The television series Buffy and Angel revolve around radical conceptions of family. Indeed, their coherence depends on the establishment of nontraditional families that admit vampires, demons, witches, werewolves, and other bizarre characters without censuring them for their peculiarities. This work argues that what makes these characters enduring and engaging is their critical family connections—for their most involved struggles occur not within the graveyard, but around the dinner table, just as the most challenging adversarial forces that they must face are not demons or vampires but the stuff of everyday life. What does “family” encompass within these two series? How does it relate to concepts of gender, sexuality, power and the supernatural as they emerge from the shows’ complex narratives? This book explores such questions. It also examines the “chosen family” (an idea marketed specifically by successful programs such as Friends and Sex in the City within the past ten years), juxtaposing it against various images of the fractured biological family displayed in both Buffy and Angel. Through eight chapters addressing various family-related aspects within both shows, this work plots the trajectory of this unstable notion of family, even as it is transformed, remediated, and rendered unrecognizable from a “family values” perspective by the unique and supernatural relationships that proliferate in Buffy and Angel.

author: Jes Battis asin: 078642172X binding: Paperback list price: $35.00 USD amazon price: $31.50 USD other availability:

Posted by Vladimir Wed, 03/21/2007 - 20:29

 

I Am Legend's Junk Science: Hollywood sci-fi vs. reality

In the new blockbuster I Am Legend, virologist Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the sole survivor of a man-made plague that has wiped out all of humankind -- and turned those who didn't die into creepy, vampire-like mutants.

read more...

Chapter 13

Lazily Ernest stretched his limbs on the beach of Atlantic City. The sea, that purger of sick souls, had washed away the fever and the fret of the last few days. The wind was in his hair and the spray was in his breath, while the rays of the sun kissed his bare arms and legs. He rolled over in the glittering sand in the sheer joy of living.

read more...

I must oblige...

We kiss. Juices mingling, his skin hot against mine. I kiss his cheek, then down to a warm neck. Lips brush velvet skin, tongue tracing a moist line along the pulsing heaven of an artery buried beneath. A hoarse whisper escapes his throat, begging for more. Does he know what he asks? I think not, but who would want to disappoint such a needy, yearning being?....not I...

I pull back, drowning in the heady scent of lust and lifeforce. The draw is too strong though, I cannot fight it, do not want to if truth be told.

read more...

Darkened Pathways...

Walking along the path you built,
Searching for the life you lost,
Darkened skies and greystone cobbles pave your way.
Stumbling and picking yourself up again and again,
Stopping to wonder if life is worth finding but you always continue on.
Sometimes you get the courage to look back. All you see are corpses rotting away.
Almost choking, nearly gagging, riddled with guilt,
The life you lost you threw away, not caring at what expense or cost.
Not caring what others think, do or say.

read more...

Prof. Fears For Safety After SJSU Student Writes Vampire Essay

May 15, 2007 (NBC11.com / San Jose, CA) -- An essay fictionalizing murder has a San Jose State University professor no longer conducting his writing class. English professor Mitch Berman said Tuesday that in light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, he did not feel safe teaching the course, NBC11's Daniel Garza reported.

read more...