Joss Whedon's Political Campaign: Shaping Political Mindsets through Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
19-4-2018 3:30 PM
End Date
19-4-2018 4:45 PM
Keywords
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, political socialization
Biography
Amber Buchanan is an International Affairs senior at Marshall University who is graduating in May. Following graduation, she hopes to eventually go to graduate school to study International Crime and Justice.
Major
International Affairs
Advisor for this project
Dr. Jamie Warner
Abstract
Joss Whedon is well known for his cult classics in television, particularly Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Firefly/Serenity ‘verse because of their political themes. There is already a plethora of scholarship on his works, especially in terms of feminism and gender and sexuality studies. Likewise, there have been studies on how media has shaped viewpoints of the consumers over time. I, however, will use this idea to examine the portrayal of authority figures in the government over the course of both Buffy and Firefly/Serenity to offer further insight into the three main facets of the main protagonists’ relationship with these figures that are shared between Whedon’s two most famous cult classics, one of which has already overtly helped to inspire a change in the United States through its fans.
Joss Whedon's Political Campaign: Shaping Political Mindsets through Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly
Joss Whedon is well known for his cult classics in television, particularly Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Firefly/Serenity ‘verse because of their political themes. There is already a plethora of scholarship on his works, especially in terms of feminism and gender and sexuality studies. Likewise, there have been studies on how media has shaped viewpoints of the consumers over time. I, however, will use this idea to examine the portrayal of authority figures in the government over the course of both Buffy and Firefly/Serenity to offer further insight into the three main facets of the main protagonists’ relationship with these figures that are shared between Whedon’s two most famous cult classics, one of which has already overtly helped to inspire a change in the United States through its fans.
