My Yearly Defense of TV (and love for Buffy)

I was feeling sentimental and reflective this week after the announcement that Warner Brothers was going forward with the idea to reboot Buffy The Vampire Slayer without Joss Whedon. For the record, I do think it's quite early to reboot Buffy, it hasn't been 10 years since the show went off the air. And I love Joss Whedon, especially for Buffy, Angel, and Dr. Horrible, though I did enjoy Firefly and Serenity. Even so I think Buffy is an extraordinarily important character for our culture and I'm not opposed to the idea. It might, after all, introduce a new generation to Buffy as the show becomes more dated.

So since I was thinking about Buffy, I spent some time watching my favorite episodes from the sixth and seventh season, taken aback, again by how a story can reveal itself to you in fresh ways. While stories remain told as is, we as people change and new life experiences, relationships, and circumstances help us see the same tale from different perspectives. I loved it just as much as ever, fell in love with Buffy all over again, and was utterly delighted and moved again. I've watched the series through twice and some episodes multiple times but it's been awhile. I completely enjoyed feeling like I was both visiting a dear friend and discovering the show again.

This may be a politically incorrect thing to say on a book blog, but Buffy is one of the most important stories of my life. One that shapes the way I see story and the world, one that is in my personal "canon", when discussing other stories, I'll often say, "it's like when on Buffy..."

It's not, of course, just because it's a great story. I watched season 2 of Buffy when it originally aired. I went to college after that and when I heard a certain character was back on season 3 I felt like it cheapened the beautiful and dramatic ending of the second season and I stopped watching. I didn't watch again until I was living in Japan. The year and a half I spent in Japan are some of my most formative years...so much more happened than simply living in Japan and teaching English my entire worldview started to shift or expand and during that time I discovered Buffy again. I was completely obsessed. (this is how I get--can't help it!) I'd go home on Saturday night and my friends and I would order pizza and watch Buffy. (the cable channel would show 2 episodes at a time--this is also when I started watching Felicity, Friends, Sex and the City, and Angel--after years of not watching TV!) I loved it.

So I think that while I was changing as a person there was this story with these fabulous characters that I loved so much that filled in the down time in my life. The show of Buffy taught me so much about what I value in storytelling, it taught me about how deeply moving and transformational even watching TV can be. I realized it could be touching, funny, and thought provoking. And how could I not love this character--so complex, powerful, and yet alone. And even though Buffy isn't flawless, I love it for exactly what it is--as I always do with the most significant stories and art in my life. (think: Mockingjay)

Of all the arts TV gets the worst reputation. While you may be called nerdy for liking to read, when you like TV people assume you sit there in a vegetative state unable to think for yourself. While people will admit there are "fluffy" books, they think the act of reading is superior to watching TV. The assumption is that quality television is rare and that most of it is, well, American Idol. Reading--even if you've shut your brain off--somehow taxes you more.

But when I think about the stories that have impacted my life and the characters I love most, they are equal parts television characters and characters from books. I love both Scarlett O'Hara and Brenda Leigh Johnson, Katniss Everdeen and Buffy Summers, Jo March and Felicity Porter, Harry Potter and Dean Winchester, Peeta Mellark and Desmond Hume, Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars.

Television is just another excellent medium for telling a story, for inviting us to reflect on our own lives even as we get swept away into the lives of others. It IS an art and it can change your life if you let it. The best shows raise new ideas and reflect on age old concepts and entertain us all the while. They are layered and open to interpretation, discussion, and debate. Like books, it's up to the viewer to decide how much they want to invest.

I enjoyed my visit back to Sunnydale and will probably go back sooner this time. The end of the year makes me crave the comfort of dearly loved stories.

Want to give it a try? Some of my favorite smart shows are: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, LOST, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Closer, and Damages.

What are yours?

TV Episodes That Made Me Cry

It's a well documented fact that I love TV almost as much as I love books. And due to the laziness of summer, and the fact that apart from LOST I pretty much ignored TV for the past several months, and because my forthcoming collaborative TV blog isn't ready to launch yet, I've had a renewed interest in blogging about TV.

