High School Is Hell

The purpose of metaphors are used to relate one thing that might not normally be realistic to something in a real life situation.  A metaphor can use just an object or a whole situation.   The article is saying the different episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer are metaphors to real life situations that many students go through during their high school careers.  The show relates to teenagers through relationships, peer pressure, parental pressure, violence, bullying, and others.  With these situations the viewers can relate to the show in a deeper meaning, because they are, or at one time, went through the same problems of high school and the drama that surrounds it.  Now students do not really have to deal with vampires, witches, werewolves, or anything like that, but the show still uses those creatures to capture those real life struggles by using metaphors.  Sometimes these monsters seem like less of a challenge to Buffy and the gang than the social problems they have to face.  

The show starts with Buffy moving to a new city, which means new school, new classes, new social status, and the challenge of making new friends.  Not only do new students have to deal with all this they also have to deal with their problems that followed them to a new place that nobody else knows about, such as vampire slaying.  Sometimes people try to be someone they are not, when really being yourself is the best thing you can do.  

Buffy The Vampire Slayer uses metaphors to relate to their viewers, so they can interpret what they feel the show is representing.  

Buffy Episode 4

Today I watched Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “Teacher’s Pet.”  In this episode Xander and the rest of the guys in his class are awe struck by their new biology teacher, Miss French, after their old one was found dead without a head in the cafeteria’s freezer.  Miss French asks the class who would like to volunteer to help fertilize insect eggs after school.  All the guys raise their hands.  Buffy finds out that the first guy to volunteer never came home after school and Xander is next to volunteer.  Miss French invites Xander over that night to her house because she had a meeting to go to during the school hours he was supposed to help.  Buffy tries to stop him but he won’t listen.  He gets to Miss French’s house where he is greeted by her and a martini.  It knocks him out and he wakes up in a cage with the other guy that volunteered the day before.  Buffy ends up saving the day like always but the main theme in this episode is how students will react when they are more attracted to their teachers.  

The episode portrays how easily students can be influenced by their teachers just by looks.  Students are more likely to work harder in a class and participate more when they think the teacher is attractive.  In this episode the guys are the ones falling over their teachers but it is not just guys that are known to do this, girls will, too.  

Another thing I noticed in this episode is the way the principal handled the people who saw the dead teachers body.  It showed that some things are not done to ensure the well being of a student but just a process that the students must go through due to school protocol.  

The Train Job...again...

In this episode different sides of the characters are exposed.  The main character to be exposed to his many personalities is Mal.  He says he doesn't need prayer and acts like he only looks out for himself but ends up  giving back to other people.  He begins in the episode starting a bar fight on Unification Day with a guy who wants to toast to the Alliance.  He then goes to Niska to get an assignment in which he must steal cargo from a train full of Alliance members.  Him and Zoe steal the cargo but end up finding out it is medicine for the sick people on the train from Paradiso.  After Mal is back on the ship and safe he tells everyone that the medicine must be returned and so will the money.  The crew was warned about what would happen if the mission was not completed by the hanging man that was at Niska's when they received the mission.  This was to be received as what would happen to them if the medicine was not given to Niska.  Some of Niska’s crew came to retrieve the medicine but Mal will not give it to him and instead tries to give him the money.  The man will not take it.  Mal then proceeds to throw a man into the engine, obviously killing him.  Another member of Niska’s crew gets the clue and takes the money.  

It is hard what to conclude from this episode.  Mal feels bad about the sick people and returns the medicine, so your thoughts are that Mal was very noble to give that back.  Then he turns around and kills a guy for not taking the money.  From this episode I believe that there is something from Mal’s past that makes him this way.  In the next couple episodes I think the show will continue to show the past of the characters revealing their true personalities.  

Buffy Episode 3

Ok episode three of Buffy.  In this episode there are no vampires and Angel is never shown or mentioned.  Buffy tries out to be a cheerleader and ends up finding out about a witch.  So not only is Buffy dealing with vampires, she is know dealing with witches.  This leaves the show open for other creatures to appear such as werewolves or something like that.  As Buffy is trying out to cheer one of the other girls, Amy, is doing her cheer and her hands catch on fire.  That is when Buffy’s suspicions of Amy being some super natural creature arise.  She discovers that another girl that is trying out is actually a witch.  She starts to cast spells on the other girls to take out the competition.  One girl loses her whole mouth completely in the middle of class, Cordelia becomes possessed like and crashes the drivers ed car.  When Amy finds out Buffy knows her secret she puts a curse on her that makes her super cheery and then turns her deathly sick.  Giles and Buffy must find the spell book to reverse the spell.  When they get to Amy’s house they discover that Amy’s mom switched bodies with her through a spell so she can re-live her high school cheerleading days.  They go back to the school and reverse the spell right at the last second when Amy’s mom, (but in Amy’s body,) comes through the door with an ax.  Then the spell is reversed and Amy is Amy again.  Her mom then tries to cast a spell on Buffy but she knocks a mirror down reflecting the spell onto her causing her to disappear.  

I have a friend that is a cheerleader that is really nice so I feel like I can connect these two.  I think the episode kind of was meant to be a funny metaphor like cheerleaders are witches.  I also feel that even though people can’t technically live in the bodies of their kids, sometimes parents try to live through their kids through sports and put too much pressure on them to be the very best.

