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Date Posted: 11:21:39 12/02/05 Fri
Author: fresne
Subject: Re: Help on a final paper
In reply to: Jaela 's message, "Help on a final paper" on 22:37:13 12/01/05 Thu

Hmmm...well, if it isn't importunate, I might suggest that you narrow your focus to either Doyle or Stoker. As, both, well, as I consider the giants...


While both Sheridan Le Fanu in "Carmilla" and Lord Byron in...hmmm...I forget what the story was called but I believe it was about a vampire named Lord Varney, wrote vampire stories about aristocratic (and fairly sexy) vampires, Stoker was arguably the writer that popularized the whole idea of a pale aristocratic vampire that stands around with a glass of something red and has money to buy real estate. Vampire folklore (as many, many books on the subject will pontificate at length) mainly featured brain deadish ruddy peasants skulking the landscape killing the ones they loved (or at least knew) in life. Wine glasses and real estate they did not have.


And while both Charles Dicken's Mr Buckett in Bleak House (ah, how like a Victorian Columbo) and Poe in say Murders in the Rue Morgue, wrote stories about Detectives (plus the existence of actual organizations such as the Pinkertons finding their way into penny dreadfuls), Doyle was arguably the writer who popularized the idea of the genius detective. And for that matter the puzzle genre of detective fiction. I.e., there's a locked room where no one could have gone. In said locked room we find: the dead guy, a lead pipe, a pile of wax, and a red thread. Enter the genius to tell us how the man died.

Trying to do both in one paper, is a bit like trying to run between New York and Tokoyo to report on these cities respective descructions by King Kong and Godzilla. It could be done, but think of the jet lag.



Although, for other examples in modern media of Holmes you might want to watch the movie Zero Effect, which is a take off of the Scandal in Bohemia.



However, to your questions,


Buffy as a combination of Mina and Lucy, from "Dracula."

Hmmm...since Buffy comes directly out of the Slasher genre of movies (i.e., the sexy blond girl who err...bites it, versus the pretty, but studious brunette in glasses who ends up turning the tables on the evil killer), based on Joss' own oft repeated statement that Buffy is that blond girl, but slays instead of dying...hmmm. I could see where you argue that the Slasher picture Blonds and the Brunettes are the descendants of Mina & Lucy, and ergo Buffy is the result of combining their traits.

BTW - there's a facinating book on the subject of slasher movies, which some other poster may remember the name of, or perhaps you've read. It discusses the gender dynamics of the Killer, the Sexy girls who die, the Final Girl who turns the tables and the way in which the predominantly young male audience first identifies with the killer (huzah, he's killing people, isn't gore fun) and then with the Final girl (huzah, she's beating the killer at his own game).


As to why Joss picked Vampires. I'd guess because they're sexy, sexy beasts. As, Buffy puts it in WtTH, there's alot of sucking. Plus, often played by pretty people. Zombies, although a wonderful metaphor for the soulessness of X, Y, and Z, aren't often pretty. Nor for that matter witty. I'm afraid that I don't know of any articles that specifically discuss the subject. However, the fandom is rich and full of transcriptions of all manner of articles.

Dracula the episode, I'll pimp our own archives, which are here and searchable http://www.atpobtvs.com/existentialscoobies/archives.shtml. And I believe there's some articles at http://www.slayage.tv/

Hope that was useful or at least amusing.

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