Absolutely great stuff - so much to think about. Many congrats!!! :) I was glad that you went some way to explaining the use of religious iconography on vampires as repellents; as we're told endlessly that demons (vampires) existed before men, I always wondered how vampires would have been fought off in pre-Christian times - with Poseidon's trident or a stone figure of a female deity? Hmmm. The bit with Buffy and the nuns in S4 always struck me as quite anachronistic to the story; particularly because her supposed one true love (er, that would be Angel) preferred nuns above others as his choice of victims. Seemed almost to kitschy. Buffy in heaven - didn't Anya mention that there were many heavenly dimensions? Why does she as a demon know about heavenly dimensions? All gods are created equal here - they are merely powerful beings, hardly omnipotent or unknowable. I'm not sure if you might have wanted to mention Illyria here - after all he/she was a God King? Er, I read your essay in conjunction with a piece by Michel Foucault on various things including religion, culture and power and was struck by his idea of the pastor/pasteur, and how Buffy came to represent this somewhat during S7 particularly in the way she behaved with the potentials. (I know your feelings on S7 so I won't go too far in, merely just to give two tiny quotes from MF): "One seeks salvation for oneself, certainly, but one can do this only if one accepts the authority of another." and "In Christianity the absolute honour is precisely to be obedient." Seemed to resonate in some conjunction with all the things you mentioned.
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Date: 2005-01-03 12:11 pm (UTC)I was glad that you went some way to explaining the use of religious iconography on vampires as repellents; as we're told endlessly that demons (vampires) existed before men, I always wondered how vampires would have been fought off in pre-Christian times - with Poseidon's trident or a stone figure of a female deity? Hmmm.
The bit with Buffy and the nuns in S4 always struck me as quite anachronistic to the story; particularly because her supposed one true love (er, that would be Angel) preferred nuns above others as his choice of victims. Seemed almost to kitschy.
Buffy in heaven - didn't Anya mention that there were many heavenly dimensions? Why does she as a demon know about heavenly dimensions?
All gods are created equal here - they are merely powerful beings, hardly omnipotent or unknowable.
I'm not sure if you might have wanted to mention Illyria here - after all he/she was a God King?
Er, I read your essay in conjunction with a piece by Michel Foucault on various things including religion, culture and power and was struck by his idea of the pastor/pasteur, and how Buffy came to represent this somewhat during S7 particularly in the way she behaved with the potentials. (I know your feelings on S7 so I won't go too far in, merely just to give two tiny quotes from MF):
"One seeks salvation for oneself, certainly, but one can do this only if one accepts the authority of another."
and
"In Christianity the absolute honour is precisely to be obedient."
Seemed to resonate in some conjunction with all the things you mentioned.