From: owner-buffy-digest@xmission.com (buffy-digest) To: buffy-digest@xmission.com Subject: buffy-digest V1 #1 Reply-To: buffy@xmission.com Sender: owner-buffy-digest@xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffy-digest@xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffy-digest Wednesday, October 29 1997 Volume 01 : Number 001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 10:09:00 -0800 From: "SCOTT WOODARD@warnerbros.com" Subject: BUFFY: Screenwriter >What an awesome episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did'nt notice but did Joss >actually >write this episode? Well anyway. Whoever wrote the story was very creative. This particular script was penned by Carl Ellsworth. Scott The WB Television Network ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:17:11 -0500 (EST) From: Amanda Subject: Re: BUFFY: Halloween Ep! (Long) On Mon, 27 Oct 1997 LStew10263@aol.com wrote: Spoilers below from Halloween and possibly a few future episodes... > Speakin of which, we got an inkling of a future Xander/Cordelia > relationship at theend there, when they had there little bonding > Buffy/Angel talk... ok, so it wasn't actually a long talk, but still! I also thought that there was some definite tension between Cordelia and Xander in this episode. I think this is a definite signs of things to come... good. They would be quite and interesting couple. I also can't wait to see Oz and Willow hook up. He really likes her and would probably be really good for her. He seems like a really cool guy...his line about finding a nice girl like Cordelia just had me LOL PoizonIvy: Vampire Kisser Keeper of Xander's Wardrobe Keeper of Buffy, Willow, and Xander's Talent Show Togas Keeper of Ampata's Mummy Seal Proud NOSer WL(SP)/Spikette Member of the DC/East Coast Buffy Crew FOK! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:23:54 -0500 (EST) From: Letondu@aol.com Subject: Re: BUFFY: Possible loophole In a message dated 97-10-28 03:22:57 EST, you write: > Let me get some facts staright in my head....people who got costumes at > Ethan's shop took on the pesona of their outfits, then why was Xander > affected?? Did I miss something??? I coulda swore he said that he got his > costume (fatigues) from the Army-Navy store for 2 bucks or something like > that.... But, he brought his toy gun there, and that completed his costume. Napoleon letondu@aol.com Defenders of the Night http://members.aol.com/letondu/defender.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:26:34 -0500 (EST) From: tan3@cornell.edu Subject: Re: BUFFY: Halloween: this and that On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Lisa Rose wrote: > Questions: > - if it was supposed to be between 4 and 6 p.m., why was it dark? It's dark here (in Central NY State) by 5 pm , especially since we kicked the clocks back on Sunday. I'm just jealous of all those who are ale to actually go trick-or-treating in their costumes: it's COLD up here, and there's no use in having a really cool costume when you have to cover it up with parka, gloves, scarves, etc. BTW, when Giles asked Willow if Cordelia was any different, my immediate thought was no, but then again, she's always been kinda catty. Waiting to get hit, Tracey Keeper of the Cluelessness of the Rest of the School tan3@cornell.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:27:30 -0500 (EST) From: James Bjorkman Subject: Re: BUFFY: Halloween Episode Ol' jb is sitting here, thinking to himself, now what was really going on in this episode? Oh, sure, Gile's old pal shows up and causes trouble. But what did it *mean*? Heehee, like anything has any real meaning, as lots of deconstructionists would say. Well, here is what IMO was being said Behind The Scenes. Anyone who disagrees, well, that's fine, of course. I'm just posting this to amuse myself and stimulate thought. Heretofore this season, Buffy has not been herself. She has had "issues." It all stemmed from the showdown with the Maestro, er, Master. She wanted to play mind games with Angel, she started hanging out with Cordelia, etc. She whined a lot about having to be the slayer. Not quite herself. So, what happens at Halloween? She gets her subliminal wish! She's no longer a slayer. In fact, not only is she no longer a slayer, she goes way over to another extreme and becomes a (pretty unconvincing IMO) parody of female helplessness. It's sort of like a Greek drama - the gods (quite literally here, in