Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale

by James B. South

Book Overview

Twenty-three essays by young professional philosophers examine crucial ethical and metaphysical aspects of the Buffyverse (the world of Buffy). Though the show already attracted much scholarly attention, this is the first book to fully disinter the intellectual issues. Designed by Whedon as a multilevel story with most of its meanings deeply buried in heaps of heavy irony, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has replaced The X-Files as the show that explains...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812695313
• ISBN13: 9780812695311
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Open Court
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

So much fun!!

This book is amazing and covers a wide range of topics. It's highly academic and well-respected in the academic community. It was a good lead in as far as asking my professors if I could incorporate Buffy into my papers. Hehe. I found that it also made some things much clearer, by putting it in the light of my favorite television show. I particularly liked the comparison of Faith to Nietzsche and the incorporation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and relating that to "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." It brought Kant's view into a new perspective, rather than trying to understand specifically with Kant's text and just accepting what he said as his view, it made his view make sense. I really do recommend it for any fan of Buffy in general(although it may seem tough at first, it was for me) or a philosophy fan. (I also found that it heavily related to my Conscience and Literature class)

A work of surprising depth guaranteed to make one ponder

Compiled and edited by James B. South, Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Philosophy: Fear And Trembling In Sunnydale is a thoroughly engaging philosophical discussion about themes explored in the popular television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Written for both academics in the discipline of American Popular Culture, Contemporary Philosophy, and those who are simply "Buffy" fans, Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Philosophy collects the writings of a variety of learned authors concerning Buffy's relation to feminist ethics, human irrationality, "high school portrayed as Hell", and much, much more. A work of surprising depth guaranteed to make one ponder, Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Philosophy is enthusiastically recommended for both academia and non-specialist general readers alike -- and readily available in a hardcover edition for library acquisitions.

A radical interpretation of the text

Did you love Oz in Earshot? If so, this may be the book for you.So you are the average Buffy fan, you do not sit around with your friends weighing the Nietzchian ideal of the ubermensch, nor do you discuss Faith's fatalistic nature. Will you enjoy this book? Possibly. Are you interested in philosophy? By chance did you take some in college, even an introductory course, but it didn't make any sense? This book may bring something to the table for you and clear up your confusion regarding some theoretical stuff. The gift with purchase will be that you will learn something new along the way.Now if you are looking at this book to be a playful romp through Sunnydale, don't buy it. It's not. It will deconstruct some characters in ways you will not like, at the same time some observations will make you roll on the floor with hysterical laughter (or that could just be me). It will definately spark some thought, and if you buy one for a friend will result in many hours of arguing fun!As one of the Buffy faithful, and a staunch reader of Slayage, the online journal of Buffy Studies, I loved this book. I loved it so much I want to buy one for all the Buffy fans I know. I want to trot over to Marquette and kiss James South if not for this book, for his AMAZING article on Willow, and his great understanding of the season 6 transformation she made. This book makes Fighting the Forces, and Reading the Slayer look like high school term papers. This book is smart, the editing is well done, and it made me feel smarter for reading it. This is by far the best of the best of Academic Buffyverse analysis. I hope that this sets the future standard for books of this type. The chapters that are not to be missed:Also Sprach Faith: The problem of the happy rogue vampire slayer - Karl SchudtMy God, It's like a Greek tragedy: Willow Rosenberg & human irrationality - James SouthBuffy in the Buff: A slayers solution to Aristotles love paradox - Kaye & MilavecNo Big Win: Themes of sacrifice, salvation and redemption - Gregory SakalOld familiar Vampires: The politics of the Buffyverse - Jeffrey Pasley

Cultural Studies at Its Finest

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy is my favorite so far in Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy series. It's diverse, with essays written from the viewpoint of classical philosophy, feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, film studies, and more. Buffy fans will have fun reading about the many ways that this show can be analyzed according to different intellectual traditions, and academics will appreciate the interdisciplinary vitality and sheer pleasure that these essays bring to reading a text. James South, the volume editor, has put together a smart, provocative, and impressive collection (as well as contributing a kickass essay on Willow Rosenberg).Instructors, you may find this book a valuable example for your students of how a popular text lends itself to an array of valid and intriguing readings, and your students will have NO trouble staying interested!

Thought-provoking and entertaining

I think that "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" are, quite simply, the two best television shows today. Period. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a wide range of television shows (I am an admitted television junkie), but in terms of emotional depth, intelligent writing, challenging storylines, and innovative and realistic characters, Joss Whedon's children are unparalleled. Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks that the metaphors and metaphysics of the Buffyverse (to blatantly steal from Shaun Narine) are worth analyzing. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, professors and students of philosophy tackle the key events, issues, and characters in the Buffyverse in a number of highly entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking essays. The Buffyverse has more than a few key events, issues, and characters that deserve serious debate: Buffy's role as a Slayer and her relationship to society; Faith's dalliance with good and evil; Angel's path to redemption; Buffy's self-destructive relationship with Spike; Willow's transformation from mousy teenager to Big Bad; and the metaphor which is the basis for all of it. Each of these topics are addressed by multiple authors, from different philosophical perspectives, in Fear and Trembling.Given the timing of my review (i.e. at the end of Faith's Season Four arc on "Angel"), my mind was already on Faith, so the chapters which dealt with her were particularly fascinating to me. Is Faith's amoral pursuit of pleasure best explained by Plato or Nietzche? This book doesn't provide answers ? it provides a framework for the reader/viewer to analyze and grapple with the issues themselves. And isn't that why "Buffy" is so attractive to us in the first place?I wish that Fear and Trembling had been in print while I was in college. It might have helped defeat my dismissive prejudice against philosophy as irrelevant and out of touch. That's the beauty part of Fear and Trembling ? it will serve both to give "Buffy" credibility in the minds of those few academics/intellectuals who are not already ardent fans and will give ?Buffy? fans a gateway into the realm of philosophy. I found a few chapters of Fear and Trembling particularly thought-provoking. For example, several authors seized on the exchange between Joyce and Faith (in Buffy?s body) from ?Who Are You.? Joyce: Why do you think [Faith?s] like that?Faith: You know. She's a nut job.Joyce: I just don't understand what could drive a person to that kind of behavior.Faith: Well, how do you know she got drove? I mean, maybe she likes being that way.Joyce: I'll never believe that. I think she's horribly unhappy.A lot has been written in the Internet community regarding Faith?s unhappiness as an explanation for her behavior. Rewatching ?Faith, Hope, and Trick? the other day, I was struck by how rude and uninviting Buffy was to Faith when she first arrived in Sunnydale. Sure, Faith stormed in with a series of w