This oughta be fun!

[kurtlaynevedder]

I have been wanting to post this thread topic for a while. I do not know the best way to do it, but I will give it a try. I was reading some Buffy article where it talking about the metaphors behind episodes and arcs. The author brought up some that I never thought of before. For example, Tara thinks she is a demon = her struggling with her sexuality. I never picked up on that! Some metaphors are ones that everyone knows: Angel turning evil = older guy takes young girls virginity and changes or Willow's addiction to magic = drug alcohol. Anyways I wanna see how stupid I am and some other ones that I am completely forgetting. I wanna start season for season and have people list the main metaphors for the episodes.

Season -
Welcome to the Hellmouth
The Harvest
The Witch
Teacher's Pet
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
The Pack
Angel
I, Robot . . . You, Jane
The Puppet Show
Nightmares
Out of Mind, Out of Sight
Prophecy Girl

 

[pieceofgosa]

Welcome to the Hellmouth - The first two deal with moving to a new town/school & the associated problems that brings.
The Harvest

The Witch - Conformity.

Teacher's Pet - Crush on an authority figure & Cougar behaviour.

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - The perils of teenage dating.

The Pack - See Witch.

Angel - Is about how you never really know someone.

I, Robot . . . You, Jane - The dangers of Internet dating.

The Puppet Show - I got nothing.

Nightmares - Fear & uhm... facing it.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight - Popularity, conformity etc, its a running theme.

Prophecy Girl - Destiny is a crock of sh***

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

What a great thread idea!

The Puppet Show - I got nothing.

Well, this episode is awful but I think the metaphor they were going for here was that dolls are creepy, lol. No seriously - this episode plays with the idea of an evil, human looking toy being a danger, and is probably a reference to the the Child's Play series, in which a serial killer uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a doll.

Perhaps the metaphor has more to do with how young girls should stay away from creepy old men who hit on them -doesn't the doll hit on Buffy and she's totally grossed out? Overall, weak filler ep, there's probably not a specific metaphor in mind when they wrote this. This episode was the lowest rated for the season - and for good reason.

Next episode: When She Was Bad.

 

[Kelsey]

First one that says Spike represents the Bad Boyfriend... *shakes fist*

But really, I've seen that comparison all too often. Spike and Buffy are the bad relationship, sure, but the idea that Spike is the bad, abusive boyfriend who takes advantage of poor, defenseless Buffy really rankles. But I digress.

There were lots of other things--nearly all of Buffy represented something. The only thing coming to mind at the moment is The Pack, which represents a teenage boy joining in with group and losing his individuality.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

And of course the ultimate metaphor for the entire show - High school is hell; made literal. Genius premise, really. If you think about it. Put a high school on the mouth of Hell. Hehe.

 

[The Ferg]

The Pack - Conformity and guys growing up, testosterone. People you know becoming... mean.
@Kelsey: The Puppet Show, not Smile Time. 🙂
@kurtlaynevedder: Give us the next season when you're ready 🙂 I'd love to help!

---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:54 AM ----------

The Pack - Conformity and guys growing up, testosterone. People you know becoming... mean.
@Kelsey: The Puppet Show, not Smile Time. 🙂
@kurtlaynevedder: Give us the next season when you're ready 🙂 I'd love to help!

 

[Kelsey]

Skytteflickan88 agrees: Well, you can't really compare him to a good boyfriend. I mean, he's a good listener, and he loves, but his bad-boyfriend-ness is hard to ignore.

Hah, true, my point was just that both of them played the abusers is that relationship, Buffy arguably more than Spike (though that changes from viewer to viewer, of course). I hate the idea that Spike is a caricature of the bad, abusive boyfriend that the girl stays with because she's depressed. It's the destructive relationship of the show, certainly, but Buffy was just as hurtful as Spike.

@Kelsey: The Puppet Show, not Smile Time.

Oh. Oh. Got it.