What Would Buffy Do : The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide

It can be a little embarrassing to admit just how many books and articles you have read about the television show, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." If you try to put your enthusiasm into words, people look at you funny. Unless they are one of the lucky ones who have actually seen the show, and then their eyes light up with glee, just like yours. I have read quite a bit about Buffy (but not as much as Jana Riess.) I've certainly read the big three collections of academic essays about the show. "What Would Buffy Do?" is easily the best volume I've come across. It's an instant classic, a small gem of popular culture criticism. Riess's approach is eclectic, like that of Joseph Campbell. She draws her analysis from all sorts of places: scripture, novels, drama, philosophy, are various religious traditions. Although she depends mostly on Christianity and Buddhism. Anyone who is skeptical that a "mere" TV show can sustain this kind of scrutiny will soon be convinced otherwise by Riess's intelligent, crystal-clear prose and thinking. (This book is a lot of fun to read, unlike some of the other post-modernist essays in the previously mentioned academic collections. They made my little head hurt.) There's an original interview with actress Eliza Dushku, who plays the dirty-girl slayer, Faith. She talks candidly about her experiences working on the show, and her Mormon background. As one critic put it, "Buffy" is the most religious show on TV, a "secular universe saturated with grace." This book moves from a description of the slayer's personal spirituality, to a consideration of the spirituality of the "Scooby Gang", to an examination of what could be called the show's prophetic themes: saving the world and deliverance from evil. This is a book about pop culture, but it's not "pop" religion. Riess writes seriously and responsibly about eternal subjects. There are chapter length examinations of Buffy as a self-sacrificing savior; death as a gift (a catchphrase all too familiar to Buffyphiles); the power of friendship; and the necessity of going through negative emotions. It is in the last three chapters that Riess treats Buffy's "prophetic calling." She writes: "Buffy is a Christ figure, but only insofar as she is constantly averting the apocalypse through self-sacrifice. On Buffy, people atone for their own sins. Redemption is hard work and it us up to us. Redemption is a process requiring action; words are no enough. There's no salvation by grace in the Buffyverse. Angel and other characters find salvation only in work, self-sacrifice, and courageous choices." (pages 119-121, ellipses removed.) Although a little later Riess does point out that an "unthinkable act of grace" does occur on Christmas Day, in the episode "Amends." Riess is also very good on "the Monster inside"; that is, the dark part of ourselves we need to acknowledge, and own. (Yes, Jung gets mentioned here a lot.) The very dark and controversial Season Six (which Ri

The title of WHAT WOULD BUFF DO?: THE VAMPIRE SLAYER AS SPIRITUAL GUIDE makes it obvious that the author is trying to do two things: first, she is going to discuss BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and its spin off ANGEL to a considerable extent and second, she is going to do this in such as way as to provide spiritual guidance. I give the book a five star rating, but I have to point out that it is based entirely on the way it succeeds in the first of these two tasks. I consider this to be the finest single-author analysis of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER that has yet been published, but I did not find it to be especially useful in the second of its goals, of providing spiritual guidance.Initially I read this book simply because I am a huge BUFFY and ANGEL fan, and am a bit of a completist: I'll read just about any halfway decent discussion of BUFFY. Because of the author's desire to make Buffy into a spiritual role model, I approached the book with considerable suspicion. (For the sake of honesty, I should point out that I do have two theological degrees and did extensive graduate work on the religious thought of Kierkegaard, and still consider myself to be that rarest of creatures, a politically and socially leftist Southern Baptist, so I'm not in the least antithetical to religious ideas.) However, as I started working through Jana Riess's discussions of the various characters in Buffy and some of the themes, I was astonished at how often I found myself in agreement with her, or how she would mention some aspect of the show and I would immediately call to mind another instance that was compatible with what she said, only to have her bring that specific instance up in her book.I think this book will delight any fan of BUFFY or ANGEL. Riess has a profound understanding of the show and really grasps the dynamics of all the major characters. I learned a great deal about many aspects of the show, and gained insights that I had previously missed. For instance, I had not recognized that Warren, one of the villainous nerds from Season Six, truly had become the super villains he admired in comic books. Or when I read "BUFFY is less about the cycle of one's own sin and salvation than it is about saving others; it is always outwardly, and not inwardly, focused," I realized that that was precisely true about the show.I was far less convinced by the book's attempt to set Buffy up as a spiritual guide. Perhaps this was just me. My spiritual guides have been people like Kierkegaard, Henry David Thoreau, Montaigne, Wittgenstein, Dostoevsky, and Samuel Johnson. I have never profited much from popular spiritual writers, whether pseudo-intellectuals like Joseph Campbell or spiritual writers like Philip Yancey. They fail to speak to the kind of spiritual struggle that I have been engaged in. It may well be that others will find this part of the book more compelling, but I have to be honest and say that I do not believe that any part of the spiritual guide part

