meridian_rose

This was written for the Thoughpocalypse at

whedonland. It's an essay on the theme of apocalype(s) in Joss Whedon's work. It comes in at 1275 words plus references,

It's the End of the World as Joss knows it

"It turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse."
Riley, in the BtVS episode "A New Man"

Mal lost his faith when the world as knew it, as he believed it should be, was lost and the Alliance swept away the independents and their notions of freedom and individuality.

"Epitaph One" painted a bleak picture of a future where technology had wiped away all personality, leaving most of the populace mindless killing machines.

Angel and his team made a last stand against Wolfram and Hart's Senior partners, demons who can destroy everything in their path.

Buffy, with her friends and the newly-called Slayers, faced off against the First Evil in a battle that closed the Hellmouth but also destroyed Sunnydale.

Why is Joss Whedon so taken with these apocalyptic visions? Why are we, as an audience, so happy to consume them?

A Brave New World

"Post apocalyptic settings are seeing a great surge in the last year or so, across all mediums. I can see why, it's a great way to study humanity with out its boundaries."
Alderneyvamp, RPG Laboratory post " Post apocali (is that the plural for apocalypse.)"

"[apocalyptic fiction] taps into a strange fantasy - a world in which we have avoided an all-embracing death and can do what we want… It's living on past the death of everything, living into a future that isn't mapped out and doesn't resemble anything we know"
Dr Barry Langford, University of London, talking to the BBC

If there's an apocalypse, all bets are off. "Epitah One" shows us the devastation that the Rossum Corporation's technology has wrought on the world; however it also shows hope. The actives are now free, some of the last people to know who they are and to have free will. Caroline/Echo has become a saviour figure, the one who knows the way to Paradise, an Eden where the survivors will be safe. This is the world gone mad, but not one without hope.

Perhaps Whedon feels that no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, humans will find a way to survive, to make their lives meaningful.

Individuality is a strong theme in Whedon's work, whether it's Tara embracing her magic (and the sexuality that the magic is metaphor for), Firefly's Browncoats struggling against the hegemony of the Alliance, or Echo fighting for the right to possess her own personality, the message seems to be that we can and should be our own heroes. That faceless, inviolable, authority will be ultimately corrupt and destroy us.

The apocalypse as the death of self, of the individual, is played out as a big-screen phenomena where the death of self becomes the death of all individuals' personalities, or the right of an individuals such as the Browncoats to even exist. To survive that apocalypse is to be reborn into a new world, with new rules; the balance of power has shifted and things will never be the same.

Comfort or Crisis

"Apocalyptic thinking can be very useful to people who need to feel a sense of control, and that they therefore feel calm because they know what’s going to happen. Living with uncertainty, living with a question mark is the hardest thing to do for all human beings."
Susan Tanner, psychologist, in a transcript from "Compass" by ABC

Again, we see the (often impending) apocalypse in Whedon's world as something that will tear down the existing structures. Buffy may seem to have developed her skills as a Slayer, found friends, a mentor, and defeated any number of demons but throw the threat of the apocalypse into the mix and we wonder if she can defeat it this time.

While some take comfort in believing in end-of-times prophecies as a defined ending, Whedon takes pleasure in having Buffy et al constantly stamp all over these texts. The Shanshu prophecy was of interest to both Angel and Spike, but the vague wording meant no-one could be sure what it meant.

Whedon uses apocalypse threats not to give people relief, but to heighten dramatic tension, raising the stakes whenever Buffy or Angel seemed to be all-powerful. They might have powers beyond normal humans, but his characters can never be omnipotent.

The End or The Beginning

"from Ancient Greek "revelation" and "secret". Because of the subject matter of the Bible book of the same name, and it being the last book of the Bible, it has come to be associated with "ending."
Wiktionary entry

"apocalypse; Origin; Old English, via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek apokalupsis, from apokaluptein 'uncover, reveal'."
Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COED11)

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride"

If this meaning is correct, the word apocalypse, used to mean the end of the world, is only half the story. Like the lifting of Isis's veil, an apocalypse as a revelation is not an ending, but a beginning. With the new knowledge gained, life will not be the same, it is utterly changed. However, this is not to be mourned, but embraced.

"Firefly" only begins after the war, with Mal's faith lost, with a new government trying to enforce its will on the populace. Without the devastating war, and Mal's losses, he would be a very different man. "Firefly" needs the backdrop of Independent Resistance to play out the storylines; the Tam's flight from the Alliance, Book's shady past, Zoë's sharp-shooting are all products of this past.

Apocalypse or just another Season Finale?

"I realized that this kind of metaphoric writing was the underpinning of the entire series. I came to discover what so many viewers already had: that Buffy was adept at using supernatural creatures and circumstances to explore universal struggles and growing pains."
From " Buffy in a Bustle? Some Thoughts on the Slayer's Literary Ancestry", a review posted to DVD Verdict

Buffy in particular has been lauded for its use of metaphor. When Whedon has Angel become Angelus after a night of passion with Buffy, he's alluding to the all-too common occurrence of a man (often older) losing interest in a young woman once he has consummated their relationship.

What metaphor is he drawing from the constant impending apocaplyses? That we're none of us sure what the future holds? That Fate has been determined – but we can go down fighting anyway, maybe do the impossible and change our destiny? Or perhaps, more simply, that life is ever changing. From school to work or college, from child to young adult to mature adult, life is never the same for long. And if you're unprepared, these changes can seem like the end of the world; losing a job, for example, can be a devastating experience.

But, remember, there's hope. Buffy has prevented the apocalypse any number of times. She's died (twice). Why can't we overcome our own tragedies, too? Perhaps Buffy and her friends are role models in the way they face the greatest threat of all; they grow, they adapt, and they never give up.

Why We Watch

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine"
REM, "It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

In short, Whedon's stories, and our interest in them, taps into the thrill we experience when we watch horror movies. We like to be scared. We also like to see triumph over tragedy, hope after disaster, and to have heroes who will not go quietly. And Whedon gives all this to us.