Blog 8

Buffy the Vampire Slayer uses countless different metaphors within its episodes to parallel that of a normal high school student’s life. Teens often deal with the challenges of not fitting in, feeling invisible, peer pressure, relationship troubles, parents, and misunderstanding. In Buffy’s world, the high school is faced with real monsters and dark magic. They mingle with werewolves, zombies, witches, demons, and especially vampires. But what are these monsters really representing? Inner fears, relationships, and high school in general. For example, in the episode, “Out of sight…out of mind”, a young girl roams the halls unnoticed by everyone until she finally becomes invisible in the literal sense. This is obviously a play on the average teenagers struggle with identity and fitting in. In another episode, “The Pack”, Xander is possessed by the spirit of the hyena, along with some other boys, and they proceed to harass and taunt the other kids using gang tactics. This is referencing high school kid’s seemingly “Pack mentality”, with which they pray on other less popular students. The metaphors are very obvious, yet so entertaining that they are almost hard to recognize. I thought it was very interesting and relevant that “High School is Hell” pointed out Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Here, the monster spiraling out of control is a metaphor for what might happen if science and technology cross the line.  Even back then authors used underlying meanings to describe less talked about topics. Perhaps the episodes were so entertaining to its viewers because deep down we realized those kids were living our lives.

Blog 7

I just watched “Innocence” an episode in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. In this episode, Buffy’s vampire love Angel undergoes a tragic transformation. Angel was cursed long ago to lose his soul (something normally not granted to vampires) once he experiences a truly happy moment. Angel and Buffy decide they are in love and want to MAKE love. Once the deed is done, Angel experiences a truly happy moment in Buffy’s arms. Unfortunately at that point his soul is released and he becomes his evil vampire alter ego, Angelus. He is from then on a completely different person. This was interesting to me because the series tends to parallel real life situations, and this reminded me of the typical, “After we had sex he just changed”. Angel continues to kill innocent people as Buffy desperately searches for him. Every time she gets close, he kills another person. She soon realizes she has to kill the man she loves. Buffy is distraught and shocked. However, she does choose her duty and morality over her heart. This can also be paralleled to real life choices. Sometimes we must fulfill our duty and do what’s right for everyone as a whole, even if it hurts us. Eventually in the series Buffy is forced to kill him, and her life continues. It makes me think about what people in our community would choose. Buffy is a slayer and has always been obligated to protect people. If I had to give up something I loved so dearly for the good of others, could I do it? To be honest I can’t answer that, even though I know what I should say.

Blog 6

I think I have finally figured out the theme to “Firefly”. The standards of their community are not as they are labeled. The Brown Coats are outcasts, thieves, and rebels. They run from the government, they reject conformity, and they survive using less than honorable tactics. The Alliance consists of conformed citizens who work normal jobs and live under a supposedly grand unified government. They go to work every day, live in close communities, and obey the law. Pretty straight forward, right? However, the Brown Coats seem to be much more unified than the Alliance. For example, Mal steals Paradiso’s medicine supply, but when he sees its suffering community he returns the goods immediately. Mal knows that Niska has made it blatantly obvious that if the heist is not finished successfully, he will kill him. He disregards this and puts his own life in jeopardy in order to spare the planets habitants. Also, Inara, a non-crew member prostitute, kindly converses with crew members and even comes to save them when they are in the sheriff’s custody. She knows she could be arrested and jailed, but she comes to save her friends. Even then, before they are rescued, the rest of the crew on the ship will not abandon Mal and Zoe even when an intimidating passenger attempts to assume command by force. They are all interconnected, even in their independence. Perhaps this is why the Alliance is so harsh towards the Brown Coats. They may fear this deep connection between people could inspire an overthrow of government. The Brown Coats are extremely loyal to each other.

Blog 5

I just watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1, episode 4. It is titled, “Teacher‘s Pet”. The episode was about a mysterious new teacher appearing at the high school and murdering male virgins. Her name is Ms. French, and it turns out she is a giant praying mantis, or “She Mantis”. She repeatedly lures men back to her home and proceeds to devour their heads. Obviously Buffy isn’t going to have any of that, so she ends up using sonar to disrupt the bug’s nervous system and then hack it up with a machete. This episode made me think about several things. First I pondered the fact that males are very gullible and easily manipulated when it comes to beautiful women. Perhaps it is something built into the male genome. However, males are supposedly supposed to be the defenders of the family/household, so why do they have such a massive flaw? Second, I wondered how easy it would be to get a psycho substitute at OSU. We do background checks, but who knows how thorough they are. Maybe serial killers make good teachers. Third, I thought about praying mantis in general. The mantis is thought of as a good sign or good luck in almost every other country except the United States. They are seen widely as a religious sign in Asia and the Middle East, but here they were originally thought to blind men and kill horses. They are very popular for their well-known cannibalistic mating habits. The female tends to eat her lovers head after they are done. The only logic provided for this is that she is hungry and in a constant state of survival mode. Super romantic.

