Vampires, Slayers and Conservatives, oh my!
I get the daily mailing from the website townhall.com. Townhall is a clearinghouse for politically conservative writers, some of whom I agree with, some of whom I don't. On the political scale, I know I tend to fall to the right on many issues, but I prefer still to think of myself as more of a moderate with very conservative tendencies.
Anyway, on today's posting from townhall, there was this. Now, almost all the articles on townhall.com are of a heavily political nature, with a smattering of articles about morality, education, and society. Almost every article I've ever read about television was about the (correctly identified) downward slide of what is called "entertainment."
As I've posted before, Katrina and I are big fans of the television shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". Not since "Star Trek" have I found a show (in this case, two shows) that so accurately and entertainingly present the human condition, and, as the article from townhall states, clearly delineates the fact that there is indeed both good and evil in the world, and that the struggle against evil is an ongoing affair that cannot be let up.
"Buffy" and "Angel" have been, for us, kind of like a grown-up version of "Harry Potter," or an alternate take on "The Lord of the Rings." What I mean is, in all of these fantasy tales (and one could include C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles, as well), there are certain distinct rules to the Universes that the individual authors have created. These are not morally relative places; rather, they are places with very distinct and clear understandings of good and evil, and along with them the ancillary concepts of sacrifice, redemption, friendship, and the all-conquering quality that is love. This is in contrast to the view of the world that permeates popular culture, that would often have us believe that there is no good nor evil, only differences in perception. (This line of thought comes from a seed planted by Troy many years ago, as we were playing MERP (Middle Earth Role Play) in his old apartment. "There are rules in Tolkien's Universe," he warned us. "Unlike Dungeons and Dragons, you cannot go off slashing and killing everything, because there are consequences in the Middle Earth Universe for evil behavior").
Read the article on townhall, and let me know what you think.
posted by scooter @ 10:21 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Scooter,
well, I admit I didn't see any Buffy's, or maybe a couple. But something you said in your post sticks out (and thanks for the old MERP quote; man, those were the days when we could hang f2f). There really is allure in any universe in which evil is clearly evil and good is only good. In the human universe, no such place exists. All people (at least living people, which are the only ones I know) have both sides to them: even the most vicious are capable of moments of tenderness. And sometimes we do evil things which we would never have done had they not been done to us.
But that's part of the great draw of Lewis and Tolkien and countless others. Sure I feel angry today! Okay, go butcher an orc. They really are all bad. In the actual world, good men die on both sides of all battles. This shows up too in a quasi-deification of the feminine, as in Tolkien's Luthien or Arwen or Galadriel. They are women who are so good...if we could just be with them...
Of course now I sound like a psychoanalytic critic. But hey, there aren't any perfect women or men out there!
I admit part of why I remain a Trek fan (of all incarnations save Enterprise, so far at least, no offense to any intended) is the neatness of its world. We have little soap operas and big problems and they all get resolved; technology is always at hand to entertain and rescue and astound. Picard really is a fairly virtuous man, and oh can he lead. I'd vote for him. A little wierder, the races have traits, Klingons are usually bad, same with Cardasians (sp?) and Romulans. Sure we meet some good ones, but over all ST gives us racial groups, like Ferengi, who have general negative traits we can laugh at.
But that is just a tv show! The real world is infinitely more complex, at least the human world. Any racial weaknesses are shared by the entire human race. To borrow, of all people, Richard Clarke, it's more like a rubick's cube than a bumper sticker.
So to enter those other black and white moral places is very calming, like walking in Eden. Hope to actually get someplace like that someday, but it isn't this place.
t
Scott,
I get it. I might even agree that there is a higher meaning to all things Buffy. But dude, the kids aren't getting it. My students aren't anyway. They are not discoursing in the quad about the metaphor and symbolism of vampirism and the battle of good versus evil. Hell, they're tuning in for the lesbian witch who gets to kill hot looking, full breasted vampires who strip to work their way through college while waiting to devour the world. Look, if Star Wars can have higher meaning, and we all know it does, so can this. I'm concerned that the target audience, young people, are getting much different things from it, and if so, what is the net gain beyond entertainment.
I'm a big fan of the good versus evil thing, I really miss the Cold War for it's convoluted clarity on this issue. I just wonder, who is engaging young people if their parents aren't on this? Who is helping them see beyond the coolness of our media driven society to see the reality of the eternal that is right in front of them?
But alas, I ramble. I agree with Troy, it is calming to visit that universe that we will never experience here on this rock. Jesus Come!
Scott, it's Murphy...
You know how much I loved "B:TVS" from day one (much in the same nerdo-neurotic way I loved X-Files and ST:TNG and, okay, the Young Ones before that). So thank you for posting the article and your thoughts and thanks to Troy and Michael for their equally insightful responses and perspectives (P.S. Hi to both of you!)...
I originally just wanted to say, "Hey friend, long time no talk" & "Yee-ha!!! Buffy DOES rule (except for the last two seasons which brought a whole new meaning to 'sucks')." I have no deep insights on Buffy's lasting legacy to our generation or the next, but by jinky I always loved watching it... When it came down to it, Buffy was loaded with witty dialogue, pop culture references and frequent, unexpected executions of key characters that led me to think about than just belly button lint through the next series of dull adverts for 'Sunny D' or 'Midol' or 'Check-n2-Cash'.
I am an escapist and I admit it. And Buffy was a great way to escape. It will be hard to replace it (especially since the lousy network put the kibosh on the equally entertaining and excellently cast and written Firefly...not that I am bitter or anything). Well, gotta go... We're off to go see Harry Potter and the POA again to see if I am as disappointed as I was when I saw it opening night. So, adios! :) Karen Murphy Johnson
I have fallen in and out then in again and now out of love/like with BTVS. I will say that they came up with some pretty darn cool demons and such. I mean that episode with "The Gentlemen" was freaky, man! Anywho, the whole Willow loves Tara phase sucked hard and I thought Riley was a weak replacement for Angel. And Spike goes good? I guess I liked it better early on and then later they just kept trying to jump the demonic shark with all the "crazy plot twists" and stuff.
Yo, it's 4:30 PM and it be time to hit the road home! Late, Scooter!
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