Monday, July 25, 2011

That's Life on the Hellmouth

For whatever reason, I was pretty out of it at the turn of the century so I never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There was no Tivo then and I was starting to have babies. Life was bleak. It was post-graduate school but pre-blog when I was still learning how to have kids and a life. The weird thing about that is--you don't know you don't have a life at the time so you don't care! Did I just loosely equate having a life with watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Let me start again.

When you first start having kids you just read baby books and play baby games and listen to baby music. It's good. You should. It makes you a good mom. But at some point you start to get bored and boring. For me it was iTunes and then blogging that opened or reopened the non-baby world to me. It's 14 years later and look at me! Completely scandalized by nude love scenes on prime time and missing Steve from Blues Clues. Let me start again.

Having checked out from pop culture for about 5 years while having my first two babies I missed watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In all honesty, I remember people talking about it at the time and it sounded dumb. I would never have watched it (even if Tivo had magically been invented earlier than it was) but Ira Glass referred to it when I saw him a few weeks ago. I try to live up to certain exacting standards in my life. I can't not get cultural references made by Ira Glass or I feel shame and have to talk to my bishop, Scott Simon. Just a little NPR joke there--Cool your jets, Glenn Beckers!

So I'm into season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's basically half dumb half awesome. Maybe even 20% dumb and 80% awesome. I think I get the idea but just to be sure I will watch three more seasons and Angel. I also get the Bones thing now--sistahs missed their Angel, right? But I doubt I'll get into Bones. Life's too short--and I say that as a person planning on watching all  7 seasons of Buffy so you know that 1)I mean it and 2)I'm super discriminating. At any rate, it will be fun for you guys to look back at this post when you trace the inception of my Joss Whedon obsession. I feel one coming on. I like to think of all my blog posts as prelude to my eventual arrest at and banning from Comic-Con.

If not for Ira Glass I wouldn't have made it through season one. But the fact is, Buffy is a girl--and a female protagonist is tres interesting in this genre! Around the time Seth Green shows up in season two it's pretty obvious that there's something smart about it. It'll surprise you. I like it.

I also like looking back nostalgically to a time I thought wasn't very long ago. But, judging by the clothes, it was. I long for those square jackets, baggy pants, and anything-goes-pants-hemming. I don't remember not having natural fibers in the late 90s, but I guess we didn't. When did flattering clothing become popular? Was it Stacy and Clinton who ushered it in? It doesn't matter. It means so much to me to see white tights worn un-ironically.

I also noticed that the kissing (there's a lot of it--sometimes it even makes you lose your soul which is a good lesson, I think) is really loud. There must be a trend in sound editing to make it sound quieter. Or maybe the loud chomp chomping was a part of grunge I don't remember. Who can say. I never fully embraced the movement myself.

Now that I'm into season four of Buffy I can FINALLY have a meaningful conversation with Ira.

21 comments:

  1. when eliza was in high school and i was in, oh, 7th or 8th grade? noah in 4th or 5th grade? we used to tape buffy when it aired on tuesdays and then we'd all watch it together on friday nights. i don't know if that makes us all really lame or really awesome. i think i only watched the first three or four seasons before it got too "willow is a lesbian"-y but i loved that show.

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  2. also—i just remembered something random and funny. apparently eliza used to (or still does) resemble sarah michelle gellar, and when she was in line for grad night at disneyland, some drunk guys behind her were whispering "dude—it's the slayer." i just remembered that and laughed out loud.

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  3. I watched the whole series about five years ago (took me forever too) and when one of my friends found out I was about to start watching it, he took my by the shoulders and said "I am so excited for you.This is a wonderful time in your life." He's funny. And it was true.

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  4. the hellmouth. good times. i tried re-watching the pilot on netflix instant a few months ago and wasn't that interested. funny because we loved it in the '90s!

    i randomly remember a scene where buffy kissed angel, or danced with him or something, and her cross necklace left a cross-shaped burn on his chest. intense.

    i also remember the nightclub they frequented, and giles's dry wit, and the lovable vampire spike and his gross lover.

    i had forgotten about seth green. i always thought xander was pretty droll as well but now i might find him obnoxious. maybe i'll have to give it another shot. i stopped watching when i went to college. (darn byu dorms didn't allow the scandalous wb.)

