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Oct. 15th, 2003 09:48 amWent to the seminar that work held last night, and it finished at 7.25pm, meaning that I could walk around the corner to Federation Square and still catch the last hour and a half of the BtVS seminar. Yay for me!
It was interesting. There were discussions about how different the BtVS experience would be for fans who had watched the series, as opposed to those who would now get into it through the DVDs. All in all, since I only started watching in S5, I'm already one of those fans who's been able to watch some seasons complete in one go. I think it's a better experience from a purely fannish point of view, because you really enjoy the series and don't have to wait. Although there is this odd sense of community that comes with watching a show on TV; it's the feeling of thousands of other fans all tuning in to watch it with you.
There was also the discussion of S4, as a season where everything was challenged. Each character, along with the audience, was challenged out of their basic about the BtVS world. We could no longer rely on Angel/Buffy or Oz/Willow; Spike could no longer kill; Giles was no longer employed; Xander was no longer a student with the rest of them; Cordy was gone. The Initiative changed the view of the Slayer, suddenly she was only one aspect of those fighting the demons, not the only force protecting humanity. All in all, it just made me want to see S4. (I've missed the occasional episode here and there, but I've pretty much seen all the other seasons.)
I was also intrigued by the disatisfaction that they had with S7 as compared to S6. It's intriguing to realise that other fans aren't watching BtVS with the same issues in mind (you do see the issues you brought with you). For me personally, I vastly preferred S7, with it's flawed and ill-defined feminism, to S6, with it's utterly screwy magic metaphors. Mainly it comes down to the fact that I saw the homosexual (stereotype) overtones in S6 far more clearly. Three gay characters in that season, Tara, Willow and Andrew: one had to die; one went evil and killed a guy because she was in love with said dead lesbian; and the last only seemed to be evil because he was in love with an creepy, creepy man. (Yes, Warren still creeps me out.)
( It's odd. I didn't think it meant that much to me... )
It was interesting. There were discussions about how different the BtVS experience would be for fans who had watched the series, as opposed to those who would now get into it through the DVDs. All in all, since I only started watching in S5, I'm already one of those fans who's been able to watch some seasons complete in one go. I think it's a better experience from a purely fannish point of view, because you really enjoy the series and don't have to wait. Although there is this odd sense of community that comes with watching a show on TV; it's the feeling of thousands of other fans all tuning in to watch it with you.
There was also the discussion of S4, as a season where everything was challenged. Each character, along with the audience, was challenged out of their basic about the BtVS world. We could no longer rely on Angel/Buffy or Oz/Willow; Spike could no longer kill; Giles was no longer employed; Xander was no longer a student with the rest of them; Cordy was gone. The Initiative changed the view of the Slayer, suddenly she was only one aspect of those fighting the demons, not the only force protecting humanity. All in all, it just made me want to see S4. (I've missed the occasional episode here and there, but I've pretty much seen all the other seasons.)
I was also intrigued by the disatisfaction that they had with S7 as compared to S6. It's intriguing to realise that other fans aren't watching BtVS with the same issues in mind (you do see the issues you brought with you). For me personally, I vastly preferred S7, with it's flawed and ill-defined feminism, to S6, with it's utterly screwy magic metaphors. Mainly it comes down to the fact that I saw the homosexual (stereotype) overtones in S6 far more clearly. Three gay characters in that season, Tara, Willow and Andrew: one had to die; one went evil and killed a guy because she was in love with said dead lesbian; and the last only seemed to be evil because he was in love with an creepy, creepy man. (Yes, Warren still creeps me out.)
( It's odd. I didn't think it meant that much to me... )
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