Now unlike some of you, I cry very easily. Extremely easily. Melanie asked recently if it was normal for me to cry during books, well, yes. Yes it is. Do I cry in every book? No. Let's get real, I have changes in my hormones throughout the month, I have different life circumstances, etc. But I do cry a lot. And not just books, movies. And not just movies, TV shows. And not just TV shows, blog posts. Yes, if you've written a moving blog post, I was probably sniffling away over here.

My tears are close to the surface, what can I say? And I have buckets of empathy for made-up people. Give me a hint of how they're feeling, and I'll share their tears.

Anyway, I thought I'd pay tribute to my favorite moving TV episodes:



LOST's The Constant
How could you not feel Desmond's profound longing for Penny throughout the series to this point? And how you could you not be moved to tears by the sweet life-saving reality that she was his constant and she had no plans to give up on him? Beautiful and touching!



Supernatural's What is and What Should Never Be

If I didn't love the character of Dean Winchester so darn much, this probably would not have been so sad, and if the writers didn't completely torture the Winchester boys all the time, it wouldn't have been such a tear jerker, but this episode tackled my favorite themes in a beautifully Supernatural way. Dean is attacked by a djinn who gives him a glimpse of what a normal life would have been like. I pretty much started crying when Dean said, "It's good to see you happy, Sammy." Because Sam's happiness is strongly tied to his own. Anyway, Dean must make the choice to leave the fantasy of feeling loved and secure and safe to choose life--full of war and fighting, loneliness, pain, and death. But yet rewarding in its own way--saving people. Great episode.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer's The Gift
Everytime I watch the last five minutes of this episode I get major goose bumps. And cry a little. I'm not saying anything else in case you've never seen the series!
(for the record there are many other Buffy episodes that made me cry!)



Angel's I Will Remember You

I'm not even a Buffy/Angel girl and this episode kills me. I just don't think there's anything sadder than star-crossed lovers! And the sacrifice that Angel makes...and the fact that Buffy doesn't remember oh the pain!!!!!
(and yes there are other Angel episodes that made me cry!)




LOST's The Incident
I don't care if you're a hard core Skater (Sawyer/Kate fan) there is just no way you could watch Juliet drop into the well and Sawyer grieve without feeling like your heart was being ripped out. Josh Holloway's performance is outstanding...and heartbreaking. I get major chills when I think of this scene.
(and yes for the record there are several other episodes of LOST that brought tears to my eyes...most notably Ji Yeon and also whenever someone dies)

Every Episode of Cold Case
Okay that's not true. But this show is really good at bringing home the senselessness of murder, the grief of a life cut too short, the pain of long kept secrets, and the waste of often reckless unintentional actions. Throw in a soundtrack of haunting time appropriate music and it's all over. Tears!

So those are some of mine...I know I've cried during Grey's Anatomy when I used to watch it as well. How about you? Can you think of any TV episodes that made you cry?

Vampires or Werewolves?

I'm going to be honest with you. I know that vampires and werewolves are all the rage. That they are the subject of many a hot romance novel. That women swoon at the mere thought. I totally get that for one of them....vampires. But I just never really got the werewolf thing AT ALL. I mean, gross!!

Maybe it's my history with each one. After all, here's my history with vampires:






Pretty hot stuff, right? :) Those pictures represent some great stories!!! Now here's what I think of when I think of werewolves:



So, um, yeah. There's just really no competition. There is nothing particularly sexy about turning into a dog to me. Not to mention that I just prefer everything about the vampire mythology. Oh the tragedy of it all!

But recently I received the entire Kitty series by Carrie Vaughan for review. (so did a bunch of other bloggers!) I've just finished the first book in this series about werewolves and was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it and found more complexity (or potential for complexity, I should say) in the werewolf mythology than I originally thought. My full review will be coming soon, but I do have to say that even though I enjoyed the werewolves more than I thought I would, as soon as Arturo, the vampire master came on the scene I wanted more of him! But then I thought of a few other werewolf stories I like, such as Lupin in Harry Potter, and of course, this one:



But enough about me...how about you? Do you prefer vampire stories or werewolf stories or those stories where they are fighting each other? Or do you just hate all this stuff? :)