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Week 8 - Humor
"Oh, Good, The Feeble Banter Portion Of The Fight"

Background

As a bit of backstory, we'll continue with Faith and the Mayor. Since last week's episode, Faith has killed again, while working for the mayor. When Buffy and group broke into City Hall to learn more about the Mayor's plans, Faith captured Willow and held her hostage, threatening to kill her as well.

Angel and Buffy have had another rough break-up (their sixth, I think). Angel has told Buffy that he plans to leave Sunnydale after she graduates.

Opening

Nowadays I am suspicious of any spiritual teaching that lacks humor.

-Gerald May

Episode 3.21: Graduation Day, Part 1

On Buffy, humor is more than entertainment. It is a reliable guide to Buffy's self-confidence, and it is her defense against the crushing trauma of a job that constantly requires her to kill. Her humor is well known; as one vampire taunts her, "Uh, are we going to fight? Or are we just going to have a monster sarcasm rally?"

Humor is also a trademark of her opponent, the Mayor of Sunnydale. Humor is not the preserve of the righteous.

Both Buffy and the Mayor will lose their sense of humor during their confrontation, and then regain it. It's interesting to see where and how each handles this.

Continuity

  • The Mayor is preparing for his Ascension
  • Angel and Buffy are breaking apart

What to watch for

  • Faith's relationship to the Mayor
  • The Mayor as another embodiment of Nietzsche's morality

Transcript is available at http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/season3/transcripts/55_tran.shtml

Episode 3.22: Graduation Day, Part 2

What to watch for

  • Buffy's attitude towards Faith
  • How Buffy handles the distractions of Angel while preparing for a major battle
  • How humor finds its way into both Buffy's plans, and the Mayor's

Transcript is available at http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/season3/transcripts/56_tran.shtml

Questions

How is humor integral to Buffy Summers, both as a person and as the Slayer?

How does Buffy's sense of humor, or her loss of it, show up in her ability to fight, to plan, or to cope with the difficulties of her tasks?

In what ways could Buffy's sense of humor get her in trouble? Does that ever happen to us?

Does her sense of humor give strength to her friends? How do Buffy's friends use humor to do the same for her?

Does her sense of humor intimidate her foes?

Buffy's opponents, especially Mayor Wilkins and Spike, both have a strong sense of humor. Is humor as effective for Buffy's opponents? As a weapon? As a core of their strength?

In what ways, other than humor, do words have power in Buffy?

Follow-up

How does Buffy's "graduation" from the Watchers' Council reflect her maturing perspectives on morality and autonomy?

Closing

God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh.

-Samuel Clemens

Additional Reading

Keller, Donald, Spirit Guides and Shadow Selves. Wilcox, Rhonda V., and David Lavery, Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Miller, Jessica Prata, "The I in Team": Buffy and Feminist Ethics. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Overbey, Karen Eileen, and Lahney Preston-Matto, Staking in Tongues: Speech Act as Weapon in Buffy. Wilcox, Rhonda V., and David Lavery, Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Riess, Jana, What Would Buffy Do? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Schudt, Karl, Also Sprach Faith: The Problem of the Happy Rogue Vampire Slayer. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Sheinberg, Esti, Irony, Satire, Parody, and the Grotesque in the Music of Shostakovich. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2000.