Buffy The Vampire Slayer: A New Look

So these days I've been revisiting my teens and watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer all over again. Yes yes I know-how geeky! But I embraced my geekdom a long long time ago. Anyway, now as I am watching it, I realise why I liked it so much. It is a really really good show. Why? Because it always surprised: whether in terms of character development or innovative story lines. But what made Buffy different and what makes it stand out even now is how it addressed story telling. Joss Whedon has made a sincere and mostly successful attempt at changing the way a narrative is relayed on screen. Some episodes have been written so beautifully it is a wonder they haven't received enough credit for them. ( though in the Buffy fan world I think they are definitely revered) Anyway, so I have chosen my top 3 Buffy episodes. Many of them have spoilers so don't read ahead if ..blah blah disclaimer I can't be bothered to type out.

3. Once More With Feeling 6x7

Joss Whedon's musical episode certainly seemed to challenge the actors. No dubbing, just their own voices- some tuneless and some others pleasant to the ear. Okay Sarah Michelle Gellar's (what a long name! henceforth will be referred to as SMG. Sorry I hate it when people do this but well.. too bad!) voice is a little whiny and thin. And out of all the actors it is Amber Benson who has the best voice- quite lovely actually. But all this is immaterial. This episode's strong point is that the actors sang in their own voices. I mean, think about it. If you were in your own musical wouldn't you like to sing in your own voice? Even if your voice made caterwauling cats go deaf? (In my secret musical-often performed in the dark where annoying, squidgy siblings can't reach you with their derisive laughter, I have been Jewel-ya right! and even Tori Amos which doesn't suit me one bit but who cares?) Anyway side stepping that rather long aside-the point of course is, it's your musical so it should be your voice.

What is most interesting is that Whedon chose to do this episode here. This is a pretty rough time for all the characters. So as a musical it is pretty depressing. And well from this episode onwards the characters start losing their grip on things. What happens here is the trigger for what happens later. The story:A demon enters Sunnydale to spread death and destruction(Umm.. duh.) and introduces a little song and dance in the bargain. Good thing? Only thing is, if you dance too long and too hard you burst into flames. Very unwillingly, the characters end up singing about things they would never speak about. Pandora's box opens and the hilarity lasts only as long as the song does. And in some cases not even that long.

I always used to wonder why they never made Alyson Hannigan sing in this episode. All she does is some back up here and there. Then I realised that out of all the characters, Willow is the happiest. Buffy sings about feeling apathetic and well dead to what's happening around her, Spike sings about unrequited love, Tara sings about Willow's betrayal, Giles about his concern for Buffy, Xander and Anya about their marriage related fears and Dawn, well Dawn sings about being a teenager which lets face it, is too complicated to address here. Willow's the only one who is not insecure. She's dabbling in magic she shouldn't be, she's also messing with Tara's head and is in blissful ignorance (rather arrogance) of the consequences to her actions. Actually her arrogance is what makes what happens later so tragic. She also gets her first blow when Buffy reveals that she was never in hell. Anyway definitely one of my favorite episodes. I loved the group song in the beginning. Anya's tirade about the evil bunnies (lol I am imagining innocent little bunnies blinking here) is probably my favorit-est song on this episode.





2. Hush 4x10

Wow! My respect for Whedon really went up (though it was pretty sky high already) when I watched this one. He definitely deserved the Emmy nomination for this one. He might have even deserved to win it. I made my sister watch it recently and she freaked out. How brilliantly brilliantly directed and definitely one of the creepiest episodes ever on the series. So the story is about the Gentlemen- wonderful wonderful make up. So very creepy. From their suits and the perpetually plastered smiles on their faces to the eloquent hand gestures and polite nods they are different from any of the creeps we see on this show. Like my sister said "Monsters should not be refined." So these Gentlemen arrive in Sunnydale to steal people's voices and more. As the rhyme goes:

"Can't even shout, Can't even cry
the gentlemen are coming by,
knocking on windows knocking on doors
they need to take 7 and they might take yours.
Can't call your mom, can't say a word,
You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard."

Most of this episode has no dialogue in it which is what makes it so brilliant. It is absolutely riveting to watch. The characters have lost their voices and the consequences range from hilarious to downright frightening. Take the moment when Xander calls Buffy and realises he can't talk or Buffy who picks up the phone and exasperatedly puts it down when nothing but air comes out of her mouth. Though there is no dialogue there is actually a lot of talking. Violent hand gestures, pithy messages and a hilarious presentation of the case by Giles. The background noise is supplied by dramatic music playing up to whatever is happening in the scene. The music therefore becomes the narration. Of course the scariest thing is that when you scream, no one hears you. I think my favourite parts of this episode have to be: when the characters first realise they are dumb, Xander's misunderstanding with Spike, The Gentlemen floating all over town as if part of some macabre musical and the last part. Definitely the last part. Buffy and Riley finally get to know about each others' identities but when they sit down to talk about it, words fail them as they face each other in what is actually the most silent part of the episode. I don't think I can say enough to do it credit. Watch it in order to understand not just mine but everybody's fascination with it.


1. The Body 5x16

My plan, initially was to have "Hush" top the list but then I watched The Body and I was incredibly moved. I going to try and not gush about this one. I feel like I would do grave insult to the episode by doing this.

