URGENT HELP NEEDED

[prfctlyspl3ndid]

Hello! I'm new here and I was wondering if you guys could help me out? I need to collect some primary research for my dissertation, so I would be very grateful if you could please fill in this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FQSZ6LY

Also, my dissertation is primarily on how BtVS had been a great influence on other shows that aired after it and how it changed (fantasy in) television. However, I would also like to know how it may have helped you. Can you tell me about some of your favourite episodes and how they may have helped you through the allegories within them?

Please use this thread to answer this question. As I have previously mentioned, I will be using your replies as primary research for my dissertation, but everything else such as your identities- usernames and avatars- will not be included. To add, I will only keep the information provided until it is no longer necessary- when I finish my dissertation. If you have any further queries, please email: buffyresearch@gmail.com

Please try to reply asap! Thank you in advance!

 

[Spanky]

Hi! Welcome to the boards!

Joining a new board can be quite intimidating at times and we want all our new members to feel right at home. If you are feeling a little bit lost then why not head to the Bad Eggs section so someone can adopt you and show you the ropes.

Don't forget you can join a "house" in the Buffy Boards School of Slayers and Demon Hunters
Each private forum is for its dorm members only. It's a great way to get to know other members of the board and make friends. After choosing a dorm, you can participate in dorm activities and from time to time there will even be challenges which pit dorm against dorm. Points are awarded to the winners and participants in these competitions, which go towards a running tally for each dorm.

 

[TriBel]

Can you tell me about some of your favourite episodes and how they may have helped you through the allegories within them?

I can tell you my favourite episodes (Lessons and Touched - both S7) but it's because I find them intellectually stimulating not because they offer psychological support or I identify with a particular character. I've had a quick glance at your survey. I thought S.Monkey offered the respondent the option of expanding comment boxes and I don't seem to have the facility. Can you have a look at it from your end please? Thanks.

 

[prfctlyspl3ndid]

I can tell you my favourite episodes (Lessons and Touched - both S7) but it's because I find them intellectually stimulating not because they offer psychological support or I identify with a particular character. I've had a quick glance at your survey. I thought S.Monkey offered the respondent the option of expanding comment boxes and I don't seem to have the facility. Can you have a look at it from your end please? Thanks.

Hi, thanks for the reply! I'm very sorry but I am unable to edit the text box and change it to a larger comment box because I have received replies for the survey. Nevertheless, the text boxes I have included have an unlimited amount of characters, so you don't need to worry about that.

 

[NokLyf]

I've filled it in.

I did my dissertation on Buffy & Angel and could have easily written twice the word count.

For xmas I got the book;
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Myth, Metaphor & Morality by Mark Field.

It's the book version of online essays he did so you should be able to find them online somewhere if you haven't seen them already. He breaks down every episode, I'm only up to season 3 but there's been a couple mentions of other shows buffy influenced. And he references his sources.

All the best with it 👍🏻

 

[prfctlyspl3ndid]

I've filled it in.

I did my dissertation on Buffy & Angel and could have easily written twice the word count.

For xmas I got the book;
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Myth, Metaphor & Morality by Mark Field.

It's the book version of online essays he did so you should be able to find them online somewhere if you haven't seen them already. He breaks down every episode, I'm only up to season 3 but there's been a couple mentions of other shows buffy influenced. And he references his sources.

All the best with it 👍🏻

Thank you so much! And yes, that was the plan! but unfortunately the books haven't arrived in time for my dissertation. :/ (Hence, the question in my post.)

 

[thrasherpix]

Just answered. As I said virtually nothing about Buffy other than when asked directly, I thought I'd repost someone I shared recently here, in case it's helpful to whatever you're looking for:

I caught part of one episode when I was in high school, missing both the start and end. It was watchable, but didn't pull me in, and I ignored people telling me I should watch it for years after, and can't say the way fans described it to me sounded appealing. It was one of those if I had the chance to see it then I would, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to see it. (The TV I had then was little more than junk so beyond catching a little local news, it was used almost exclusively to play VCR and dvd.)

I did eventually rent it from the video store (reasonably sure I was 22 by then) and was instantly hooked. Not in a "this is the greatest show" but it was fun, and I loved much of the dialog. I tend to like campy as long as it's self-aware. I did like Goosebumps as a kid (heck, Lost Boys is campy, which I also enjoyed before seeing this show), after all, as well as a fan of both horror and comedy. Witch reminded me of the novel Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey (and would not be at all surprised to find out that novel had a huge impact on this script, including the ending), and though it lacked many of the more interesting bits of the book, at least there was more closure to the ending that wasn't so nightmarish for the innocent characters. So I rented the rest of season 1.

