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"Buffy" by S. Craigo-Snell, p. 2
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The first reason watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer can serve as feminist catharsis is that, through its fairly thin veil of metaphor, the series gives a presentation of the violence of the world that rings true.
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For the other women on the show, it is not that their strength or stature is changed to equalize access to physical violence, but that, within the world of the show, the socialization around acceptable female behavior is changed. When we watch, some of that re-socialization transmits right through the television. Being nice doesn’t seem nearly as important, being strong seems downright sexy, and being aggressive is the way to survive in a violent world. Buffy and Co. encounter abundant mortal peril, which can (and does) cause profound and deadly harm. But in the Buffyverse, the dangers they encounter do not disempower them. Instead, they fight back every time.
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Joss Whedon’s past and the future of “Dollhouse”: Conclusion « Not a Planet Anymore
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I’m of the opinion that these shows have thrived by borrowing plot elements from Whedon, but have avoided borrowing character elements from Whedon. Doctor Who excepted for its unique history - anyone who takes on the Doctor has both the benefit and the curse of nearly 50 years of character backstory - the characters of these other shows are relatively shallow. Though sometimes rich in backstory and plot detail, such as on Lost, Sawyer’s jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold or Jack’s trying-to-save-the-world doctor are pretty routine. As good as Edward James Olmos was as Adama on BSG, there was a strong element of the stock character in him, and many other noble ship’s captains were cut from similar cloth. The characters of Heroes wear their stock character names on their sleeves practically: the cheerleader, the politician, the cop, the killer, the Japanese geek.
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To contrast, consider Firefly’s cast; when’s the last time you saw a space concubine with almost limitless social power as a character? How about Mal’s version of a captain; an uncomprimising, Christian, libertarian freedom fighter turned amoral, atheistic, murdering, yet likable criminal? And to a fan, do I need to say more about River, other than her name, to conjure up one of the most uniquely drawn characters on film?
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Joss Whedon’s past and the future of “Dollhouse”: Part 2 « Not a Planet Anymore
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The second season is generally viewed more favourably, in no small part because of David Boreanaz’s wickedly effective Angelus, James Marsters’s fan-favourite turn as Spike, and an incredibly exciting and emotional season finale. But it also still clearly had the flavour of a show whose conventions were imposed upon it by the network, rather than the show that would later use those conventions in an intentional manner.
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eason 3 would change everything.
To begin with, as a fan I felt the cast was at its absolute peak;
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Joss Whedon’s past and the future of “Dollhouse”: Part 1 « Not a Planet Anymore
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Most conventional dramas on the air - shows like the three CSI series - use this formula, which is entirely engineered on one principle; to make it easy for new viewers to start watching or old viewers to miss an episode without losing interest in the show. There’s always some playing with the formula - for instance, a recurring killer on a show like CSI who makes 3 or 4 appearances spaced throughout a season, usually during sweeps
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While Buffy took some time to build into it, Whedon decided to pretty much toss this out the window, and in so doing, set the stage for many of the major successes of this millennium. Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, 24, Veronica Mars and Doctor Who all have major debts to Whedon for trying to break out of this conventional television structure.
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