Buffy was more than the first three seasons!

[eilowyn]

So I'm annoyed at much Buffy scholarship right now. I just read the Buffy chapter in Susan Douglas' "Enlightened Sexism," and all it focused on were the high school years. The barest mention of seasons past 3 is a quip about Buffy "taking up" with "the Billy Idol look-alike vampire Spike," but it's literally a parenthetical aside. I'm completely

Comments

[kwritten]

What I've noticed in academia is that - unfortunately - there's no correlary to the outside world. Most of Whedon-studies that I've seen focuses on the texts themselves and don't really think about the cultural context. Also - I was very close personally with a professor who heads the Whedon section at the SW/TX Scifi/Fantasy conference every year... and it became clear that most of what happens at the academic conferences is a lot of fangirling, and not as much analysis... or: analysis in order to prove that Whedon is the best thing ever. Which he's not. And acadmia's job is to interrogate the moments in which he's not and explain them. Academia doesn't do this. Not from what I have seen.

I recall one essay that pissed me off, where the author compared Buffy's romances to Plato's classes of love
I've read this and cannot tell you how much I hate it (I yelled at the comp screen when I read your paragraph on it because I hate it so much).

I don't think that I recall reading a lot of emphasis on BAngel specifically - but that's probably because most of my personal research has been on post-Restless and AtS specifically. If Spike's name doesn't occur in the title - there's no way I'm going to read it for kicks.

There actually is a pretty decent article on Buffy and Spike's relationship through Watcher Jr (the undergraduate Whedon-studies journal) that discusses how they are both the other's shadow.

I would also say that most of the books I've checked out have disappointed me (but I can't pinpoint why, it may be because of Bangel emphasis, but I can't recall) but generally speaking Slayage doesn't annoy. I think the essays that deal with the darker issues are kept online (maybe?) and the lighter stuff is put into publication. Rhonda Wilcox does a pretty good job of making sure the journal covers everything.

Also - I have met/known very few Bangel people. Even some of the podcasts (Upside Down and Halfway to Happy Land and Buffy Between the Lines, specifically) deal with the later seasons either more, or more evenly.

I guess it just depends. But now I'm going to be keeping my eye out for this phenomenon.

[eilowyn]

I, um, may or may not have almost every Buffy studies book in my library because I convinced my mom I was spending my money on school books. But the books are where I see it the most. It gets to the point that they have a specific book on seasons 6&7 so that the "dark" seasons can be discussed. I'm happy to say (now that I recall) that the professor who taught the course on Buffy did write a paper on Buffy that focused a lot on Spike's redemption story, so I know it's not all bad.

So that's what happens at these conferences! I was thinking about trying to get my professor to give me independent study credit for going to the 2012 Whedon Studies conference, but that was a no go.

I've read that article, and damit, it stole one of my theses! (Mine was actually Faith and Spike as Buffy's shadow selves. Oh well. I've got massive feminism in fandom paper to start!

[kwritten]

I'm still debating going to Slayage in 2012 - I <3 Canada, so I'm thinking of going just for pure pleasure. I would hope that David Lavery and Rhonda Wilcox would keep the fangirling under control.

I wish ... gah - I wish there wasn't such a divided line between academia and fandom. A lot of great thinkers are right here, totally ignored.

[eilowyn]

Going to Middle Tennessee State University just for David Lavery as my grad advisor is a distinct possibility for me. I'd get a degree in English (instead of cinema and media studies/film and television studies), which will lead to more teaching jobs, won't it? (I tend to interrogate any new friends in grad school about their experience, just to let you know!)

[kwritten]

More jobs? Are there any??

My response to this is complex. I am not sure how easy it will be for you to get a job teaching pop culture/media studies anywhere. I would, personally, encourage you to beat down the doors of the Engl-Lit Dept until they let you in - until they let you teach - until they let you teach what you want. It's really hard to be a pop-culturist right now. But they're desperately needed. If my little department is any snapshot of the rest of the community, there is an extreme lack of the "now" - most of my colleagues are completely oblivious about what is going on around them outside the halls of uni.

I'm really oblivious to the whole job-process/phd programs. I'm planning on taking time off after my MA because I'm worn out.

[xlivvielockex]

Ask anyone who has written an academic essay for publication criticizing Whedon to show you their rejection letters. They have a drawer-full of them.

I wrote a spec for a Whedon book on race and got rejected. It was about the lack of Latinos in Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse. I talked about the rejection openly in several places. I was amazed at the number of people who came forward and told me that the negative stuff does not get published in academia.

It just really disappoints me because I have read amazing critical scholarship that NEEDS to be published. But I doubt it ever would unless someone sought these people out and self published it.

[kwritten]

This fills me with rage.

White. Hot. Rage.

Ridiculous.

[eilowyn]

I think I remember you talking about submitting something like that (you were looking at statistics for Latinos in Santa Barbara County, IRCC). That sucks that it was rejected! Maybe we should all band together and write a book of critical essays on Whedon!

[kwritten]

There is love in this suggestion. So much love and YES please!

[red_satin_doll]

I just have no words for that. Well, I do, but there would be lots of rage involved and we just can't have that now, can we? *end sarcasm*

Race and class issues on BtVS (and how they are woefully mishandled) is something that could fill at least one book, perhaps several. And really needs to be looked at. (I see a lot of fans on lj willing to do so and call it out, actually. For academia not to is shameful.)