Is it Art

Gary Moeller’s article, “ Is it Art?”, with his comparisons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Beatles movie of 1968 “Yellow Submarine”, and then to the film “The Wizard of Oz”, are a stretch.His comments, these straight jacketed characters are nowhere close to the hair-raising monkeys on the fright scale and they really are not even as foreboding as the clowns of the Yellow Submarine” are not convincing. His attempts to bring together some common ground between these visual works that are separated by time and years of special effects and societal change are weak. Of course, there is a common thread in each of these – all have villains and the desire of good to conqueor evil. To say that these films are high art, such as a Van Gogh or an Andy Warhol is not a fair comparison. These pop culture works may be a whole other category of art- it is a matter of personal perception and to some extent the education and beliefs of the person viewing it. However, to compare the Meanie Clowns of the Yellow Submarine, or the Flying Monkeys from The Wizard of Oz to the evil grinning Gentlemen of the Buffy episode “Hush” serves no purpose. Each may be a type of horror art—spooky mind provoking art, with the fear factor in each unrelated to the others. All forms of these films are art- some stimulate and drive a culture, and all incorporate both the threatening and the sweet. Too much evaluation of an art form, such as what Moeller had done, whether it is Buffy on its own or against another, takes away from experiencing the art as a whole, whether it is shocking, satisfying or leaves you wanting.