Buffy Episode 2

I watched the second episode of Buffy and everything starts to come together.  The episode explains “the hell mouth” and “the harvest.”  The hell mouth is the opening to which the portal from earth to hell is located.  In this area the supernatural creatures and happenings are stronger.  They do not know where the hell mouth is located yet.  Then you learn for the harvest there is a ritual type event that happens where one vampire is turned into a “vessel” for the master.  The vessel is used to bring back the master by drinking the blood of humans.  The blood that the vessel drinks is transferring into the body of the master to make him stronger.  

In this episode Buffy gets away from the vampire in the cemetery and everyone else gets away too except for Jesse.  The new group now, consisting of Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander work together to stop the harvest.  When they get to The Bronze the vessel has already begun with the harvest and Jesse has been turned into a vampire.  Xander finds Jesse attacking Cordelia.  He ends up accidentally staking him when someone pushes Jesse into the stake Xander had held up to his heart.  Buffy kills the vessel after a very badly acted fight scene.  Then Darla attacks Giles but Willow is able to run her off with holy water.  The master does not get enough power and remains in the hell mouth I guess, maybe just in the cemetery underground.  The next day everyone acts like nothing happened and Giles warns the new group of the many troubles that are still ahead of them.

Buffy Episode 1

I watched Buffy The Vampire Slayer back in the day but I thought I'd start from the beginning so I watched the pilot episode.  The point of this episode is to just show the background of the people and the setting of the show.  The episode introduces all the main characters and the background of Buffy.  She came from California after being kicked out of her old school for burning down the gym and has moved to Sunnydale.  She is known as the chosen vampire slayer but she just wants to live a normal life without anyone knowing.  She meets Cordelia, Xander, Giles, and Willow.  Giles is the new librarian that knows all about vampires and knows who Buffy is.  On the way to a party Buffy meets a random guy in an alley and he tells her about "the harvest."  Buffy ends up hunting down a vampire who has taken Willow to the cemetery.  She kills one vampire but a stronger one comes and saves the girl vampire.  Buffy and the guy vampire fight it out but the episode ends with the vampire on top of Buffy in a coffin.  Then Willow and Xander are surrounded by a bunch of vampires in the middle of the cemetery while trying to escape.

"The harvest" is the main problem in this episode.  Buffy doesn't know what that is and neither does Giles, and the fact that Buffy learned about this from a stranger is even more confusing.  You never find out anything more about this mystery man but it is kind of assumed that since he warned Buffy about it then he must not be a vampire because a vampire wouldn't tell the slayer something that seems quite important to them.

The Train Job

Well first off I'd like to say that I was quite amused with some of the cast members such as Gina Torres and  Alan Tudyk.  Gina Torres plays in this show as a very unreserved and tough woman as opposed to her roles in Gossip Girl and Huge where she plays more of a shy character.  Then Alan Tudyk who in this show as a pilot is quite different from his role in Dodgeball as a pirate.

So as I mentioned in my blog before I'm into teenage kind of soap operas such as One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy, so it could just be because those shows are pretty easy to follow but I thought Firefly was kind of hard to follow along with.  I guess it also would have helped if I would have watched the first two episodes.  So in this episode the crew has to steal this package from a train for some evil guy which I don't remember his name.  Zoe and Mal board the train and make their way to the cargo when they get to a part of a train full of the Alliance guards.  They get back to the cargo and lift it to the ship with only a slight complication from one of the Alliance guards.  Mal and Zoe don't get off the train and it is stopped because of the situation.  They find out that the cargo was medicine.  Inera comes and saves them from questioning.  The episode continues but what I thought was interesting was when Mal decides to give the medicine back.

I felt that at the beginning of the episode Mal was the sort of guy that didn't care about anyone but himself.  With this he is risking his life because of the deal he made with the man.  Even with this risk he is willing to do the better thing by giving back the medicine for the sick people aboard the train.  This shows a real selflessness on his part as opposed to my initial first impression of him.

About Me

Hello everyone, my name is Laura Smith.  I’m from a small town which means a small school.  I graduated with a class of about 180 which is the most in quite a while.  I like anything sportsy.  I played basketball and soccer in high school and I used to play softball.  My high school soccer team actually scored the most goals in a season in all of America.  I didn’t actually make any of these goals but i had about 40% of the assists.  Our main scorer is my friend Jaclyn Dutton who is now playing for Clemson on a full ride scholarship.  I’m horrible at directions so I’ve gotten lost around campus anytime I’ve gone from one place to another.  I watch too many television shows such as One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, American Idol, and sadly many more.  I've met at least 12 contestants from American Idol.  I like different kinds of music, but I’d say pop music is my favorite.  Currently my favorite singer is Rihanna, but I also like Kelly Clarkson, Duffy, Demi Lovato, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.  I’m always singing.  My friends and family never really enjoy it though because well I’m not that good and I really am ALWAYS singing.  Sometimes I get a laugh out of them though because I’m so obnoxious about it.  I love to dance too but no one ever sees that except me because once again I’m not that good.  My mom and sister are the only ones who have truly seen me “bust a move.”  I’m pretty shy when I’m around people I don’t know, but I’m very easy to get along with.  I just have to get to know someone to truly let out my funny and wild side.  I'm super sarcastic and very monotonous at times.  I’m very close with my whole family and friends.  I wouldn’t trade them for anything.  Well that’s me in a nut shell.