Blog 4

I just watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1, episode 10. It is titled, “Nightmares”. The episode was about the people of Sunnydale being terrorized by their own worst nightmares. How did this come about? A little local boy named Billy has fallen into a coma and has entered the nightmare world. In his struggle to return to reality he has brought this parallel world back with him to Sunnydale. As a result, each resident is facing his or her nightmares, but in full consciousness and reality. This includes poor Buffy facing her father as he puts the blame on her for her parent’s divorce, as well as the popular Cordelia realizing her physique has been altered to that of a “nerds”.  This episode made me think about what would happen if we all eventually had to face our nightmares. How could we cope? Our entire structure would fall apart. People would panic and riot. It makes me think about how we might want to prepare for the worst. What if nothing could bother us in such a way? If people could just accept the good and bad, maybe there wouldn’t be any need for fear. It would be like a protective barrier. To be numb and safe from all that is terrifying to each individual. This idea is virtually impossible, and silly. However, in theory it sounds like a perfect world (to me). If there was no fear, there would be significantly less problems with the world. To simply not let anything or anyone get to us anymore would be amazing.

Blog 3

I just watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1, episode 11. It is titled, “Out of mind…out of sight”. The episode was about a vengeful girl who had actually become invisible (in the literal sense) because no one at school noticed her or even knew who she was. This girl decided to wreak havoc on the entire school, particularly focusing on a very popular girl named Cordelia. Her antics start off as more innocent and playful, but as she becomes increasingly angry she begins to put people’s lives in danger, such as pushing them down the stairs or suffocating them with a plastic bag. In the end, she tries to give Cordelia a “facial” with a scalpel but is finally stopped by Buffy and the FBI. The FBI then proceeds to place her in a class full of other invisible kids who are learning to be assassins. Twisted ending, right? This episode made me think about all of the kids who were ignored and neglected in high school. I wonder if any of them were ever actually peeved enough to harm those who were popular throughout high school. How much does it take to really push someone over the edge? It could be a good lesson to our college students this year. We need to respect each other and reach out to one another.  Human compassion is one of the most valued things our society possesses. That shy kid in class may just need a little bit of time and talking to really open up. After all, we don’t need an enraged campus lunatic desperate for attention (or revenge), do we? This episode also made me think about what our government may or may not really do with the lunatics they do catch. I wonder if they actually can use them to their benefit.

Blog 2

From what I understand from this video is that the Serenity crew is a group of Rebels, or “Brown Coats”, refusing to join the Alliance. The crew’s survival techniques consist of cargo runs and smuggling. They clearly displayed that in this particular episode when they pull off a train heist. Normally I would peg them as the bad guys for this however they are forced to live this way, along with the rest of their current society.  The Alliance is large and powerful, and seemingly corrupt. It is hard to put a label on who is right and wrong. Obviously the outskirt planets are suffering yet this giant allied government is doing nothing to help them. This is made obvious as the crew explores a planet whose inhabitants are deteriorating from their surrounding conditions. The sickness is treatable but the people do not have sufficient funds for medicine so they are left to rot and ignored. It makes me wonder if this series is supposed to parallel some current situations in our world today. Perhaps it is directed at the communist countries, criticizing them for their forceful techniques. Or maybe it is a parallel to the fact that most of the countries that are prospering and organized don’t reach out to those that are unindustrialized and suffering. To me this show is depicting our future economy, in which technology has changed but politics and warfare have not. Our habits and established government will stick no matter how far into the future our civilization gets.  

Blog 1

My name is Caitlin Dunbar and I am an OSU student majoring in Pharmacy. I commute from Lewis Center every morning.  I currently am employed at the Polaris Dairy Queen and have been for over two years. When I’m not at school or work you will usually catch me watching my nine year old brother, Jake, or out with friends. My father works in Cincinnati and has to commute there every day (a two hour drive), so I rarely see him and assume most responsibilities for my brother. I am a night person, so I usually go out around nine or ten pm (or eleven on nights I work). I don’t sleep a lot, but I’ve never really needed much sleep. I am a very creative and outgoing person, but until I open up I come off as generally shy. Usually a person’s first impression of me is completely wrong. I have a very big heart, but I know when to put my foot down. I’m not currently in any OSU sports (no time), but I do enjoy athletics. I’m somewhat of an artist, so it’s common to catch me daydreaming and doodling on whatever is in front of me. I have a strong interest in medicine and science. I would’ve been in school training to be a doctor if I weren’t so squeamish around blood. Pharmacy is my copout. I am very excited to meet new people and make new friends at OSU. I want the whole college experience, besides living on campus.