christianity

Riess has written a book that has not only the humor of the television series she studies, but its concern for moral complexity and refusal to be doctrinaire as well. Riess's goal is not to demonstrate how Buffy adheres to any single spiritual tradition, but to examine how the show explores universal spiritual and moral truths and concerns. Riess manages to respect both the show and the wisdom of the traditions she draws on (including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and classical Greek philosophy), in chapters such as "Be a Hero, Even When You'd Rather Go to the Mall: The Power of Self-Sacrifice," "Obey Your Teacher, Except When He's Wrong: Spritual Mentors on the Path to Maturity," and "The Higher Way: Choosing Forgiveness over Revenge."

The book also contains a thoughtful guide to the characters, organized by the season in which they are introduced. I found this valuable both for the insightful analysis of the characters and for Riess's genuine and obvious affection for them. Rather than saying that Oz is "Willow's deadpan boyfriend" (a description I once read, and certainly accurate enough), Riess draws attention to his nobler qualities by calling him "taciturn, wise, and kind." Anya is, according to Riess, "full of contradictions: she is a jaded veteran of the demon world who exhibits childlike innocence and curiosity regarding her newly acquired humanity"--an analysis that gave me a new way to look at a character who annoyed me endlessly. Although throughtout the book's main chapters, Riess assumes (justifiably, I think) that her audience is familiar with the show, the character guide at the end could help new fans understand and keep track of the show's many characters.

My only complaint about the book is that it lacks an index. Perhaps the majority of readers would not mind this omission, but Riess's excellent examination will no doubt be of use to the many scholars and academics who research and write about Buffy--and it would be even more useful with at least a basic index to the topics she discusses.

If you have any questions about life, faith, etc. read this book. Buffy fans learned so much from her actions while watching and this author explains the emotions and spiritual conflicts behind the episodes so well. Changed my whole perspective and as Jana Reiss spends a whole chapter saying: Change is good. I don't feel so alone or scared of tomorrow. When things do get to me, I just think to myself, What would Buffy do?

The title of WHAT WOULD BUFF DO?: THE VAMPIRE SLAYER AS SPIRITUAL GUIDE makes it obvious that the author is trying to do two things: first, she is going to discuss BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and its spin off ANGEL to a considerable extent and second, she is going to do this in such as way as to provide spiritual guidance. I give the book a five star rating, but I have to point out that it is based entirely on the way it succeeds in the first of these two tasks. I consider this to be the finest single-author analysis of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER that has yet been published, but I did not find it to be especially useful in the second of its goals, of providing spiritual guidance.

Initially I read this book simply because I am a huge BUFFY and ANGEL fan, and am a bit of a completist: I'll read just about any halfway decent discussion of BUFFY. Because of the author's desire to make Buffy into a spiritual role model, I approached the book with considerable suspicion. (For the sake of honesty, I should point out that I do have two theological degrees and did extensive graduate work on the religious thought of Kierkegaard, and still consider myself to be that rarest of creatures, a politically and socially leftist Southern Baptist, so I'm not in the least antithetical to religious ideas.) However, as I started working through Jana Riess's discussions of the various characters in Buffy and some of the themes, I was astonished at how often I found myself in agreement with her, or how she would mention some aspect of the show and I would immediately call to mind another instance that was compatible with what she said, only to have her bring that specific instance up in her book.

I think this book will delight any fan of BUFFY or ANGEL. Riess has a profound understanding of the show and really grasps the dynamics of all the major characters. I learned a great deal about many aspects of the show, and gained insights that I had previously missed. For instance, I had not recognized that Warren, one of the villainous nerds from Season Six, truly had become the super villains he admired in comic books. Or when I read "BUFFY is less about the cycle of one's own sin and salvation than it is about saving others; it is always outwardly, and not inwardly, focused," I realized that that was precisely true about the show.

I was far less convinced by the book's attempt to set Buffy up as a spiritual guide. Perhaps this was just me. My spiritual guides have been people like Kierkegaard, Henry David Thoreau, Montaigne, Wittgenstein, Dostoevsky, and Samuel Johnson. I have never profited much from popular spiritual writers, whether pseudo-intellectuals like Joseph Campbell or spiritual writers like Philip Yancey. They fail to speak to the kind of spiritual struggle that I have been engaged in. It may well be that others will find this part of the book more compelling, but I have to be honest and say that I do not believe that any part of the spiritual guide part of the book left any impact on me.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book for any fan of BUFFY. The discussion of the show is as good as we have seen before, and the character and season guides at the back are absolutely superb. On top of all this, the book contains a marvelous interview the author conducted with Eliza Dushku, who played, of course, the rogue slayer Faith in both BUFFY and ANGEL.