I totally got a chapter published in this book. Check it out:
Go to Buffy Goes Dark.
If you want to know what else is in it, I've got my copy and I can give you an idea. (I've not read all of the other chapters yet.
Awesome on getting published!
I totally got a chapter published in this book. Check it out:
Go to Buffy Goes Dark.If you want to know what else is in it, I've got my copy and I can give you an idea. (I've not read all of the other chapters yet.
We want to know; give us an idea. And congratulations!
Congrats! McFarland is one of my favorite publishers.
Personally, with the exception of "The Body" and the musical episode, I thought the last two seasons of Buffy were really, really bad.
Thanks!
Actually, it took teaching a course on Buffy to realize how well season six holds up as art, rather than as entertainment. In broadcast, the sixth season was like going in for your weekly downer. On DVD, it actually plays rather well. The sixth season is an interesting meditation on the authors' fears of the story going on too long (the text as vampire) and a rather direct dialogue with their fans on what they're getting out of this experience. It's one of those seasons that does better on re-reading than on initial read.
As for season seven... well, Buffy as GW Bush wasn't my favorite, but I was SHOCKED that this semester two students found it to be their second favorite, after season three. You could have knocked me over with a feather. For me, I was simply hoping that they'd come up with an acceptable ending, which, clearly, they did.
We want to know; give us an idea. And congratulations!
Well, it's a collection of serious but readable essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the UPN years (seasons six and seven).
My chapter was about Jane Espenson approach as a writer. It looked at continuities in her writing for Whedon and for other shows (Gilmore Girls, BSG, Tru Calling, and others). In short, it tries to define what an "Espensode" is based on a close reading of her scripts in various shows.
More broadly, the implication was that if we can think of a staff writer (who doesn't direct) as an auteur, then we need to rethink the primacy of the "Created By" credit in assigning authorship to a TV series and start to think of what it means to the medium's art history if television is truly communally authored.
Rhonda Wilcox, who wrote the rather lyrical Why Buffy Matters (a book that's a favorite of my students), discusses the role of embodiment in the latter two seasons.
James B South, who edited the Buffy and Philosophy book, investigates the philosophies manifesting in the latter two seasons.
Michael Adams, author of the lexicon of lingo known as Slayer Slang, contributes an article on how style itself becomes a subject in the latter two seasons. (I'm particularly eager to read that one, as I've recently begun teaching the musical as being about the creators fears of going on too long while simultaneously fearing the success of causing people to like their show too much.)
I've used Brandy Ryan's conference paper on the Tara-Willow controversy before, so I'm curious to see what she's done with it in the years since. And I've absolutely loved Elizabeth Rambo, Gregory Erickson and Lynette Edwards' writing in the past, and they've each contributed a chapter as well.
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Personally, with the exception of "The Body" and the musical episode, I thought the last two seasons of Buffy were really, really bad.
Both Sarah Michelle Gellar and James Marsters were pretty uncomfortable with the way their characters' relationship developed over season six.
Season Seven's planning was completely screwed because SMG was wimbling for most of the year over whether she was going to do S8 or not. Once she decided that S7 was going to be the last, Joss Whedon was able to drive the storyline towards the series finale.
It's not my fault. I'm married to one of the biggest BtVS/Angel fans in the 'verse, and I have to listen to her dissertations...
It's not my fault. I'm married to one of the biggest BtVS/Angel fans in the 'verse, and I have to listen to her dissertations...
Have her take a look at these articles of mine... let me know what she thinks:
http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage22/Kociemba.htm
http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage23/Kociemba.htm