Good Vs. Evil. Then Shopping

Good Vs. Evil. Then Shopping - Virginia Postrel starts the discussion about the gross misapprehension of America's real values:

Americans had forgotten bourgeois virtue. Freedom and affluence had made us soft. We were self-indulgent moral nihilists -- materialistic, selfish, and impulsive. We might have been having fun, but we’d created a culture no one would fight for.

At least that’s what the wise men said.

On September 11, 2001, they shut up. Ordinary Americans, it turned out, were not only brave but resilient and creative, even lethal, when it mattered.

Her conclusion?

Buffy was right all along.

ScrrrrraaaaAAAAAAAATCH.

Buffy?

Nope, I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then again, I've never watched Friends, Will and Grace, Frazier (maybe twice), or much of any other "Must See TV".

But Postrel states an eloquent case for the WB's flagship show:

The mere existence of Buffy proves the declinists wrong about one thing: Hollywood commercialism can produce great art. Complex and evolving characters. Playful language. Joy and sorrow, pathos and elation. Episodes that dare to be different -- to tell stories in silence or in song. Big themes and terrible choices. In the show’s most wrenching moment, Buffy kisses her one true love and saves the world by sending him to hell.

Buffy assumes and enacts the consensus moral understanding of contemporary American culture, the moral understanding that the wise men ignored or forgot. This understanding depends on no particular religious tradition. It’s informed not by revelation but by experience. It is inclusive and humane, without denying distinctions or the tough facts of life. There are lots of jokes in Buffy -- humor itself is a moral imperative -- but no psychobabble and no excuses. Here are some of the show’s precepts, a sample of what Americans believe:

Postrel (who vaguely resembles Buffy, actually) then lists the precepts. Read 'em - it's fascinating stuff.

So maybe I'll check out the DVD after all.

Posted by Mitch at September 4, 2003 10:37 AM