This is from a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fan:
"I was watching my season 6 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" DVD special features, and it had something about the most popular episodes. And it had something about the episode that didn't air because of Columbine. Before they said something about the episode, the narrator said "But on April 20, 1999, a tragedy broke out that would change American forever. In Littleton, Colorado's Columbine High School, two disturbed youths used an arsenal of weapons to murder 12 classmates and a teacher...." And then he went on about talking about buffy. But the coincidence is that the episode had to do with the whole student body being murdered... I'll write a short summary on the episode:

Buffy is out patrolling one night, and she gets attacked by this demon that gives u an aspect of the demon. The aspect that Buffy got was being able to read people's minds. It was all fun for a while, until it was lunchtime. Reading thoughts started getting out of hand, and the thoughts started overlapping, but when Buffy was about to sit down to eat in the school cafeteria, all the thoughts drowned out except for one. The thought was "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all". So as Buffy and her friends are trying to figure out who it is that wants to kill everyone in the school, Buffy is in the school courtyard, and looks up at the clock tower, and sees the shadow of a shot gun. She climbs up there, and it's one of the guys that says that he's being ignored and bullied by everyone. Buffy tells him this whole speach on why he shouldn't do it, when he was actually up there trying to kill himself. After that scene, Buffy's best friend Xander is in the school kitchen, trying to get a free snack; when he notices the lunch lady, putting rat poison in the school food. So she tries to kill him, but doesn't.

---It's called ear shot, season 4 episode 19. It was written and shot 3 weeks before, they aired it in September of 1999."


The following excerpts are from 'SLAYER The Totally Cool Unofficial Guide to Buffy' by Keith Topping, and concerns the episode referred to above:

www.livejournal.com/commu...tml#cutid1

"Buffy overhears someone in the cafeteria planning a killing spree."

"Cordelia tries to discover if Mr. Beech is the would-be murderer: "I was just wondering, were you planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow?" "

"As the TV critic in the St. Paul Pioneer Press noted, 'Tonight's regularly-scheduled new episode ...has been puled by the WB network in the wake of the Littleton high school shootings. The episode centered on Buffy's clairvoyant ability in which she read the thoughts someone who was contemplating killing other students.....' "

"WB's main concern was one exchange: Xander: "I'm still having problems with the fact that one of us is just gonna gun everyone down for no reason." Cordelia: "Yeah, because that never happens at American high schools?" Oz: "It's bordering on trendy." There's also Xander's "Who hasn't just idly thought about taking out the whole place with a semi-automatic?"

Earshot was a brilliant episode, for all the right reasons. Although, if memory serves, it was a season 3 episode :blink: As by S4 Buffy had graduated and gone to college.

But the facts remain the same. The show, in no way glamorized, or promoted these actions, in fact it is my opinion that it was a shocking reminder of how prevelant these actions had seemed to become.

One person (a cook) takes it upon herself to kill students because of a perceived, or in this case real, series of sleights.

This episode showed exactly why this show became the phenomenon that it did. It examined real life events, in a way that was palatable to the general populace. It covered serious subject matter, and although there did seem to be humour surrounding it, it was muted and ascerbic to show the creators feelings towards them.


Topic moved from S4 discussion area.

Also wasn't it a mistake by Buffy, didn't Jonathan only want to top himself?

Yes indeed. "Victim" Johnny, did only want to kill himself, but the reveal at the end was that it hadn't been Johnathan's thoughts that Buffy had read. It was the big scary cafeteria lady's :lol:

iirc, graduation day (part one and two) was also delayed due to "school violence concerns" (blowing up the school :ermm: ) .

I have just had a look at my review for Earshot and those thoughts are still the ones I have now. What I absolutely love about Earshot is that it is the anti-Casualty ie it is most certainly not written by a bunch of dour social workers.

Jane delivers something that could be a consequence of having read Nietzschean aesthetics ie what is most questionable in existence is made tolerable or even attractive by aesthetic transformation. Earshot takes away the terrifying power of something like Columbine so that it can be 'faced down'.

Buffy's predicament, I would argue, is still awesomely similar to the phenomenon of schizophrenia. Being overwhelmed by 'voices' so that a normal existence becomes impossible is absolutely typical of schizophrenia. Earshot suggests all this effortlessly without Casualty style didacticism.

I despair that a supremely subtle 'high point' like Earshot could tumble into the crude aggression of Wrecked in so short a time. If only Marti had thought about Earshot when writing Wrecked then it could have been a potent expression of how drugs gradually take your life apart.

Interestingly Jane said somewhere(I cannot remember where) that people had said to her they had trouble understanding Earshot. I suppose the story metaphysics of Buffy's predicament is quite demanding. I wonder if this became a factor in S6 where they felt the story needed to be suitably obvious and lacking in subtlety so fickle teenagers did not have to think too hard. This seems to me a tremendous shame. sk

I believe the delay stemmed more from the "every student bring a weapon to school day" scenario :lol:

What predicament?

And also just an fyi: your attempt to shoehorn any of the philisophy, that you may have learnt, into every post that you make completely detracts from point you're trying to make.
:)

Earshot was episode 18 of season 3 which I mention just to help out and only I'm a sad obbsessive I'm not to put anyone down!

Although the episode is about guns and gun it handle the issue really well without making seem they were talking down to the audience the way so many american shows do. There was a strong anti gun message all the through show. Buffy makes comments all show about how they are never helpful.

I can't quite understand quite why people had trouble undertanding Earshot it seem self explanatory to me. There have been plenty on Buffy I haven't understood this just wasn't one of them not trying to be arrogant.

PS Welcome to the board starviego

Duh :shrug:

Hearing voices she can't shut out would be about the size of it in context...

The thing is Joe you are an obviously pretty smart media studies graduate who has been taught how to deconstruct various media(Japanese manga or whatever you mentioned once?) I took Media Studies GCSE and we were obviously being taught basic tools on how to deconstruct tv and film. I was not a very receptive student as I was a typically 'egoistic' 14 year old. My older 'self' would say to him try harder. On the plus side I had some tremendous laughs.

What I am getting at is that you have to put a little effort in to understand the story with Buffy and that makes it so much more rewarding. The other great example has to be Forbidden Planet which I have mentioned before.

I believe you should 'try hard' but as Cardelia sorta correctly pointed out grotesque interpretations should be avoided. I suppose it is a case of going with the flow and I realise there is a lot of ambiguity in Earshot so I am a bit reluctant to use 'definitely' but 'awesomely similar' states my feelings. sk

they did bring sharp weapons :lol: (and one or two flamethrower) ............. but i didn't notice any guns :unsure: :ponder:

Not too sure about that one - you could take it that way or turn it around a bit and look at it as a plot device - after all a Slayer becomes a bit redundant when you can simply shoot the nasty demon and move on ;)

It may work like that on your WoW life but back in the real world, there are a great many demons and, of course, vampires, who are impervious to bullets.

Of course any fan knows that :whistling: :ph43r:

Yep, bullets can only kill Lesbian Wiccans.

Fact.


Oh crap, I've been infected with "Jeremy Kyle-itis."

Fact.

I'm running to switch off the TV now.

Fact.

I'm reaching for the razor blades now.

Fact.

Dave doesn't believe in bullets, only phasers ;)