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  5. I watched it pretty religiously when it aired...then I watched the reruns on FX during college while I "studied" and washed dishes. When I started rewatching it from the pilot last summer, I was totally embarrassed by the fashion choices because I know I made those choices and they were TOTALLY COOL. I think I even blogged about it because I could not get over how horrible the styles were and why any of us thought it was okay. haha.

    I struggle when watching the awkward college years (the aforementioned "willow is a lesbian" bit) but there are great villains later.

    Finally, Buffy is pretty much the only reason I ever started watching (and keep watching, I'm just not a quitter haha) Bones...or Angel for that matter.

    Oh! And one last thing, I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on Spike. I'm sure you have some good ones...or at least you will by the time you get through the end.

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  6. I watched it. Live and without Tivo. I still might have a crush on Spike.

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  7. I would pay good money to sit down and have a good conversation with Ira.

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  8. I think my 20 year old heart broke when all of Buffy and Angel's "kissing" -ahem- turned Angel back into a demon! I have to say that the only reason I ever tuned into Bones is because Angel was on it! Try it, besides the gore factor, it's actually pretty good. Ira might even like it :) oh, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was my fashion icon then- lol! Also, if you're planning a descent into comic con and heart Joss Whedon's creativity, you should watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog on you tube.

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  9. WELCOME.

    Also, Yes to Dr. Horrible. Yes, I say, yes.

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  10. You mean you can have ANOTHER meaningful conversation with him.

    (I've never watched Buffy. I need to start, though. Right after FNL.)

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  11. I never watched Buffy, but got totally hooked on Angel. The series finale of that show will absolutely blow your mind away. It was the best one I have ever, ever seen.

    Also, if you're getting into Joss Whedon, check out Firefly. It was canceled after one amazing season because the original network aired the episodes out of order. I watched it with hubby, and every single episode had at least one of those moments where you end up laughing so loudly and so hard that you have to rewind the DVD to catch what you missed. It's one of the very few shows I actually own on DVD.

    Found your blog randomly a couple of weeks ago, BTW. Lovin' it. :)

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  12. You would think that I would have a clue about stuff my kids watched.

    I don't.

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  13. Nice. I'm going to watch it too... I've been looking for a new/old show with lots of seasons to watch. I tried Thirtysomething last night but I couldn't even finish the pilot. Too real perhaps. I need something that DOESN'T feel like my actual life!

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  14. Oh and no one has mentioned the rockin' theme song.

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  15. I'd just like to second that suggestion for furthering your upcoming Joss Whedon obsession - absolutely check out Firefly! It won't take nearly as long as Buffy (Seasons 2 and 3 are my faves, though Season 4 has the best creepy episode EVER - 'Hush' - and Season 6 has a couple of true gems) and it's a pretty mind-blowing collection of genius and humor and some of the best work Nathan Fillion ever did (*happy sigh*) - don't forget "Serenity" (the movie) either. You can actually watch Serenity after seeing only the pilot of Firefly, but it's better if you watch the whole (only 14 episodes! Tragedy!) series.

    Bones is hit-and-miss for me, but more hit than miss. Now if they could get Joss to direct an episode...

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  16. You need to read Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run. It was so good they made it into a motion comic. You can watch it on Hulu.

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  17. It's funny, because my friends (See: Josh and Amy Bingham) had Buffy viewing parties every week back when it was on the air. I never went because I had a baby and I was a mom and I was too old for such childish things. But mostly because I had to work at Chevy's most nights. I always wondered what I missed out on, and now I'm finally finding out, thanks to the wonder of Netflix Instant. I'm going to go finish out Season 3 right now so I can be caught up with you.

    Also, too bad we didn't know each other back then, when we were serious moms. That would have been cool.

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  18. I attended one, maybe two of Josh's viewing parties, but never was sure if they were watching the show because it was good, or because it wasn't. I did just re-watch the movie last night, though, so perhaps I will experiment upon the whole series soon.

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  19. We own the complete "Serenity" series, plus the movie, plus the documentary, so when you have progressed that far into your Joss obsession we'll be ready to enable you, nerd.

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  20. I'll second/third/fourth the suggestions for Firefly, Serenity (after watching the series), and definitely Dr. Horrible.

    Dollhouse was another Joss Whedon forray into television, and it was interesting... but shortlived, and not quite as good as his other stuff, but still worth a watch if you're interested.

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  21. Anonymous5:52 AM

    I still have not watched Buffy but you definitely need to check out Firefly.

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