Jonah Goldberg has a good column today on the persistent popularity of Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Around these parts one John Hood will appreciate Goldberg’s references to Marvel Comics and the original “Star Trek.”
Goldberg writes that “there are good reasons, even for conservatives, to cheer the immense popularity of the Buffyverse,” reasons that go beyond the show’s clever writing and witty banter. Chief among them, he writes, is its Marvel Comics-esque overriding message being “with great power comes great responsibility.” As Goldberg writes, “In an age when the entire world seems to think ‘might makes wrong’ when it comes to American power, the resonance of this message should be obvious.”
Furthermore, “Running like a steel spine through Whedon’s work is the conviction that evil exists, isn’t going away and must be constantly fought or it will win. … redemption is for tomorrow, but the battle against evil is for right now.”
(Goldberg also gently spoofs “the professoriate’s interest in all things Buffy” ? which extends to the Triangle, as you can see here and here. Some comments in those articles remind me of Prof. John Frink of “The Simpsons” hogging preschoolers’ pop-&-whizz toy because they “won’t enjoy it on as many levels as I.”)
