2004-06-10 - 11:10 a.m.

Slayage, part 3.

Ok, Dream and Prophecy session. There was a paper on how Buffy�s patterns of revelations � this convention borrowed from soap operas where how people react to information is as important, or more important, than when the audience learns the info. It was really interesting, she gave a list of revelations about Dawn�s identity (Joyce asking �Who are you?� before fainting, Buffy in her trance realizing something is odd about Dawn, the monk telling Buffy her sister is the Key, Buffy to Giles, Buffy to Joyce, Buffy to Scoobies, Dawn and Spike reading it, Dawn tells Ben, Ben tells Jinx the Key�s human, Jinx tells Glory this, Tara tells Glory it�s Dawn, those weird Knights find out�) and these are all big moments, even though we find out along with Buffy. This kind of revelation is associated more with women�s entertainment, men�s is more traditionally focused on what happens next. The reactions let us know our characters more & more deeply, each person�s reaction to each piece of news answers the question �What kind of person is this?,� instead of �What will come next?� Also some stuff about how �Once More, With Feeling� was all about revelations, and about the string of identity revelations, similar to Dawn, that happened with Jasmine.

Also a paper on madness in the Buffyverse, how similarly it plays out to madness in Greek tragedies. Discussion of Glory, Dru, Spike, Buffy in �Normal Again.� Anya in Willow�s classroom nightmare in �Restless� saying �It�s exactly like a Greek tragedy,� and Willow�s storyline very much follows suit over the next 2 years.

Next session, I passed up these among others:

The Candide of Sunnydale: Andrew as Satire of Pop Culture and Marketing Trends in BtVS

�In My Plan, We Are Beltless�: Andrew�s Fannish Practices in �Storyteller�

�That Boy Is Our Last Hope�: Andrew, Star Wars, and the Figure of the Jedi in BtVS

�What Else Are We Gonna Do?�: Finding �The Courage to Be� with Angel and Buffy

I went to Visual Meaning, Visible Signs.

There was a paper on goth in BtVS. Buffy both acknowledges its goth audience and distances itself from goth. The major vamps (Ang, Spike, Dru, etc.) have elements of goth or �timelessness� in their costuming, we can see this as a sign of survival ability. It�s the minor vamps quickly staked who have jokey 80s outfits. Vampirism is a performance including costume, as Dru wears 18th century clothes but is not of the 18th century � she is performing the kind of vamp she wants to be. The ep �Lie to Me,� the goths are dorks but also some of the few people in Sunnydale who actually know vamps are real. At the same time, those major vamps are all looking pretty hot & goth in the ep, giving it a double discourse. End of Season 6, Dark Willow � she�s had such issues with identity, often manifested in clothing anxiety � her look here is clearly authentic & stemming from what she�s feeling inside. Also mention of how �Fool for Love,� how Nikki�s coat changes from her body to Spike�s � �gothified.� She didn�t go into the fascist subtext of that, which I would�ve loved to have discussed.

A paper on poetic space. I don�t know. Some nice stuff about Buffy in the desert in Restless, & how that golden desert light reappears sometimes (in �The Body� for inst). Also the Summers house as metaphor for the universe. Tish pointed out what that says about Xander � he is constantly repairing & making safe again for everyone.

A paper on the amazingness of �The Body.�

There was just one final session that I�ll finish up soon.

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