Buffy The Vampire Slayer Analysis

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Media, culture and art has long been divided up, according to the perspective of the high or aristocratic ruling class, between authentic art that is thought provoking, and that which the masses were to passively consume. Though many theorists have added their opinions to the ever-growing list of theories, Adorno introduced one very radical theory, while Baugh pointed out the flaws and put forth his own opinion. The author agrees with Baugh’s idea, that popular culture can be capable of creating the dissonance, that mental uneasiness that causes one to somewhat disengage with the piece and contemplate the bigger world. One example is The Body (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 Episode 16). Another example is Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel Battle Royale.
Takami’s Battle Royale is everything that a conventional novel is not. There is no defined structure, no clever wordplay and no solid resolution to the plot. In addition to the content, which is quite scary, violent and very over-the-top dramatic, it is, at the same time, familiar and comfortable, but in a profoundly disturbing way. Much like Adorno’s analysis and requirement for a fractured and dissonant structure, the structure of this novel may seem standardized on the
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Joss Whedon frequently subverted classical Hollywood stereotypes, the most notable of which is the damsel in distress. Buffy was all about finding inner strength and fighting off your demons, whether internal or external, as represented in the show by real monsters. Baugh stated that one must know the conventions of the medium to recognize when they are being broken. The episode The Body was written and directed by Whedon, and subverts the whole structure of the series up until this point (with the season 4 episode Hush being the only previous episode to break the mold.) In The Body, there is no witty banter, background music, or supernatural