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The News Reporter
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was TV's most unlikely pop-culture phenomenon since "The X-Files." It is a series with humble beginnings (the movie, starring Kristy Swanson, was a minor cult hit and a critical failure in 1992), a tongue-in-cheek title and a premise that reads like a comic book. So how did a snappy fantasy about vampires, demons and a high-school cutie born to dispatch them between homework assignments evolve? How did "Buffy" move from a whip-smart collision of hormonal turmoil, supernatural soap opera, apocalyptic adventure and sly humor to the most human exploration of death, grief, sacrifice and self-actualization on TV?
Creator Joss Whedon's inspired mix of horror-movie revisionism, pop-culture vamping and wrenching tragedy uses the exaggerated trials of its teenage vampire hunters (Buffy and her friends, aka "the Scooby Gang") as a metaphor for the everyday troubles of its young (and not-so-young) audience.
But a metaphor is only as good as the writing behind it, and "Buffy" is smartly written and dramatically inventive, using the fantastic to explore the hard choices and journeys made by the human behind the hero. More than simply acrobatic butt-kicking by a delectable action babe, "Buffy" became a mythology for the modern media age, a celebration of female empowerment and friendship with a supernatural setting and pop-culture flair. This metaphor has a vibrant life all its own.
The show lasted an epic seven seasons on TV and, with the release of the final season on DVD this week, now lives on indefinitely on home video. Here is a guide to this unlikely hero's journey through the years.
For the entire article, please open link: http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=173057
Creator Joss Whedon's inspired mix of horror-movie revisionism, pop-culture vamping and wrenching tragedy uses the exaggerated trials of its teenage vampire hunters (Buffy and her friends, aka "the Scooby Gang") as a metaphor for the everyday troubles of its young (and not-so-young) audience.
But a metaphor is only as good as the writing behind it, and "Buffy" is smartly written and dramatically inventive, using the fantastic to explore the hard choices and journeys made by the human behind the hero. More than simply acrobatic butt-kicking by a delectable action babe, "Buffy" became a mythology for the modern media age, a celebration of female empowerment and friendship with a supernatural setting and pop-culture flair. This metaphor has a vibrant life all its own.
The show lasted an epic seven seasons on TV and, with the release of the final season on DVD this week, now lives on indefinitely on home video. Here is a guide to this unlikely hero's journey through the years.
For the entire article, please open link: http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=173057