Like Dr. H said, I'm a huge fan of Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music (and also a pretty die-hard Audrey Hepburn fan) so I can certainly understand their value as undeniable classics. There is something in me that wants to consider these classics as "untouchable" pieces of entertainment, but I also think it's important to try to pinpoint why I feel this way. I can honestly appreciate, defend (and enjoy!) Buffy's musical episode. I believe the episode actually calls on me as a viewer to both recognize the tribute-factor, but also keep "Once More, With Feeling" in its rightful place and all of the wonderful The Sound of Music-esque musicals in theirs.
As a genre, musicals are a little bit of everything. Actually, the standards for musicals are pretty high, too; there is the expectation for good acting in addition fabulous singing and dancing, of course! They can make a grand musical number about anything, and audiences totally buy it.
In the same way, I feel like Buffy continually pushes its own standards and gets better. Whedon is able to pull off a seemingly random musical episode without sacrificing any plot development whatsoever.
For what it's worth, I think "Once More, With Feeling" is favorable and even generous in its homage to the Hollywood musical and the "classics" (particularly with Xander/Anya's number which made me want to go watch old movies). Still, the episode kept enough contemporary musical numbers throughout. I took the musical variety as Whedon sort of tipping his hat to the classic style, but still being very much aware about contemporary music and its place in Buffy as a whole.
Furthermore, I took the mixture as Whedon suggesting he knows darn well the cast is not full of stars like Julie Andrews, Natalie Wood, Audrey Hepburn, and Fred Astaire (for the gentlemen!) but that's totally okay and they're going to have fun. I do take comfort in the fact that the cast went through a lot of training and such and didn't just give a half-hearted attempt at such an important genre.
Ultimately, "Once More, With Feeling" is a self-aware tribute to the classics, and its still being Buffy at its heart. Interestingly enough, many Buffy fans respond to this episode as "a classic" within the series. :)
4 comments:
I think self-awareness is one of the best aspects of the show. If the audience knows that the writers and producers know that the show might is silly, not making sense, or just ridiculous, they will have more respect for the show. I do anyway.
I'd have to agree with you Hannah. I believe that Whedon took a calculated risk with the episode that paid off. Not only that, but he took the musical genre and manipulated it to his own unique genre. Although the TV musical has probably been done before, I'm willing to bet it didn't flawlessly combine vampires, relationship problems, personal turmoil, and spontaneous combustion as awesomely as Whedon has.
I think Whedon appreciates the gamble of a good risk. This was totally calculated as Roxanne said, but it was also TAKING a huge chance, and I think the ability to risk people not responding positively to something, is the kind of gumption it takes to make a classic.
I love the word gumption.
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