Dreams in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Essay -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Dreams in Buffy the Vampire Slayer      Ã‚   The battle between Good and Evil. Nothing could be more timeless or universal. And each week, when presented as a contest between a teenage vampire slayer named Buffy and legions of vampires, demons, and assorted destructive forces on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, millions of modern American television viewers watch that conflict as represented in late-nineties popular culture. As any frequent TV viewer knows, Good wins, vanquishing Evil with some ratings-garnering kicks and punches, and the episode concludes, at least until next week. Right? Not quite. Although Buffy consistently protects the world from destruction, her supremacy as a force of good remains challenged and incomplete. In part, this is a television necessity; forces of evil must always remain to be battled in next week's episode. But within the text of the series itself, the character of Buffy's boyfriend Angel -- a two-hundred odd year old vampire with a soul -- further complicates this blur ring of the lines between good and evil. Angel, whose very nature embodies a coexistence of and struggle between good and evil, functions as a site within which the war between Good and Evil take place on a microcosmic level. In the episode "Amends," Angel's dreams and visions of his past destructive acts drive him to a suicide attempt. The episode's dual reading of the evil force responsible for Angel's dreams as an external demonic force and as an element of Angel's own psyche ultimately suggests the appropriate response to evil is not more destruction but rather comprehension of and vigilance against the complex and competing forces present within individuals.    On its most literal level, the episode "Am... ...itive constructive power even in the face of his darker nature. For Buffy and Angel, dreams are not solutions. Rather, dreams serve as insights into their situation, themselves, and their emotional connection. Though the revelations and lessons of self and of loved ones come from dreams, the solution and "fighting" against evil and weakness comes from the characters working together. Though it presents surprisingly complex view for a television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's exploration of the interactive forces of good and evil on two narrative levels ensures that while episodes like "Amends" entertain, they also touch at deeper issues of concern to audiences across time and place. Good, evil, and dream visions -- Tuesdays on the WB.    Works Cited Whedon, Joss, creator. "Amends." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The WB Network. 15 December 1998.