***** Although Buffy Summers has taken an almost equal amount of flack as Harry Potter from the most conservative Christians, others have picked up on the ironically religious truths to be found in both her series and the spin off, Angel. Among those enlightened beings is Jana Riess, and she has shared her findings in this snappy, easy to read book. Divided into logical sections that expand outward from the individual, to community, to world, the author uses Buffy to make spiritual truths clear. Many of the lessons could be applied to other fictional settings, such as Tolkien, yet, Buffy has an edge that might not be found in other works. This book will appeal to all ages, and perhaps serve as a bridge. The slant is mostly Christian, but the Christianity is not presented in a way that looks down on other faiths. For those Bible students who look for "aha" moments in their studies, "What would Buffy Do?" has many. If a Youth leader is looking for a new tool to interest a bored Sunday School class, they would not be making a mistake in picking up a baker's dozen of this book. *****Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

"The Gospel According to Peanuts" by Robert L. Short is the book that I remember beginning the long string of books look at popular culture artifacts for their spiritual value. You can find similar volumes on everything from Harry Potter and the Simpson to Tony Soprano and ESPN, so it is not surprising that a volume has come out looking at "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Jana Reiss has a masters of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary to go with a Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University and is the religion book review editor at "Publisher's Weekly." She is also a fan of Buffy, although she also likes Giles and Spike, so it is not surprising that she would decide to pursue the spiritual, religious, and mythological ideas of the television series. For me the pivotal episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in terms of the religious implications was "Amends," the third season episode written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon in which Angel is tormented by apparitions of three of his victims, including Jenny Calendar, which are really manifestations of the First. Just before dawn Buffy finds Angel on a bluff overlooking Sunnydale, waiting for sunrise so that he can die and have peace. Buffy pleads and then lashes out in anger at Angel, but before the sun can rise it starts to snow. The sun will not shine in Sunnydale that day because of the freak snowstorm. Before this episode was over I was pointing out that Whedon had just worked God into the Buffyverse. After all, who else could make it snow besides God?Well, now we know the answer would be the Powers That Be, which are certainly god-like beings, but not the Judeo-Christian creator. Yet given that Buffy usually wears a cross that burns vampires when it comes into contact with them (e.g., "Angel") and that holy water burns vampires too (e.g., "Helpless"), it seems strange to ignore the implications of Christianity for "BtVS." After all, Willow Rosenberg often talks about the fact that she is Jewish, which at least gets you in the theological ballpark.But where Riess wants to make the connection between Buffy and Christianity are the show's elements of apocalypse and sacrifice as well as those of redemption and resurrection. After all, Buffy, the "Savior in a Micro-Mini," has been resurrected twice, in "Prophecy Girl" and "Bargaining, Part I," and that is a hard parallel to ignore. Besides, Riess is also interested in exploring the need for humor in fighting spiritual battles, so this is not a book that is focused on scriptural analysis. Yes, there are Bible verses in this book, but Giles the Watcher is quoted a lot more than the apostle Paul, and you will also get great thoughts from the Buddha, Sophocles, William Shakespeare, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson as well."What Would Buffy Do?" has three main sections. The first deals with issues of Personal Spirituality and the reader's own spiritual journey: (1) Be a Hero Even When You'd Rather Go to the Mall: The Power of

If you like Buffy than you will love this book. I love how the writer talks about how Buffy handles things like anger, friendship, death, and such. She gives examples of these topics and how we can use the actions of Buffy to our own lives. Some people complain that there is no "God" in the show but as you read on you will be surprized how ethical and spiritual the show really was/is.The only bad part of this book is you need to have seen the shows to be able to follow it. Non-Buffy watchers would be really confused and maybe frustated because they would not understand what is being said. I could go on and on about how great this book is but the only way you can tell if you will like it as well is to order it.