This episode picks off from the end of the previous one where Buffy finds her mother lying dead on the couch. The episode is played out in Four Acts. The First Act is done in one long shot. It is a scene that is heartbreaking with its lack of drama (actually the entire episode is) and credit for this must go to SMG. Her initial denial, her regression to childlike behaviour on finding her mother, her panicked phone call to 911, her dazed walk through the house when she is first told her mother is dead to the final scene in the Act when she reacts with horror as she refers to her mother as "the body".

The Second Act relays Dawn's response to the event. While Buffy is put together with cracks showing up in places that hint of a delayed but more devastating breakdown, Dawn's reaction is immediate. She is a child, her mother is dead-her world just falls apart and everybody is there to witness it. I like that Whedon decided to keep the audience away from the dialogue that is going on between Buffy and Dawn when she first tells her what has happened. He allows you to place yourself in that space-what would you say what would your reaction be? Also it is almost like he is doing the decent thing by giving the characters their privacy.

The Third Act shows all their friends' reactions. Of these I find Willow's the most touching. Not only because Alyson Hannigan acts it brilliantly, she was the one I could most identify with. Her reactions: Not knowing what to say to your best friend, panicking about it, not wanting to face it and the endless heartbreaking compassion that one does not want to feel are all essayed brilliantly. This episode is famous for Anya's monologue. Following a spate of inappropriate questions the monologue addresses the confusion and shock we all face when death comes along. Though she is new to being human, Anya has never been anything but when she says she does not know what to do.

The Fourth Act is in the hospital. All the characters have gathered to hear about the cause of death. There is a devastating final scene in the morgue and it is perhaps one of my favourite Buffy endings along with "Hush".

In terms of technique this episode was handled exactly opposite to Hush. While Hush has minimal dialogue it is filled with a dramatic background score. The Body has no music. The only sounds present are everyday noises. So there is the sound of a distant car going by and the sound of wind chimes in the background but otherwise it is a very quiet episode. The technique highlights the fact that death happens suddenly and quickly. The lack of drama shows us how ordinary it really is. It treats the event like any of us might in life. There is no well chosen background music, maudlin speeches or any speeches for that matter or the shedding of manipulative tears designed to choke you. Even the light in the episode is warm and bright. It's so real it is frightening. You don't feel like it is happening in some alternate, unreal universe(which it could have been considering the supernatural theme of this show) it is in fact happening in someone's drawing room, that someone is wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. And it's all real. That is what this episode is saying-this could be you. And in a world of television where every experience is designed to numb you, pull you away from your reality, one that places it back in front of you has to be commended. Especially when done with sincerity and compassion.

Love, Peace, Music

So Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" is releasing this week. I am (obviously) led to think about the first time I watched Wadleigh's masterpiece. The 6 hour documentary which is heady, wild, incoherent in bits, can transport you to that decade, to that field, that mud pit where love, music and feces all mixed happily together. So you may wrinkle your nose at all the dirty naked people but god! they look so happy- you want a slice of that. You even want to make a peace sign and spout cliched lines about love. There is a spirit of harmony that is palatable. Maybe it's naive to think that there were more than just drugs, music, unprotected sex and pollution happening(I was told that the field upon which they camped was so completely destroyed it took years to rejuvenate it) but it really laid the platform for some of the most important musical influences,-Crosby Stills Nash, Santana, The Who, Joe Cocker and many more.

Some of the most memorable performances for me were(Since then I've watched them many times over but these are my first and yes, lasting impressions- I can only imagine what it must have felt like to have been there to witness it in person):

Joe Cocker's spin on The Beatles hit "With a little help for my friends" is miles ahead of the original. His freakish yells coupled with the almost operatic soars provided by the backup singers(whom I thought were two black women until I watched the film and realised they were two bone thin men with long dirty hair) makes this song iconic, moves it beyond being a cutesy if tad bit melancholic song to a painful anthem on salvation. Cocker alternates between screaming this song - wrenching and twisting your gut with thorny chaotic memories, and then goes onto soothe you by crooning, tenderly, "What do I do when my love is away?", urging you to treat love as the wounded bird it is. Cocker looks out of this world(they say he was on an acid trip) with straggly bits of his hair swirling in the wind, face screwed up as he belts out note after note(oh my god those notes). And you know that when he finishes the song and looks out at the crowd to wave, to acknowledge the shared resurrection, he never expects to feel like that again. And neither should you.

Santana's "Soul Sacrifice"-Through an erotic, beautiful clash of sound a 20 something Santana (along with his other 20 something band members including the prodigious Micheal Shrive with one of the most exciting drum solos ever) sets out to tease and titillate you till you are left shattered by the unspeakable things he is doing to you through his guitar. Goosebumps rise everywhere and your head is now mindless, filled with glorious liquid sound that quivers and explodes in your head without any warning. Unlike Cocker, Santana does not let you think. All you can do is watch and listen with mouth half open, submerged, in something you will not understand.



















When Pete Townsend begins with "See Me Feel Me" it seems like he is begging for your acknowledgment. Which you're more than willing to give.Your attention (it seems ) is vital. When the songs picks up he transforms into a malevolent presence as if now having hooked you in, he no longer cares- he knows you're not going to leave. This is probably one of the most heady songs of The Who. The visual makes it all the more compelling. Pete Townsend, with his fringed white jacket shines in the darkness like some angle of deliverance. From what I have heard about the song, I know it is supposed to be about a deaf and blind child who becomes a prodigy of sorts at pinball and as a result becomes an idol for his followers.

If you haven't watched-by watched, I mean a dozen things,most importantly- submerged yourself in this film, I suggest you do. Especially if you are disillusioned, and music today has left you cold and dry. Bow your head down and listen to the masters at their moment of inception.