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As a fairly rabid devotee of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and as somebody who likes thinking about deeper issues on occasion, this book was irresistible: a collection of articles by philosophy professors and students discussing how various philosophical theories are exemplified by Buffy. It’s interesting how many different ways the same episodes can be viewed. We have feminist ethics, Kantian categorical imperatives, Platonic ideals, Freudian thinking, the Nietzschean will to power, and the most entertaining one, Buffy as a fascistic ideal, with the young brave Aryan girl leading her troops against the mixed-blood demon vampires in an unholy campaign of genocide. I enjoyed reading it - I’d read of many of the philosophical concepts before but it helped my understanding to see how they could be applied to a canon that I knew well. I’m not sure it would be as entertaining to somebody who didn’t know the series inside and out, though. As a note, it’s part of a book series called Popular Culture and Philosophy, including Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Simpsons and Philosophy, and The Matrix and Philosophy, in case any of those bits of popular culture fit your tastes better.
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[…] I think what I find interesting about it is that it provides insight into the reader, not the text. The text doesn’t change. And yet people derive all sorts of interpretations from it (witness Shakespeare or Buffy). It can be a particularly effective way of learning about other people, as they may reveal parts of their philosophy or history that they would never reveal openly. Plus, by making me think about alternative interpretations, it forces me to acknowledge the different ways in which people perceive the world. And that is a topic that continues to fascinate me. […]
[…] This is the third book analyzing Buffy that I’ve bought, after Reading the Vampire Slayer and a Buffy philosophy book. This one takes the angle of inviting other authors (the book is subtitled “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show”) to analyze the show. There wasn’t actually a lot of insight from most of these essays, unfortunately. I did really like the one by Sarah Zettel, which articulated one of the reasons I grew disenchanted with the show as it progressed; she noted that the protagonists, who started out as total outsiders living through high school hell, eventually became the ultimate insiders, protecting the world against the perils of the supernatural. Unfortunately, a lot of the fans like me were more sympathetic to the characters when they were outsiders, because we’re outsiders. Alas. There were a few interesting perspectives, and a lot of worshipful paeans to the show which, while dull, actually did remind me of why I liked the show so much. I may have to go watch some DVDs. Or possibly even my tapes of the later seasons. We’ll see… […]
[…] I’m a sucker for overly intellectual analysis of pop culture, especially TV shows I like, as evidenced by my collection of Buffy books, so I figured I should give the Serenity one a try. There were some interesting takes on the series, but nothing really stuck with me. Mild distraction, at best. […]