fact) grant her fondest wish. Better watch out! Now, I don't mean to compare the screenwriter to Euripides or anything (when people compare stuff like Star Trek to Homer, I cringe). But it's an age-old story using a modern deus ex machina (in the unlikely form of intervention by Janus, not a particularly scary god). As with everything else in this series, though, it's not the complication that is of interest. It's the effect it has on everyone else, and what that Means. I'll start with Xander, because he was the real fulcrum of the episode's Deeper Meaning. The advent of Buffy seriously diminished his sense of power. How could it be otherwise, when a girl not only rejects him, but can outfight him? A central theme of the series is how Xander can retain his manhood in the face of this onslaught. Not an easy thing. It's no coincidence that every other episode has Xander saving someone somehow. He's really saving himself, of course. But let me stay on topic. So here is the, um, metaphorically gelded Xander prancing about with his drooping, very ineffectual little pop gun. Then the transformation occurs, and voila! The gun is suddenly powerful. Xander now holds it, er, ;) up so that he can, um, fire with it. The symbolism is pretty darn obvious to me. Buffy's loss of power is Xander's gain. The original balance of the universe is restored. Of course, Xander also becomes simple and speaks in baby English. The unenlightened, primitive male, status quo ante. Now, on to Cordelia ('cuz I'm a fan!). Buffy's loss also empowers her, but to a much lesser extent. She chances upon the slayerettes and suddenly Takes Charge, more or less, at least verbally. In fact, Cordy is by far the most verbal member of the cast. The Buffy vacuum enables her to speak again where heretofore her voice had been diminished. (I think Charisma's acting has really improved, btw). She represents a sort of throwback woman - dates a lot, looking for a rich man - that are the most threatened by the take-charge Buffys of the world, who get their way by wheedling, manipulating - verbally. Buffy's loss is her gain. Willow? The change actually disempowers her. She, of course, is the smart girl. Without a Buffy to do the dirty work and run feminist interference for her, she's nobody - she can't even turn a page! The loss of Feminine Fighting Power hurts her most of all. She suddenly even has to start revealing (quite uncharacteristically) her looks, like any pre-feminist female looking to score. Buffy's loss hurts her most of all. The effect on Giles is even more striking. No more weak, ineffectual Mr. Nice Guy. Suddenly, he's "The Ripper." The power vacuum has forced him to become aggressive, which in the feminist canon for males means Not Nice. Thus, paradoxically, the loss of the feminist influence causes him to degenerate into quite literally kicking another when he's down. The symbolism here is superb. It neatly justifies the feminist ethos. Angel's change is striking, too. Without Buffy the Slayer around, he's a fightin' machine. Mr. Take Charge. Then, at the end, after Buffy's powers return, he lies, supine, on the bed while Buffy stands triumphantly over him. Get out the ball and chain, buddy, you're toast now! Time to realize YOUR wish of an exciting girl. Good luck! Finally, back to Buffy. The change, like any Greek tragedy, shows that getting what you wish can be very, very bad. She was unhappy with her slayer duties? Not after Spike moves in on her. Now, she's suddenly "happy" to be a slayer. We haven't heard *that* in a while. She has been taught the error of her unfeminist yearnings, and everything is suddenly back to the way it was for her last season - the untroubled post-feminist heroine. Ok, so this is a pseudo-Freudian analysis, and I'm reading a whole lot into a simple little horror tale. However, IMO you should never underestimate the skill of a screenwriter to get a hidden message across. It really doesn't matter whether the screenwriter intended it or not - we are nothing, as Ortega y Gassett would say, but ourselves and our circumstances, and writing is as much a product of the culture as of the individual. Sure, as somebody else pointed out, there are "positive messages" for girls etc. etc. etc. But messages - did someone say propaganda? - can go a lot deeper than you might think. jb "...when it comes to slaying, *I'm* the slayer." Cordelia ------------------------------ End of buffy-digest V1 #1 *************************