[-empyre-] Re: good point by Andrew

[Stacia Yeapanis <stacialy@yahoo.com>]

Andrew,
I definitely hear your "voice of inquiry." No 
misunderstanding, just clarification. I really like
examining exactly what words mean. There's always a
clearer way to say something.

This may be too much of an aside for non-Buffy fans,
but I'll make a point. I think the plotline that
Andrew referenced is a great example and should be
clarified for non-Buffy viewers (Spoiler coming up) In
the story-line referenced by Andrew, Buffy, who was an
only child for 4 seasons, suddenly gets a sister in
the 2nd episode of the 5th season. The viewers were
confused because there seemed to be no explanation
until the 6th episode of the season. All the
characters acted as if she had always been there and
the entire history of show was overwritten. Later we
found out that Dawn (the sister) had been inserted
magically into their lives (I won't explain why-don't
want to ruin everything for would-be viewers). The
point I want to make is that Buffy CHOOSES to accept
Dawn as her sister in spite of the fact that she has
lost her "real" personal history in doing so. She
chooses Dawn because her sisterly feelings are real.
She redefines herself and makes the "virtual" "real"
in doing so. 

Stacia


--- Andrew Burrell <andrew@miscellanea.com> wrote:

> Hi Stacia and all,
> 
> I had meant to imply that the ?construction? is
> happening in  
> association with the ?negotiation? (and
> re-negotiation). Your  
> definition of ?negotiation? does however include
> both of these  
> processes: ?working with what's on the table, moving
> it around,  
> reordering it, and, yes, creating something new out
> of the material?.  
> I also agree that no final agreement can ever be
> made, in fact it is  
> the ever failing struggle to find agreement that
> ultimately defines  
> the self.
> 
> If art and Buffy are tools for this kind of
> negotiation, then perhaps  
> it comes from the freedom to pose  (and attempt to
> answer)  
> challenging speculative philosophical and ethical
> questions? They  
> provide a space (a site of speculation) to step far
> enough outside of  
> the usual self in order to examine(negotiate) it
> from another angle.
> 
> (As an aside for non Buffy fans, but still on this
> point, intelligent  
> speculative fiction and screen writing has long been
> at the forefront  
> of philosophical investigations into the self.
> Indeed Buffy (the  
> show) presented us with the very question of
> real/un-real when it  
> asked: what is the difference between having a
> sister, whom you know  
> to be your sister because the narratives of your
> memory / imagination  
> informs you that you do, and having a sister that
> the narratives of  
> your memory / imagination informs you of, yet, your
> intellectual  
> deduction tells you otherwise. If your memory and
> imagination both  
> fill you with a love for your own sister, yet you
> know that these  
> memories have actually been planted by an outside
> force, does this  
> love (or indeed this sister) become any less real?
> (And what if this  
> outside force where a television script writer,
> rather than a group  
> of mystics trying to save the future of the planet?)
> And all of this  
> on prime(ish) time television.)
> 
> ps: I hope you read my posts with the voice of
> enquiry, stemming from  
> a strong appreciation for your work.
> 
> cheers
> andrew
> --------
> 
> andrew burrell
> http://www.miscellanea.com
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
> 



       
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