High School is Hell... Literally

Good afternoon Bloggy.  When I read over “High School is Hell” today, I realized that I had already came to the conclusion of this a few episodes ago.  I commented on someone’s blog about the episode of the girl turning invisible, and said it turned a metaphor literal.  The argument in this article talks about how the metaphor is more of a reality than the actual show.  It describes different instances in the Buffy series when all of these metaphors come to life.  It gives many examples, from the “invisible girl” to the girl that would “kill to be on the cheerleading squad”.  There are other social events that take place in Buffy that become very literal as well.  Prom, one of the biggest nights of a teenager’s life, and Graduation, the end of the world are other examples used.  Then it leaves it’s discussion about Buffy and moves on to even more science fiction stories and folk tales which also bring metaphors to life.  It uses examples such as Frankenstein  and fictional creatures like zombies, werwolves, and robots.  Really everything this article discusses revolves around it’s literal meaning.  I never really knew all of these stories behind the famous characters.  I guess the writers of shows like this must put some serious thought into these shows.  This article connects this fantasy to the real world in many ways.  All of the events in Buffy are real-life situations, only with a supernatural twist.  Most teenagers can relate to events like this, which keeps the audience intrigued.  It makes me feel that the problems in my life could become much worse and much more literal than I actually mean. 

Love, Emily

Buffy Episode 4

Hello again Bloggy.  I just finished watching episode 4 of Buffy called "Teacher's Pet".  It was quite a disturbing episode.  Buffy's science teacher goes missing and is replaced by an attractive female substitute named Ms. French.  Every boy in the class is extremely attracted to Ms. French and she uses this to her advantage.  She gets them to help her with making her “egg sac”.  After Buffy’s old science teacher is found in the cafeteria with his head cut off, Buffy realizes something is not right.  Eventually she comes to the conclusion that Ms. French is a praying mantis, and is using teenage boys to fertilize her eggs.  In the end, Buffy defeats this giant praying mantis and helps free the boys Ms. French had kidnapped to mate with.  I think the main theme to this episode is attraction.  Ms. French’s praying mantis characteristics make her give off a special scent to make other creatures attracted to her.  This is why all of the boys in the class were drooling over her.  Ms. French uses this attraction to her advantage so she can lure the boys to her house, and ultimately mate with them.  If it weren’t for the attraction in this episode, most students would not be working so hard on this egg project, so that is what keeps her plan moving along.  The attraction is what keeps these kid's focus.  Also in this episode, it somewhat focuses on Xander’s attraction for Buffy, and shows how much he likes her even if the feeling is not mutual.  Xander, at one point, even gets jealous of Buffy’s relationship with the mystery boy named Angel.  So, all in all, I think this episode is trying to focus on different attractions and relationships.

See you later Bloggy.

Back to the Train Job

In the episode of Firefly, “The Train Job”, Zoe seems to have the same beliefs and morals as Mal.  Would she voice her own opinion if it contradicted Mal’s?  If Mal didn’t want to return the medicine and Zoe did, would she have stood up to Mal or just followed along with the plan? How would Zoe have told Mal his intentions were bad?  It seems like Zoe has the capability of sticking up for beliefs, especially when it comes to right and wrong situations.  I think Mal has enough trust and confidence in Zoe that he may even switch to her side.  Maybe if Mal had wanted to give the medicine to Niska and not return it, Zoe could have persuaded him otherwise.  They are together all the time, and it seems they never even doubt each other.  If the situation did arise, the final decision is in Mal’s hands, so his opinion matters most, but I think he would still respect Zoe’s opinion.  I think Zoe would stand up to Mal if she had to, but probably doesn’t because she doesn’t want to risk her job.  Zoe is still under Mal’s command so unless she wanted to quit her role on the ship, she would probably have to go along with Mal.  I guess this makes it seems that Zoe doesn’t have much of a choice if she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her job.  Another reason why Zoe probably wouldn’t stick up to Mal is because of her husband.  She knows Wash will always be on her side, so if she somehow offends Mal she could end up getting both of them kicked off the ship.  

The Witch

So Bloggy, I think I’m going to stick with watching Buffy for this quarter.  Today I watched the third episode called “The Witch”.  It was all centered around cheerleading tryouts for Buffy's high school.  Buffy decides to try out, and on the first day of try outs something goes horribly wrong and one of the girls trying out’s hand lights on fire.  Of course Buffy knew this was from a supernatural cause, so she decides to check it out.  Eventually she finds out who it is.  Amy, one of the girl's who only made it as an alternate on the squad, is casting spells on girls to get them kicked off the squad so she can be on it.  Buffy knows that Amy’s mom had been pressuring her to be a great cheerleader, so she thinks Amy is only doing this for her mom.  In the end Buffy finds out that Amy’s mom had actually switched bodies with her daughter so she could relive her experience as a cheerleader in high school.  She would yell at Amy and tell her that her body was a waste of life and unless she was cheering, she would never be good enough.  I think this happens quite frequently in reality (but not as extreme, obviously there is not too much body-switching going on) to many kids.  People will play sports or join clubs just because their parents did, and they want to feel accepted by their parents.  Then there are the extreme parents who force their children to play a certain sport pretty much so they can experience it all over again.  I feel bad for the kids who have to put up with this.  Their parents should realize it’s not their life, it is their child’s, and they should let them play whatever sport they want to.  They should let their kid’s make their own decisions and just make sure they’re happy with whatever they are doing.

