Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Conference will focus on TV show’s themes of redemption, mortality

Consider these questions:

Why would Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a television show created by a self-avowed ’’angry atheist,’’ attract legions of Christian fans? Or, on a broader scale, why would such a show attract the attention of serious scholars from several rigorous academic disciplines?

These answers and many more will unfold this weekend as the largest-ever academic conference devoted to a single television program takes place at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel downtown. A total of 190 academic papers from around the globe will be presented at The Slayage Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It begins Friday morning.

Physicists, philosophers, theologians and other academicians will present their takes on Buffy and its themes of redemption, mortality, evil and what it means to be human. The fact that scholars are coming from as far away as Australia and Europe speaks to the show’s appeal and depth of meaning, said David Lavery, a Middle Tennessee State University professor who is organizing the conference.

The main drama on Buffy comes from life in a high school that’s built over an entrance to hell. But devotees say the show has many other levels.

’’Even though this is a show about Southern California, it has some kind of amazing appeal,’’ he said. ’’I don’t think it’s at all corny to say that it speaks to the human condition.’’

Jana Riess, author of What Would Buffy Do? The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide, said the show is not formulaic and never preaches to viewers.

’’One of the best aspects of the show is its willingness to entertain complex questions. It dares to leave people a little more ambiguous and let people think for themselves.’’

Todd Hertz, a fan of the show who has written about it for Christianity Today, says the show’s continuing character development adds to its appeal because it makes it similar to real life.

’’I haven’t seen other shows portraying this kind of thing where, in Season 2, somebody starts dabbling with something, starts trying something out that seems innocent, and not until Season 6 does she pay the consequences,’’ he said. ’’Just like real life ... the hardships and temptations we face don’t wrap up each week when the music swells. Instead, they continue on and we face them again and again.’’

Hertz said his first article about Buffy was an apology for the show because of all the backlash the show was facing.

David Bianculli, a television critic for the New York Daily News, said that’s par for the course for Buffy fans.

’’The irony of it is that Buffy has such a goofy title that anyone who wants to extol its virtues is immediately on the defensive,’’ said Bianculli, who will deliver a keynote address at the conference called, ’’Confessions of a TV Critic: My Name is David, and I’m a Buffyholic.’’

There’s never been a conference of this magnitude before, Bianculli said, and only a couple of shows - Twin Peaks and The Sopranos - have attracted such academic study.

’’There’s a lot of layers of stuff to attack and enjoy in Buffy, but also I think that it’s one of those shows that if you like it, you tend to really obsess about it,’’ he said.

Buffy’s spiritual themes give it an added dimension, he said.

’’With Buffy, there is so much there and when you start looking at the real themes of Buffy and Angel, its spinoff, so many of them have to do with responsibility and redemption and just you know spreading their own little gospel and protecting their own little worlds, it’s very easy to go into religious allegories with it.’’

Getting there

The conference is open to the public. Students can come for $50, adults for $100. A one-day pass is $25. For more information, call 898-5648.