"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (BFI TV Classics) [Paperback]

This book is problematic to assess, as it is difficult to see who the target audience is. In essence the text comprises a bit of background about the author’s formative years and the type of TV heroines that led up the arrival of Buffy followed by a summary of each season’s plotlines together with a personal assessment of whether each story arc succeeded in gripping the writer.

This is fine as far as it goes but if the book is aimed at those already in the know, then there is nothing contained in the narrative that most self respecting fans of the series don’t already know yet if it is aimed at newcomers to the delights of Joss Whedon’s world, who may be motivated to watch it for the first time, all the plot resolutions are given away in some detail.

Nevertheless, for fans like me it was a pleasant read which provided a personal view with which to agree or disagree as the mood takes you and there is a fair amount of analysis of character development and motivation that is interesting if not entirely new.

However, I can’t help feeling that this book rather falls between the proverbial two stools which is a shame as given a little more in depth analysis, it could have been a much better read.

This book marks my own personal first disappointment with the BFI (British Film Institute), one of the leading publishers, along side Wallflower Press, of film and television related books in the UK. I have always regarded the BFI as a publisher who offer particularly interesting and critical work, and for me, this book seemed to arrive at just the right time, as I was about to begin writing a paper that centred on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS). However, I feel that it is a mistake to advertise this book as 'A Critical Reading of the Series' when that is far from what it actually is.

The author, Anne Billson, takes, not a critical standpoint, but one of a fan. In most of the book she makes simple observations about the programme which any regular viewer would notice, such as, 'the vampires and demons and monsters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are often adolescent fears made 'real'' (page 43) and other points which most cult television fans would already know, for example, 'alternative universes invariably paint a darker picture, as opposed to a world in which all the imperfections have been ironed out' (73). It is rare that Billson makes a particularly interesting observation however, when she does, they are generally important points. One example of this is the fact that even though Buffy is struck by poverty in Season Six and has to find a job, she never appears to wear the same outfit twice.

Billson positions herself as a fan of the show, talking about how she 'discovered Buffy' and is not shy to show her dislike of certain characters like Buffy's Season Four boyfriend Riley and sister Dawn. Billson doesn't comment on other important points about the series such as the criticism it received in Seasons One and Two for its lack of black characters, especially as the vampire is often seen as a metaphor for minorities. She defends BtVS's loss of audience in Seasons Six and Seven, attributing it to the complexity of the series and not that series creator Joss Whedon's input had decreased due to other projects - even after Billson points this fact out.

The introductory chapters of the book are the best in which both the history of the television female role model and the vampire in are outlined. Subsequent chapters take the same pattern, outlining what happens in each season (something any fan would know already) and following this by 'analysing' each season and its characters. Taking many of her quotes from DVD commentaries, Billson draws on primary material throughout the book but rarely makes anything more than obvious points about the series. Billson's knowledge of television is impressive and the comparisons between BtVS and other television programmes is one of the best things about the book. My main disappointment with this book is that it is not critical but a book of observations by a fan, who brings nothing new to the already extensive amount of literature on the programme.

I was very excited about this book when I heard it existed - the BFI releasing on book on Buffy!!
I am afraid to say however it is not at all what I had hoped. It is basically a breakdown of the seven seaons with Anne explaining, all be it briefly, why she did/didn't like the series/character/ story. It reads as if it was written in a rush and has little substance to the point you start to wonder if it has been so overly edited it isn't even what was written in the first place. I am very sorry to say that is was a dissapointment to me, lacking in true value and failing to tell tell me anything I didn't already know (other than Anne's personal opinions).
Nothing a fan would find of use.