Saturday, January 22, 2011

Buffy's Bazookas: bases and penetration

In a post 9/11 world the scene involving the unbelievable break in by Xander and Cordelia into an army base would be a risk WB Network wouldn't take. If two kids can break into an army facility and steal a bazooka, what does that say about our national security?

It is a plan that I could imagine a high school male coming up with (get laid and get a bazooka as a bonus) so I'll suspend some belief to say this plan did work or would at least be attempted. They could have at least made Cordelia dress a little more scantily. Cordelia is clad in silver pleather coat and pants, reflecting some of the low points in 90's fashion.

What bothers me the most is that Buffy shouldn't realistically be alive to use the bazooka in the end. Let me explain. After Angel turns evil after reaching a state of contentment (orgasm?), why doesn't he go back and kill Buffy. The reason why, for the purpose of this series, is obvious. A writer can't kill off a main character even if her newly found nemesis has her slumbering in his own bed. I think it is a problem with a lot of shows and movies that try to be scary/suspenseful. How can a person actually be scared or nervous about the characters, if one knows they are going to survive? If that is taken away from Buffy the Vampire Slayer all it really becomes is a version of Dawson's Creek and other teen angsty soap operas. I'm still enjoying the show though, but not to the point I will watch the rest of series although it is readily available on Netflix.

What I'm getting at is that the evil monsters should have taken over the world and chaos would ensue. Then Buffy could turn it too some sort of b version of a zombie/monster flick. Only then will I be satisfied.


P.S. I do know that this show is aimed at a younger audience who probably are scared a little more easily. Growing up watching horror flicks I tend to be unsatisfied with lots of movies, stories, etc attempting to be scary.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I am totally digging your sense of "WTF" at the classic teen plot lines of the show. I really feel it too, even as a die hard and lover of the show as a teen. The only thing I can really hold onto right now is that even if the plot is contrived there is a lot to be said for the ability to create realistic teenage girl/boy situations, even if they are covered by the contrivance of them being slayer/vampire scenes. Whenever I start to get fed up with the angst angst angst aspects, I try to put myself back into a place of being 13 and wanting to grow up and have boy problems, or wishing life was epic and I had vampire problems.

All that aside, this episode totally did show it's dated-ness which I honestly kind of found hilarious.

Corinne said...

I agree with the ridiculousness of breaking into an army base and stealing weapons ,but I feel like because the entire plot is so over the top and let's face it, unrealistic, I was not at all surprised by a couple of teenagers being able to easily steal weapons. I would have been more surprised if they had gotten caught doing it and been severely punished. I’m not sure if viewers are expected to be distracted by the vampires wreaking havoc on mall shoppers and not notice the silliness of the rest of the plot, but they certainly didn’t fool us. I’m not sure what is more unrealistic, stealing military weapons using sex as your cover OR running into vampires at the mall.