2004). It is also said that cult tv such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer succeed more from their fan base as these shows hinges on their audiences devotion.
New media has also been a huge part in for fans and the shows as this allows fans and audiences to voice how they feel about the show and suggest what they want to see. Fan groups are created on the internet which allows the viewers from all around the world to communicate and share their emotions about a show. Also, through this show creators can be made aware of what the fans want and alter storylines accordingly to keep and increase their fan base.
References:
DeleteHills, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.
Q1
ReplyDeleteA television series that I recently viewed is called “Screamed.” This is an American anthology slasher, which was developed by Jill Blotevogel, Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie and is based on the slasher film series created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven.
There are definitely some characteristics of quality television that I noticed within the series. The first one was the large ensemble cast of the series. There is the main character “Emma Duval” who is played by Willa Fitzgerald as a popular high school student and a daughter of a forensic autopsy technician. There is Bex Taylor-Klaus who plays Audrey Jenson – Emma’s bisexual best friend. There is John Karna who plays Noah Foster – a geek who is extremely knowledgeable about horrors. There is Amadeus Serafini who plays Kieran Wilcox – Emma’s boyfriend who ends up being the killer. There’s Connor Weil as Will Belmont – Emma’s ex boyfriend who got murdered. There’s Carlson Young as Brooke Maddox – the pretty rich white girl who is also Emma’s best friend and lastly there is Jason Wiles as Clark Hudson “The Sheriff.”
Another characteristic I noticed within the series was that it had a memory. One of the memories I remembered was of Emma’s mother at Emma’s age during a relationship she had with a deformed looking boy that was constantly bullied and accused of multiple murders. The memory shows her remembering him as a nice guy that could never hurt anyone.
Another characteristic I noticed was the element of self-consciousness. There was a scene where Noah was about to have sex with his girlfriend and he admitted that he was a virgin. There was also another episode where Audrey admitted to Emma that she knew Piper (killer of season 2) and that they were friends and that she is the one that brought Piper to Lakewood.
The last characteristic that I noticed was realism. Throughout the series they deal with emotional realism such as grief and relationship problems (romantic and platonic). This can be seen when Audrey and Emma have a falling out or when Emma finds out her boyfriend is the killer.
A characteristic I think should be added to the list of quality television is romanticism.
References
DeleteWilcox, R. & Lavery, D. (2002). Introduction, in R. Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: whats at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield.