Buffy The Vampire Slayer

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - How could academics ever take a character named Buffy seriously?

Misty Bastian, an associate professor of anthropology at Franklin & Marshall College, says that’s a silly question.

Not only is she an unabashed fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the popular television series that concluded last year after a successful seven-year run, but she thinks the show is worthy of deep academic study.

As it turns out, so do many other scholars from around the globe.

From May 28 to May 30, Bastian will attend the Slayage Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Nashville, Tenn., where academics from all over the world will come together to present papers based on their favorite supernatural comedy/drama of all time.

Bastian will be joined by her husband, F&M director of publications John Svatek, who will deliver his own paper - "Fonty Goodness: Graphic Design and Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He also was approached by conference organizers to design the official posters for the event.

"Maybe people who don’t watch the show think this is all silly," Bastian said. "But in actuality, there are many reasons to seriously study ’Buffy’ and praise it."

For starters, "Buffy," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, gives new meaning to the term "girl power."

"Usually, girls’ culture is trivialized on TV," Bastian said. "It’s all about makeup, being catty or being pretty enough. Rarely do young women on TV ask themselves: What does it mean to be powerful? How do I become a good leader? Am I being responsible? Overall, the characters on the show grapple with how to live as moral human beings."

The premise of the show, created by Joss Whedon, is rooted in the fantasy/horror genre: Once in every generation, a girl is chosen to defend humanity against evil. This girl is the Slayer, and she is mystically endowed with unlimited strength to fight creatures of darkness.

Along the way, Buffy is joined by Willow (Alyson Hannigan), a brainy witch, and the brave but sometimes bumbling Xander (Nicholas Brendon), one of the few characters on the show who has no supernatural talents.

Fans of all ages are drawn to the show for many reasons. "Buffy" has wicked-sharp dialogue, poignant drama, killer fight scenes and an endless succession of villains viewers love to hate.

Bastian said the show draws viewers for even deeper reasons.

"Adult themes are always explored on the show, like death, morality and ethics," she said. "The one episode, ’The Body,’ when Buffy’s mom died, is a good example. There were no demons, nothing supernatural in the episode - though everyone was expecting that. Her mother died a natural death and didn’t come back to life. It was a very powerful episode about the human experience."

And yet mythical creatures and fairy tales are real in Buffy’s world, which blurs the line between the literal and the metaphorical.

Sunnydale High School, where Buffy goes to school, is located on a "hellmouth," a hotspot for supernatural activity - mostly negative. So for the students, high school really is hell.

The first season’s "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" episode was about a student who feels so ignored by her peers that she actually becomes invisible.

"That’s the power of myths, symbols and metaphors," Bastian said. "When they become concrete, it forces us to confront what they represent in a dramatic way."

The cultural anthropologist said she will present a paper called "Scared Twins, Evil Twins, Hidden Twins: Doubling and Power in the Buffyverse."

"I did a lot of research on twins in West Africa," Bastian said. "West Africa has the highest incidence of twin births in the world. There, people are very superstitious about multiple births; they perceive it as unnatural, something animals have, like litters. But twins are also powerful figures in mythology."

In the context of Bastian’s paper, however, she doesn’t strictly define twins as siblings conceived at the same time.

"Twins can be two beings that occupy the same structural position at the same time," she said. "Usually, they represent opposite sides of the same spectrum."

"Buffy and Faith are both slayers, so they’re metaphorical twins," she said. "Buffy has a conscience; Faith doesn’t."

Bastian also made similar comparisons to Buffy’s mentor, Ruppert Giles (Anthony Head), and his rival, the unscrupulous magician Ethan Rayne (Robin Sachs).

She looks forward to getting feedback from not only American colleagues, but conference participants from Great Britain, Turkey, Austria, Australia, India, Germany and Singapore.

"The international appeal of the show is incredible," Bastian said. "I have a colleague who has a sister living in Sudan, a really strict Muslim area. She told me her cousin’s favorite show is ’Buffy,’ which seems unbelievable. But then again, why not? It’s about a young woman defying outside powers. It works on different levels in different countries."

Svatek said the conference is organized to be a hybrid of high academics and fanfare.

"The presentations will be highly serious, but it’s all rolled into a fun atmosphere," he said. "There’s going to be a banquet, Buffy showings, just a lot of great stuff. This is also going to be the biggest conference to take place in America. Last year’s was held in Great Britain."

The couple said interest in the show hasn’t declined since it ended in May 2003.

The show lives on in syndication and DVDs, allowing newcomers to ponder the series in the same way fans discuss "The X-Files" or David Lynch’s "Twin Peaks."

And while there are Buffy novels, fan-zines, conventions and toys, the show also is multilayered enough to inspire an unending series of scholarly essays and books with titles such as "Pluralism, Pragmatism and Pals: The Slayer Subverts the Science Wars."

"On ’Buffy,’ the big moral and philosophical questions were asked," Bastian said. "It’s always good for humanity to grapple with those things. The show is too endearing to ever go away - people won’t let it."