Stake fodder
What about my me?
"Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts" by Evan Ross Katz is a book about the making of BtVS and its legacy and fandom. I really enjoyed it, found it a quick and easy read, and learned a lot of new info and insights about the show. However, I am a relatively new fan, and I suspect a lot of it might be old news to longtime members. Still, I've seen a couple comments on the board related to it, about SMG's interview and NB's comments about DB, so I thought it might be a good idea to collect those in one thread.
The author conducted (distanced) interviews with several of the cast and crew in 2020 and 2021, though there are some major people missing (Alyson Hannigan, for instance), which leads somewhat to an over-reliance on supporting actors, such as Clare Kramer, and fans like Stacey Abrams. My one criticism is that he tends to quote fan-experts subsequent times, without reminding the reader who they are.
About half the book is taken up by chapters for each of the seasons. There wasn't much new there, but was still fun. The author claimed to hate season Six, and yet I noticed he allotted almost twice as much discussion to it as to his favorite season, Five. I guess maybe that's the point, that love it or hate it, there's a lot to talk about for season 6!
Much of the rest of the book is devoted to discussions of how it holds up as far as representing different demographics. I was a little surprised that most of the discussion of lack of racial diversity was devoted to the dearth of Black characters. The main thing I noticed watching the show was the almost-total absence of Latinos, particularly odd for a show set in southern California.
While there is a lot of discussion regarding recent revelations of Joss Whedon's behavior, I wouldn't say there is much in the way of specifics. Not that anyone owes us fans anything, but it does seem hard for me as a fan to know what to think when most comments amount to a general "yeah, some bad stuff happened." I assume, though, that those connected with making the show do not want fans to stop watching, so it's okay that I will continue to!
One comment that I found really interesting was that Whedon wanted to bring Tara back to the show permanently, not just as a guest star in CWDP. He planned to create a plot wherein Buffy receives a wish, and she chooses to bring Tara back to life. Again, this may be moldy-oldy news to long-time fans, but it was the first I've heard of it! However, Amber Benson, as people know, chose not to return to the show.
I'd be interested to hear other's opinions of the revelations of the book, or just about the book itself!
The author conducted (distanced) interviews with several of the cast and crew in 2020 and 2021, though there are some major people missing (Alyson Hannigan, for instance), which leads somewhat to an over-reliance on supporting actors, such as Clare Kramer, and fans like Stacey Abrams. My one criticism is that he tends to quote fan-experts subsequent times, without reminding the reader who they are.
About half the book is taken up by chapters for each of the seasons. There wasn't much new there, but was still fun. The author claimed to hate season Six, and yet I noticed he allotted almost twice as much discussion to it as to his favorite season, Five. I guess maybe that's the point, that love it or hate it, there's a lot to talk about for season 6!
Much of the rest of the book is devoted to discussions of how it holds up as far as representing different demographics. I was a little surprised that most of the discussion of lack of racial diversity was devoted to the dearth of Black characters. The main thing I noticed watching the show was the almost-total absence of Latinos, particularly odd for a show set in southern California.
While there is a lot of discussion regarding recent revelations of Joss Whedon's behavior, I wouldn't say there is much in the way of specifics. Not that anyone owes us fans anything, but it does seem hard for me as a fan to know what to think when most comments amount to a general "yeah, some bad stuff happened." I assume, though, that those connected with making the show do not want fans to stop watching, so it's okay that I will continue to!
One comment that I found really interesting was that Whedon wanted to bring Tara back to the show permanently, not just as a guest star in CWDP. He planned to create a plot wherein Buffy receives a wish, and she chooses to bring Tara back to life. Again, this may be moldy-oldy news to long-time fans, but it was the first I've heard of it! However, Amber Benson, as people know, chose not to return to the show.
I'd be interested to hear other's opinions of the revelations of the book, or just about the book itself!
