I was trying to remember if Whedon wrote anything after Cabin in the Woods, which he did with Drew Goddard. I think you're right, Marvel Agents of Sheild, the Avengers, and assorted comics may not count. Doctor Horrible was prior to it. And Much Ado About Nothing was well, Shakespeare....although his interpretations/adaptations of each sort of skew existentialist in a way. The people don't totally get along, but how they help each other...and what they do...matters in small little ways.
Also Cabin in the Woods works as a good analogy with Buffy since both are in their own ways meta-narrative commentaries on the horror genre. Cabin is about the last girl standing motif and Buffy is about the blond girl dying in the alley. He subverts both tropes in his own way. And pulls out of the trope the one thing most people like it for -- which is a group of people coming together to solve a problem, despite their differences, combining resources...and hoping for the best. Often sacrificing themselves in the process. It might not make a difference -- but hey at least they went down fighting or tried.
It's sort of that statement in the Angel episode "Epithany" that was written by somebody else... "If nothing we do matters, then everything we do matters.."
I was on a fanboard that emphasized philosophy over other issues regarding Buffy...and they analyzed it from every philosophical angle imaginable, but I always felt the Existentialist perspective worked best.
Just finished reading Vonnegut's Slaughter-House Five...which seems to move along the same territory..."so it goes", Vonnegut repeats almost like a mantra throughout. Wondering if the world is even worth saving or if we can...but the moments revisited perhaps make it worth it. Existentialism by way of Buddhism perhaps? Scalzi's RedShirts with Three Codas...also plays on that theme. I prefer Whedon's take, but mainly because he writes better female characters than the others.
At any rate, thanks for the meta. It resonated for me. ;-)
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Date: 2017-03-20 12:45 am (UTC)Also Cabin in the Woods works as a good analogy with Buffy since both are in their own ways meta-narrative commentaries on the horror genre. Cabin is about the last girl standing motif and Buffy is about the blond girl dying in the alley. He subverts both tropes in his own way. And pulls out of the trope the one thing most people like it for -- which is a group of people coming together to solve a problem, despite their differences, combining resources...and hoping for the best. Often sacrificing themselves in the process. It might not make a difference -- but hey at least they went down fighting or tried.
It's sort of that statement in the Angel episode "Epithany" that was written by somebody else... "If nothing we do matters, then everything we do matters.."
I was on a fanboard that emphasized philosophy over other issues regarding Buffy...and they analyzed it from every philosophical angle imaginable, but I always felt the Existentialist perspective worked best.
Just finished reading Vonnegut's Slaughter-House Five...which seems to move along the same territory..."so it goes", Vonnegut repeats almost like a mantra throughout.
Wondering if the world is even worth saving or if we can...but the moments revisited perhaps make it worth it. Existentialism by way of Buddhism perhaps? Scalzi's RedShirts with Three Codas...also plays on that theme. I prefer Whedon's take, but mainly because he writes better female characters than the others.
At any rate, thanks for the meta. It resonated for me. ;-)