Thursday, October 15, 2009

Fear: The Princess Screamed Once

I saw one particular detail of this essay that I wanted to focus on, and that is how the author is describing how Buffy doesn't fit the princess role. I thought was kind of interesting since she doesn't fit the typical hero role, and both roles are at least partially characterized by gender. A hero is supposed to be a strong, muscly man. Buffy is a hot high school girl. A princess should be a delicate, incapable beauty. Buffy, as pointed out by the author, "... breaks into the tower... swings through the air feet first in battle..." (Wilcox 149). So she basically acts the opposite of a princess, although she physically fits the role. The bottom line is that we keep seeing this theme that Buffy likes to "break the mold" and act the opposite of what her role should stereotypically be.
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4 comments:

  1. AnhThuOctober 19, 2009 at 6:51 PM

    I think it is more interesting that Buffy does not fit the role we all intend for her to play. The whole idea is creative and it keeps us wondering, instead of expecting.

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  2. Tessa WilsonOctober 19, 2009 at 6:54 PM

    I really like your insight into this article. Maybe Joss Whedon is trying to illustrate something about stereotypes. When you look at all of his shows, this is a common theme. Firefly shows space captains as cowboys—as “bad guys.” But really, they are the ones fighting for basic morality. In Angel Angel looks like a big scary vampire, but you would never expect him to be the ONE in his race with a soul. I think that Joss Whedon is illustrating that our typical views of each other—a cheerleader, a prep, a jock, an emo kid—are wrong. That people can be more than just their labels. We can be identified on more than just a single definition, and oftentimes, that definition is a portrayal of only the smallest part of ourselves.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 19, 2009 at 6:57 PM

    It's also the characteristics of these show: acting the opposite of stereotype, which makes us surprising.

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  4. ZachRyan33October 20, 2009 at 6:14 PM

    Ya Tess, people are a lot different than what we expect when we get past stereotypes. I had plenty of emo friends in high school...

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