Stevenson, Gregory. Dallas, TX: Hamilton Books. 2003. 281 pages. $42 (USD). ISBN: 0-7618-2833-8.

[1]  A story’s narrative should be examined as a unit, not in parts, especially when it comes to continuing television shows that run for many seasons. Taking out a part of the show and allowing that sample to stand for the whole would be easy–and many people critique television programs in that way–but that approach illustrates only a partial truth. Context, then, is the key to analyzing television texts.  This is a central theme of Gregory Stevenson’s study in Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  While Stevenson looks in depth at one television show and offers some moral insight into its particular plot twists, turns, and world views, his main point is to “convince others of the complexity of moral discourse within popular culture” (261). But it can be easy to miss the larger picture.

[2]  This book is the latest in a myriad of books that tackle popular culture products–including The Simpsons, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix–within the framework of Christian or religious study.  The current study is more academic than some, and therefore may find a limited audience among students and scholars of cultural or religious studies. Stevenson, a professor of religion at Rochester College in Michigan, is an avid fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons and lives on in syndication, and his love for the show is apparent throughout the book. He has written this book with two audiences in mind: college students (those who study “the debate over television and morality” [xiv]), and scholars, who require rigorous discussion and analysis of the topic. The result is an attempt to straddle the line between popular criticism and scholarship, leaving the book a little lacking in both.

[3]  The author admirably presents his argument about the television show, outlining the manner in which it addresses morality in four sections and then following each of the character lines as it falls into his outline. After laying out the theoretical groundwork and stressing the importance of storytelling and its use in providing a world view, Stevenson gives the reader a thorough overview of the program’s seven seasons, offering a reading of topics and themes that illustrates the moral discourse in the show. Getting to that moral discourse involves digging beyond the “normal” guideposts that mark traditional content analyses of television. For example, he argues that the occasions for sex and violence on the show–and there have been plenty throughout the seven seasons–are not terminal points, but exist as plot points on a grander narrative scale. They are the means that underscore larger messages of redemption, sacrifice, and salvation, offering views that fall in line with mainstream and traditional values.

[4]  That Buffy displays an moral message is not as much a credit to the show’s creator or writers as it is a testament to what researchers (including Lynn Schofield-Clark in Aliens) call influences of the Christian ethic that permeate our society. Even those who are outspoken about the Christian experience–Buffy creator Joss Whedon is a self-professed atheist—find themselves in line with the underlying philosophy of the American experience.

[5]  The author chides those who have derided the show by suggesting that they refuse to see the story in its full seven-season context, and because of that have missed the point;  Stevenson, from a higher moral tower, is one of those people who “gets it.” Those who don’t “get it,” then, cling to some outdated moral compass and are unwilling to come around. This attitude permeates the book, leaving readers who either did not like the show or do not have experience with it on the outside looking in. The book’s conclusions are not specifically about the program; they offer sample questions and thoughts on methodology for others who may attempt a similar research feat.

Tim Craig
Warner Southern College
Lake Wales, Florida
craigt@warner.edu