I was surprised by the seriousness of the last ep, and it pulled me all the way in...had I not seen season 1 (and gotten to care about the characters) I doubt I'd have been able to get through season 2, not back when I had to rent each dvd separately (and had more serious money issues than Buffy in season 6). I MIGHT have gotten through 2 dvds, but no more. But having seen season 1 and liking the characters I stuck with it and was blown away with where they took season 2 that made me a true fan rather than casual viewer. As it was I ended up buying season 2-3, and then found the entire series on sale (and was doing a bit better financially) so I bought them all. That wasn't something I did lightly back then.


At the time I was coincidentally dealing with gender issues as my then girlfriend wanted to girl me up (this is why I feel confident of being 22 when I rented the first Buffy dvd) which triggered subconscious fears and anxieties that I couldn't put my finger on. I'm introspective and eventually worked it out, and I think watching this show helped me work it out faster, and soothed my subconscious fears, as the females were femme (even Faith doesn't strike me as much of a tomboy despite her rough edges) and yet still be smart, willful, clever, and able to overcome--everything I subconsciously feared I'd lose if I became more femme for my girlfriend (and that I'd be a victim). It took me awhile to make this connection. It's possible that had I not been wrestling with that at the time that I wouldn't have gotten into it as much as I did.

 

[prfctlyspl3ndid]

Just answered. As I said virtually nothing about Buffy other than when asked directly, I thought I'd repost someone I shared recently here, in case it's helpful to whatever you're looking for:

Thank you so much, you're an angel! this is great!! 💛

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Can you tell me about some of your favorite episodes and how they may have helped you through the allegories within them?

I think the overall metaphor of "high school as Hell" and the accompanying allegory of "one girl fighting her "demons" everyday" was really relatable to many of us while in high school.

 

[Athene]

I'm doing my dissertation partly on Buffy (and Supernatural) My favourite allegory from the show is probably the Slayer and how that translates really well to a lot of real life struggles.

 

[prfctlyspl3ndid]

I'm doing my dissertation partly on Buffy (and Supernatural) My favourite allegory from the show is probably the Slayer and how that translates really well to a lot of real life struggles.

Really? That's such a coincidence! 😄

I think I understand, but could you elaborate on what types of struggles resemble the Slayer's in particular? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Athene]

Really? That's such a coincidence! 😄

I think I understand, but could you elaborate on what types of struggles resemble the Slayer's in particular? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I think all the struggles that are isolating in life, small or big to provide an example, maybe someone's gay.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I didn't view the show as being of help to any of my life's struggles, be those struggles the visualizations with the many forms of demonic forces. From the occasions I tried to visit mass graves (plague victims) or the 'normal' supernatural entities I saw or the ghosts I touched.
I liked the episode Doppelganger as I had seen an actual doppelganger, although it was not as the dictionaries state it to be. I saw the series as being nothing more than good entertainment, I watched it as I was interested on how the various subjects that were spoken of.
Does the show have any relevance to what is shown on TV? Possibly but only when writers of screenplays look back at what was and try to write the book to be likened to the show. Several TV shows do seem likened to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but then if you look hard enough at some shows that can often be said even if the writers do not want the new show to be likened to B.T.V.S.

Some folk may see the show as being relevant to them, that is their choice.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

This show did not remain in the "monster of the week" format like previous shows, it handled season-long "Big Bads" who were credible threats to the protagonists. Before that, most shows were limited to demons that popped up and got knocked off all in one episode. Most protagonists had been morally upright whereas Buffy did not necessarily follow the squeaky-clean Superman format - she had some sexual adventures that mostly went sour and got influenced by Faith to break into a store and steal things. She had the isolation of a leader but did not benefit from much of the advice she was given when she did listen to people. By the end of Season 7, the successful general of the Season 3 finale had become a caricature of an inept leader. The series could be called "The Rise and Fall of Buffy" just as the Angel series could be called "The Rise and Fall of Angel" because both had become shadows of their former selves by the end of their respective series. Buffy was a very different heroine from what had gone before.

I think part of what shows up in this series is that Joss Whedon did have great ideas but he was not so great at mobilizing an army of writers and getting them to not contradict each other. The series bible should have cleared up the characteristics of demons and vampires and the story arc for the season so every writer would have a consistent story that wouldn't end up with contradictions. Sometimes it seemed like the writers had not watched any of the previous episodes.

I had been married with children and working for a number of decades when it aired, so I did not see it as therapeutic or as containing new items of wisdom I would benefit from. Parents (with the exception of the Burkle family) did not come off as being particularly good people in any Whedonverse opus.

BTW welcome to the forum. I assume if you are asking questions for us to answer, you have read enough of the forum to see who the players are and whose advice and analysis looks suitable for what you are doing. If not, give a few threads a read. Don't be afraid to jump in with the discussions, the full moon has just passed so we no longer bite.

 

[Buffy Summers]

This is the kind of thing you need to ask permission for before you post.