I too have watched the series after it was complete and in marathon sessions of multiple episodes that began with the later seasons.
I do think that makes a huge difference. BTW, where did you start? If you started with the late seasons, did you have any difficulty "sliding in" so to speak? I watched it in strictly chronological order and can't imagine it any other way because so much of what happens in any given episode builds directly on what came before - sometimes seasons before. With other series I'll cheat, I'll jump ahead, etc; I was never tempted to do that with Buffy.
It's a woman's journey from daddy's girl into the grown up world with all it's ugliness that makes you want to run away
And I'll add, a mommy's girl as well - and I don't mean that as a perjorative term; Joyce is so central to her life in a way I understand as the daughter of a single (divorced) mom, as you know.
to the woman, who does not actually conquer life, but rather learns to trust her instincts and gains the real power, that we can't control what life throws at us, but we have the power to decide how we deal with it, how we live it.
Yes, exactly. Our culture is very insistent that winning, success are the important things, the measure of us (how much money we make etc) but the important things are whether we can handle our difficulties with a measure of grace. It's not about getting it perfect, it's about trying. And it's about young people who live in a world with few stable parental figures, trying to measure out their own moral compasses, and learn that what we're told growing up is not necessarily the truth; it's up to us to suss that out for ourselves.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-17 08:21 pm (UTC)It's what I do. :)
I too have watched the series after it was complete and in marathon sessions of multiple episodes that began with the later seasons.
I do think that makes a huge difference. BTW, where did you start? If you started with the late seasons, did you have any difficulty "sliding in" so to speak? I watched it in strictly chronological order and can't imagine it any other way because so much of what happens in any given episode builds directly on what came before - sometimes seasons before. With other series I'll cheat, I'll jump ahead, etc; I was never tempted to do that with Buffy.
It's a woman's journey from daddy's girl into the grown up world with all it's ugliness that makes you want to run away
And I'll add, a mommy's girl as well - and I don't mean that as a perjorative term; Joyce is so central to her life in a way I understand as the daughter of a single (divorced) mom, as you know.
to the woman, who does not actually conquer life, but rather learns to trust her instincts and gains the real power, that we can't control what life throws at us, but we have the power to decide how we deal with it, how we live it.
Yes, exactly. Our culture is very insistent that winning, success are the important things, the measure of us (how much money we make etc) but the important things are whether we can handle our difficulties with a measure of grace. It's not about getting it perfect, it's about trying. And it's about young people who live in a world with few stable parental figures, trying to measure out their own moral compasses, and learn that what we're told growing up is not necessarily the truth; it's up to us to suss that out for ourselves.