Love, Emily

Episode 2

Hey Bloggy.  This was day 2 of Buffy and I'm getting even more interested in the series now.  I watched the continuation of the last Buffy episode I saw yesterday.  Buffy had been thrown into a grave by one of the vampires, and that was where the last episode left off.  So in this 2nd episode, Buffy’s cross around her neck prevents the vampire from getting to her and eventually she sneaks away from him and ends up saving 2 of her friends, but leaves Jesse behind.  I think Darla, the blonde vampire, had already bit him by the time he got to the cemetery.  Jesse never even had a chance.  It seemed that when Jesse was turned into a vampire, he was much happier and more confident.  He thought that having that power made him cooler.  Most of the characters in this show are only concerned about their popularity status.  I really like following Willow’s character, since she doesn't care about her popularity.  I loved how when Cordelia, the snob, shot down what Willow was saying, she got her back by indirectly making her delete her whole computer assignment.  Willow’s friendship with Buffy is giving herself more confidence and she is starting to stand up for herself.  Hopefully this keeps up so Willow can come out of her shell.  Also I want to see more on Buffy and her mom.  This episode somewhat showed that Buffy's mom doesn't have the slightest idea of what is going on in her life.  I mean, slaying vampires is a pretty big secret to hide from your own mother.  I guess she's just very oblivious as to what's in her daughter's life. I'm anxious to see if her mom ever finds out.  Until tomorrow Bloggy...

Love Emily

The Slayer's First Episode

Bonjour Bloggy!  I just finished my first Buffy experience, and I was somewhat pleased.  When I first started watching the show I was actually a little scared.  I don’t do well with ghosts and vampires (besides Edward of course) and I get frightened very easily.  After realizing it all wasn’t about vampires and that there was a social aspect with it too I started to get interested.  This show is filled with typical stereotypes, like the nerdy girl, Willow, who can’t get a guy and the popular diva who will only associate with her “cool” friends.  I do feel bad for Buffy since she can’t tell anyone about her secret life, but it seems like most people in the school are catching on.  She isn’t too discreet about her situation though.  I wonder if her mom is in on her secret life, or if it’s only the librarian and the boy who overheard their conversation.  I wasn’t a huge fan of all the violence throughout the show.  Poor Buffy has to put up with way too much for just being 16 years old.  I want to know how this job or “destiny” was put all on Buffy.  Did she do something to deserve all of this?  I think something probably happened to her as a child maybe? I’m sure I will get more information on that in later episodes.  I like Buffy though, she’s very sarcastic and witty.  Also she’s actually nice to the people at her school unlike that diva girl (I can’t remember her name).  I’ll write after I watch episode 2 tomorrow! Goodnight Bloggy!

My First Firefly

What’s going on Bloggy? I’ve missed you.  So today I watched my first Firefly episode.  I wasn’t too impressed, but my expectations were not very high going into it.  The acting was pretty good and I liked all the characters.  Although the mix of futuristic with some western themes was interesting, I couldn’t really follow why the Alliance didn’t get along with the people on the ship.  I did figure out that the people on the ship were sent on a mission to steal a certain cargo, which they were unaware of what was inside of it.  I didn’t really enjoy all of the action in the show, but the plot kept me somewhat interested.  My favorite character was the sister of the doctor.  I want to know more about what happened to her.  I know that she was captured at some point and her brother saved her, but she still seems pretty disturbed.  She kept repeating something about the blue hands, and at the end we saw the men from the Alliance (I assume) with blue hands.  Something must have really gone wrong when the Alliance had her.  I like that when the Captain Mal found out that he was being hired to steal medicine from the sick city, he decided to give the medicine back.  I was very surprised that he would do that.  I don’t really get the role of the priest but I’m sure in later episodes I will figure it out.  I’m not sure if I will keep watching this series, but I will get back to you tomorrow.  Goodnight Bloggy.

Love, Emily

Greetings Bloggy

Dear Bloggy,

My name is Emily Snyder and I’m from Centerville, Ohio (in Dayton).  I’m a freshman and so excited to have finally started school at Ohio State. This was the longest summer ever.  I would describe myself as outgoing, but only once you get to know me.  I can be shy sometimes when it comes to meeting people, but I love making new friends.  I’m a pretty laid back person and I try not to get too stressed out over things.  I’m the oldest of 3 in my family, so I’m the first one to leave. My mom is still pretty upset about this.  But what can I do? She’ll get over it.  I think my dad was pretty ready for me to leave.  I think I got annoying at home.  I make nicknames for almost everyone. My brother’s name is Mitchell but I call him Shelly, and my sister’s name is Audrey but I call her Shmaudje.  Also I’ve already come up with a nickname for my blog which I will be calling Bloggy.  I have a cat that I’m in love with and his name is Lord Nibbler. I also have a dog, Cocoa, that is pretty cool as well.  She was hit by a car a few years ago so she limps a lot.  It’s quite depressing.  I'm unsure as to what I’m going to study during my four years here in Columbus, but going into the real world doesn't seem very appealing to me (5th year senior anyone?)  I love watching Spongebob, I think I would watch it 24/7 if I had the opportunity.  I’m pretty big into cartoons and kid shows.  I have a childish sense of humor.  Well Bloggy, I hit my 250 words. So I’ll work on blog number 2 tomorrow. 

Peace and Love,

Emily