Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon Essay

Submitted By Austin-Runkle
Words: 802
Pages: 4
Open Document
Austin Runkle
Sechler
AP Literature, Period Six
November 26, 2013

In the television series,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, each

individual episode includes one or more themes. In the episode, “Hush,” a paranormal group of creatures, called the Gentlemen, target Sunnydale for their mischievous deeds. The gentlemen steal the voices of everyone in the town and put them in a box. With no one to scream or to alert others, the Gentlemen steal the hearts of their victims until each Gentleman has seven victim’s hearts. However, this is not the only problem that the main characters face in the episode.
“Hush” illustrates how much communication is needed for a healthy relationship.

In the episode, the main characters, Buffy and Riley, are not able to find the right words

to further their relationship. A major setback in their relationship is that they are hiding the same big secret from each other: they both fight supernatural beings. When the topic of what they will be doing later that night arises, both Riley and Buffy have trouble coming up with lies to cover for their double lives. The two do not know an appropriate way to tell the other that they fight creatures that aren’t supposed to exist. Buffy and Riley feel uncomfortable trying to get farther in their relationship. When they come close and are about to kiss, one of them gets nervous and prevents the kiss from happening. An awkward conversation then leads to Buffy and Riley leaving in different directions. The first time after their voices are pulled from their bodies, Buffy and Riley have their first kiss, because there could be no awkward conversation to stop them this time. Towards the end of the episode, both Riley and Buffy are attracted to the bell tower where the Gentlemen are based. This leads to the discovery of each other’s important role in ghoul

fighting. After they defeat the Gentlemen and regain their voices, Riley is shown coming into
Buffy’s room in the last scene saying, “I guess we need to talk,” to which Buffy replies, “I guess we do.” Obviously the two will share how they came to lead their secret double lives, but then the viewer is made to think one of two things: they will either break off what they have together so as to not worry about each other getting hurt in their work, or they will stay together to become a supernatural creature butt­kicking couple.

The relationship of another couple is strengthened through the voice­muting of

Sunnydale. Willow, Buffy’s roommate and fellow slayer, meets Tara in a Wiccan group. Willow had joined the group because she wanted to increase her powers and work on spells instead of just being able to float a pencil. To her dismay, what she really joined was a gossip group that partakes in bake sales. Lucky for her, Tara was in the group for the same reason as her. Later in the episode, Tara and Willow are being chased by the Gentlemen and are forced into a lounge­type room. Willow tries to move a vending machine with her powers to barricade
Show More

Related Documents: Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon Essay

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Analysis

opinion. The author agrees with Baugh’s idea, that popular culture can be capable of creating the dissonance, that mental uneasiness that causes one to somewhat disengage with the piece and contemplate the bigger world. One example is The Body (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 Episode 16). Another example is Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel Battle Royale. Takami’s Battle Royale is everything that a conventional novel is not. There is no defined structure, no clever wordplay and no solid resolution to the plot…

Words 1150 - Pages 5

The Contemptible Interpretation of the Essay

depiction of women as immaculate creatures, without effeminising them. But, it is this concept of defeminisation which I find riddles the plot of this, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ television show. Wielding a combination of phallic weapons and feminine devices to attack literal and metaphoric demons, Buffy becomes a foolish interpretation of Joss Whedon’s ‘ultra-feminist’ ideals. Now, its fine to challenge conventions, after all isn’t that what the gothic has always sought to do? But Whedon’s juxtaposition…

Words 732 - Pages 3