Literary Analysis Essay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Introduction

Buffy the Vampire Slayer the television series was pitched by Joss Whedon and airing from 1996 to 2003. The content for the television series was conceived by Whedon loosely based on the 1992 horror comedy film "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." It ran for seven seasons and 144 episodes first on the WB Network (1996-2001) and later on UPN (2001-2003). The television series received a cult following and has of now achieved classic status in the "Vampire/ Mythical creatures genre" (Kellner 55). It had a spinoff television series, Angel.

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Once More With Feeling is the most critically acclaimed episodes of the television series. It was initially aired on November 6, 2001, as the seventh episode of series number six. The episode has a rating of 9.8/10 on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Once More With Feeling is a musical episode, the only one in the series. It was such a surprise hit that Josh Whedon published the script book on December 1, 2002. Since then, the script book has been used in other adaptations such as plays, musicals and in performance arts courses, film schools to teach students how to write a script book.

Playwriting Analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Once More with Feeling"

Content-wise, the whole script book is 176 pages. One hundred seventy-six pages for one episode sounds like a lot of work involving writing, and it is because for a message to be passed, there must be content. Content is the bulk of work. Content involves what the characters will say or sing, the directions for a sequence of events, the themes, and characterization. In short, content involves the written genre elements that make performance arts, films, musicals and the like appeal to the audience (Bauer 210). It is written to be performed though not to be read. The first hint we get is that content is a must-have in playwriting. Regarding content, the episode "Once More With Feeling" meets the minimum standards, truth be told, it exceeds expectations. Concerning script writing for a major television show episode, 176 pages are necessary and what more it is just the right amount of time for audiences to grasp what is going on and be entertained by it. If the script is too short, then the content will not be portrayed well; this usually leads to negative reviews. Given that the episode has a rating of 9.8/10 shows how much Whedon succeeded in delivering content.

Nobody in 2001 expected a musical episode for the horror drama, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (Albright n.p.). In the script book, the plot of the episode follows a demon terrorizing Sunnydale, which is not news in Buffy's day to day life. However, this time around the demon, called Sweet manipulates people to tell their insecurities, secrets buried in their hearts and subconscious. Secrets spill out, and it sets in motion a turn-around of events, events which might never have occurred if not for the demon casting a spell over Sunnydale. Suddenly, everybody is singing. They are singing by compulsion, but in the end, people reveal secrets which they should have had long ago.

The characters Xander and Anya, though engaged to be married find themselves revealing their insecurities to one another. Xander tells Anya that the wedding cannot happen, canceling the nuptials. Buffy and Spike share a passionate kiss at the end, the demon's spell, having made them close (Whedon 46). Buffy becomes open about how tough the Slayer title and responsibility is for her, an admission that she kept under wraps before. Regarding storyline and characterization, this episode brings about some unexpected story arcs. New alliances are created, friendship comes under doubt, people learn about secrets they were harboring about each other. The musical episode was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Experimentation in playwriting is encouraged. Changing genres was something that wowed audiences and critics alike. Creativity is an essential tool for writing scripts.

The script of "Once More With Feeling" represents the characters bared for the world to see. Nobody is hiding behind any veil. Since all the characters sing, and the songs reveal something about themselves and close associates and loved ones, there are many emotional moments (Albright n.p.). The writing is very raw and baring. Even hardcore, previously thought unfeeling characters such as Spike or confident Xander are revealed to have polar sides. It turns out unsurprisingly that Spike has feelings for Buffy, though audiences of the television series would have already noticed and jumped to conclusions. Xander is not that confident; he is not sure if the marriage with Anya will work. At the core of all the songs, is a blatant appeal to pathos.

For all that the characters are, such as Buffy being a Slayer, they are still at their core very human. The feelings they express are relatable to every human. I think the element of emotional connection created between the characters in the episode and the audiences watching or reading the script is the biggest strength of the episode/script. For every song, be it, Buffy, telling us how life as a Slayer is unappetizing in "Going Through the Motions" or Xander and Anya's "I'll Never Tell," revealing their fears for married life, there are feelings at the base of all the songs (Albright n.p.). The reason the episode had such high ratings on IMDB is precise because the feelings are relatable to us. Besides the supernatural nature of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the script book "Once More with Feeling" shows us the importance of human feelings in playwriting. The musical was just a suitable medium through which the characters could show the audience that they are human, they make mistakes, and they are not perfect.

Dialogue is an essential element of any script. Whedon goes further than dialogue and uses a musical to create a repertoire among the characters. Whedon shows us that he can compose songs too, and very great pieces at that. It was Whedon's very first time writing and directing a musical, and he became instantly famous for how much it was a hit. It is important to note that Whedon is a scriptwriter but not a songwriter (Albright n.p.). The fact that he succeeded in writing songs for actors with primarily no background in music is a testament to the fact that with an excellent narrative, script writers can try out new things.

Whedon could have done it in another way but using a supernatural entity (a demon) to induce people to sing (a musical) revealing their humanity (emotions) was something unheard of before in television or film. The unique musical presentation gave Whedon some license to revisit back old storylines, past conflicts, future worries and test the limit of present situations inBuffy the Vampire Slayer. Once More with Feeling is arguably the best musical ever in history. It cut genres, appealed emotionally to people and most importantly fit seamlessly into the more significant story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The playwriting is nothing short of exceptional.

Works Cited

Albright, Richard S. " [B] reakaway pop hit or... book number?": "Once More, with Feeling" and Genre." Slayage. The International Online Journal of Buffy Studies 5.1 (2005).

Bauer, A. M. "Give Me Something to Sing About': intertextuality in Once More With Feeling." (2016): 209-234.

IMDB. Once More, with Feeling. n.d. 3 December 2018 <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0533466/Kellner, Douglas. "Teens and Vampires: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Twilights Vampire Lovers." Kinderculture. Routledge, 2018. 55-72.

Whedon, Joss. "Once More, With Feeling." Buffy the vampire slayer 6 (2001).