Although I'm not extremely well-versed in gothic literature, I was drawn to this course because of the element of psychology I suspected would be involved in both the show and the works we'll be reading. Because I'm a comparative literature major, I enjoy finding traces of other disciplines in the books I read, the movies I watch, and the music I listen to. So what I found particular fascinating while watching "Living Conditions" was the degree to which so much of what was happening was rooted in how we perceive our own personal space. Like we discussed in class, one major theme in this episode was adjustment; Giles notes several times that what Buffy's going through is typical of the college freshman experience -- she's learning to live with someone else. So I think lines like "we're almost like sisters now," are certainly creepy because they articulate the foreboding possibility that the each of the two girls will morph into a version of the other. More importantly, though, the loss of self is entirely due to the fact that they’re living in the same space -- they’re intruding on each other’s territory. In this way, I think the psychology of space (or however you want to call it here) is very apparent here and I think it’s probably going to turn up again in some of the books we read.
To bring up something else we talked about in class, I think that this episode is not as much about seeing the self in a new light – or confronting the self – as it is maintaining the self. In both Kathy’s and Buffy’s nightmares, spiders crawl across their bodies and a demon paints red occult-like marks on their skin; I think these things portray the psychological damage that physical intrusion inflicts. Physically occupying the same space as someone else (even if it’s just a new college roommate) can result in some pretty nasty mind games; in order to combat that, Kathy and Buffy use defense mechanisms like flossing (the upkeep of the self when something else is impinging on it) and headphones (blocking out noise, a sign of some outside presence or influence). I even think that Buffy’s pencil-tapping and Kathy’s Cher obsession are ways they sort of play the offense in this battle for integrity of the self. That’s why I think this episode is called “Living Conditions” – there’s something very gothic about the idea that the body/self as it’s located in space has profound effects on our psychological state. --Allison
I really think trying to understand the psychological aspect of the episodes we watch in and our readings for class will make for some interesting discussions. I like what you say about how sensitive we are to losing personal space and feeling like our identity is being taken away, and I think Buffy's reaction to Willow eating her sandwich at the end of the episode shows how she (Buffy) was made extra cautious when it comes to personal space invasion after her experience with Kathy.
ReplyDeleteI think that you made a really interesting point about the importance of personal space in "Living Conditions", but I also think that a similar theme can be noted in "Carmilla". In this case, the physical personal space is what is being violated. Carmilla is constantly touching Laura in a way that makes Laura extremely uncomfortable. In the scenes when this happens, Laura tells us very clearly that she isn't at all happy to be touched in that way, but she never is able to prevent Carmilla from doing it. Part of this could be because Laura has never had a real friend before, so is unsure about proper interactions, just as Buffy's annoyance with Kathy was originally attributed to losing her own personal space. It seems to me that there is some correlation between loss of personal space and the approach of evil in both of these instances. Somehow in these circumstances, the presence of evil, for both Buffy and Laura, is suggested to the viewer/reader by a simple breach of personal space in a way that makes the character uncomfortable with the situation and person, but not necessarily threatened.
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