Waiting for Realism by Schism

BUFFYVERSE

Waiting for Realism

POSTED BY: SCHISM
UPDATED: Friday, April 10, 2009 18:46
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Friday, April 10, 2009 10:54 AM

I'm the guy who wrote the "When Did It Pick Up" thread.

I'm still watching Season 1, and I'm still digging it, but I find it lacks certain realistic elements, despite it's unrealistic premise. More specifically, it's simplified endings.

For instance, when Buffy had a fight in the club with a vampire in front of EVERYONE, it was explained away at the end with a simple "do you think everyone believed the cover story?" And that was it. Never mind that people will have notices (and talked about) how Buffy kicked someone's ass (regardless of their species) at the club.

And I just watched 'The Pack', a great episode about a group of teens possessed by hyena spirits. It had some pretty gruesome scenes (or implied scenes anyway). I loved it. But at the end, once Xander is saved, the other possessed kids run off, never explained.
They quickly brush the horrifying death of the principle aside, like it's no big deal. He was attacked by dogs. In his office. With no evidence of such. That's it, no further explanation needed, not even by the police.

Also....I found it odd how Xander quickly bounced back. He ate a live animal and said some pretty horrible (and revealing) things to his female friends. You'd think he'd be so stunned, horrified, and ashamed that he'd exile himself for a while. But nope, laugh it off as 'one of those things'.

My question is.....

Do the endings get a little more realistic as the series progresses?

Or does the general population's cluelessness and ability to be easily appeased become part of the joke later on?

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Friday, April 10, 2009 11:06 AM

CHRISISALL

The world of Sunnydale never seems entirely real for exactly the reasons you state. And it does become part of the gag(s).

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, April 10, 2009 11:22 AM

DEWRASTLER

It really does become part of the joke.

At one point I think it's the football captain talking about how good they are gonna be this season, especially if they have "a lot less mysterious deaths"

________________________________
People who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do

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Friday, April 10, 2009 11:25 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Schism:

Do the endings get a little more realistic as the series progresses?

The end of season 3 & 7 are awesome any way U look at it.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, April 10, 2009 12:00 PM

ZEEK

They try to explain away some of it at times, but it's never really given a serious attempt at realism.

Some of it just gets more over the top even. If you're looking for realism you're probably in the wrong place. Buffy is more about the characters and their development. The world they live in is not exactly like our own and it's not really the point.

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Friday, April 10, 2009 12:13 PM

SCHISM

I still like it.

But I like it more knowing that it's part of the joke.

;p

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Friday, April 10, 2009 12:18 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Yeah, the mysterious deaths and rampant chaos get to be part of the running gag, and pretty much everyone is in on it.

It seems everyone in town is kind of immune to odd deaths, and just seems to accept them as part of life, not even acting like things are any different anywhere else. It seems like a bit of a comment on life in general, when you look at it that way. Ever known someone who "died strange"? Someone who bought it in an odd or ridiculous fashion? If you didn't know them particularly well, if they weren't close friends or family, chances are you might just kind of shrug and go, "Eh, that's weird, huh?" and go on about your life.

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

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Friday, April 10, 2009 1:10 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Quite a bit of how the police and the public react to things in Sunnydale begins to make a bit more sense when you meet the Mayor in Season Three.

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Friday, April 10, 2009 6:46 PM

JLIN

Quote:
Originally posted by Schism:
Also....I found it odd how Xander quickly bounced back. He ate a live animal and said some pretty horrible (and revealing) things to his female friends. You'd think he'd be so stunned, horrified, and ashamed that he'd exile himself for a while. But nope, laugh it off as 'one of those things'.

I am also new to Buffy and just wrapped up watching all the seasons of Buffy and Angel and it was well worth sticking it out. As far as Xander eating a live animal, stick around because he will comment on it in the future. That was one of the best parts about watching all these right in a row--all those little jokes that someone might forget five seasons later, they were fresh in my memory. And beleive me, there were tons of them.

Thank Universal for airing Firefly in HD at
http://universalhd.com/Firefly/

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