First, Cult TV can be analysed through textual analysis and the intertextual context from which it draws. He states that Cult TV is best thought of as a group of texts derived from the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror. One can see the parallels this draws to Buffy where in 'Goodbye Iowa' and 'The I in Team' where the episodes draw on the likes of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. On a wider scale, Buffy is intertextual within what she is - a Vampire Slayer - where the myth, if you like, of vampires dates back hundreds of years and to Polidori's Vampyre (1819) as well as the likes of demons and underworlds in general. One could argue that the battle against demons and the underworld and good vs. evil can be drawn from a Biblical sense where demons are from the underworld of Hell.
Secondly, Cult TV is defined by the selected meaning that secondary texts portray of the primary text. This comes in the form of journalistic writing and other communication mediums. Mostly, Hills focuses on fan magazines (specifically UK Cult Times), noting that Cult TV becomes Cult TV as the secondary texts activate meanings and associated messages of the primary texts which can attract or deter audiences.
Lastly, Cult TV depends on fan practices and fan activities whereby the text being referred to reached across mediums to blogs, merchandise, appreciation societies and fan-fiction (which I loathe). In terms of Buffy it is easy to see why the series gathered such a following.
According to Whedon (cited in Wilcox & Lavery, 2002), 'quality TV creates a new genre by mixing old ones'. As aforementioned, Buffy draws on ancient myth and legend to create its world and characters; it draws on horror, teen drama, the supernatural and literary canon. Adding to this, it becomes Cult TV because despite the series fantastical elements, it holds real-life issues within its storyline - close-knit community, themes of love and hate, good and evil, and acceptance of unlikely characters (Buffy herself as the Slayer and as seen in 'The I in Team' Alyson's possible venture into lesbianism) all of which, in some way or another, are challenges that people have to face in reality. Hill (2004) encapsulates this in saying that 'Cult TV...works serially, by reiteration and accumulation of detail to make these fantastic worlds appear normal within a format and narrative structure'. He goes on to say that Cult TV becomes so because it creates a history that grows with its audience - when the characters remember, the audience remembers too - and so the characters themselves become almost tangible and identifiable in reality.
The idea of Cult TV being realistic is furthered through Appreciation Societies, journalistic writing where the directors, writers and cast are interviewed and 'Behind the Scenes' footage is aired so that the viewers are no longer 'viewing' but also engaging.
Through reading the secondary texts of Weeks 9 & 10, it becomes apparent as to why Twilight, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and most recently 50 Shades of Grey draw on such fan followings - granted that these are books turned into movies and therefore their narrative structures aren't serial but more linear. Twilight draws on the idea of Vampires and Werewolves, and Harry Potter brings to life wizards and witches and that of every fantastical creature under the sun while The Hunger Games unfolds in a dystopian world - forming parallels with Philip K. Dick (specifically, from what I can gather, Man in the High Castle) and lastly, 50 Shades of Grey which is more sexually fantastical than anything else but it is fantasy nonetheless. By looking at all these texts, Buffy and Wizards of Earthsea included, the most common element is that these are alternate, imagined universes whether they take place presently, in the future or a hundred years ago.
As soap operas offer escapism to the stereotypically bored housewife, Fantasy, Sci-Fi (and speculative fiction), Horror and Cult TV all offer a world that is far from our present realities. Each does this in their own way, through myths, legends, theories of metaphysics and perceptions of reality, dystopias or sexual escapism. Which is perhaps why they develop such a following: Like Juliana Frink became obsessed with the idea of a better world, it seems fans become obsessed with the idea of magic, and horror, vampires and slayers and will go to any extremes to make these a reality.
Hi Lusinda,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your argument on the importance of secondary sources and intertextuality. I'm often amazed to see where writers and creators based their works on, or what other influences they draw upon to try and give their work depth.
Especially in Buffy, Joss Whedon uses the vampire genre but adds in elements of soap, teenage drama and sitcom too bring a fresh approach to the vampire genre. I also liked the way you explored more recent phenomena and were able to draw argument to their origins to the worlds of fantasy and alternate realities, nice link to P.K.Dick!
In terms of your ideas there are a lot and sometimes its a bit hard to decipher them all. But really interesting nonetheless!