Compare/Contrast Paper

Darius White Michael Duffy TSEM Blood, Lust, and the American Dream 13 October 2012 The expressions I study selected all in all involve metaphorical drugs and addictions in lamia media. The in class term I have chosen is titled Not to Be Toyed With medicine Addiction, Bullying and Self-empowerment in Buffy the vampire Slayer by Rob accost and it involves the fictional constitution, Willow, and her addiction to antic. The article shares several similarities with the peer reviewed article Battling Addictions in Dracula by Kristina Aikens, and Is it dangerous? Alternative readings of drugs and addiction in Buffy the vampire Slayer by Jo Latham. All three articles explain the drug references in vampire media albeit with different points and interpretations. They briefly explain what an addiction is and how it applies to that particular subject. nevertheless two articles in particular, Not to Be Toyed With and Is it dangerous? both reboot the negative aspects of peer pressure and bullying and what effect it can have on someones psyche specifically on the character Willow.Both articles explain how Willows magical curiosity began to manifest into something darker through and through time. The more she used magic, the more she relied on it and the more she became reluctant to tell herself. She also began to show signs of an addiction, including withdrawal. The articles differ from Not to Be Toyed With in the perceive that they explain drug use using different examples. Is it dangerous? takes a more in depth look in how Willows addiction causes her to become more compulsive, and how her friendships begin to crumble the more she hurts others with her magic.The article states that The show succeeds in depicting drug use and its consequences as a complex web of dynamic intra-action between personal agency and structural forms of social restraints. Magic is pharmAkon poison and cure, and the distinction arises from how it is used for good or evil, productiv ely or destructively. It states that the show attempts to show that drugs arent entirely bad, exclusively can be used constructively. It evens takes it a step further by comparing her to other drug abusers and the medical aspect of addictions.It mentions that there may be properties of magic that has universal effects that may result in addiction, not the magic itself. In Battling Addictions in Dracula, It doesnt use magic as a metaphor for drugs, but it compares drug abusers to a vampire addicted to human blood, more specifically the war on drugs. It briefly mentions the various drugs and makes several references to vampire culture. It also states that the drug use in Dracula refers to real life instances where doctors would try to control drug aspiration during that era.The article elaborates further by stating, Doctors carefully regulate the use of drugs in the novel, implying that disaster will surely ensue if the drugs are used improperly, which is show when Lucy dies as an indirect result of the maids being drugged. Works Cited Aikens, Kristina. Battling Addictions in Dracula. Manchester University/ gothic Studies, 17 Mar. 2010. PDF. 13 October 2012. http//ehis. ebscohost. com. proxy-tu. researchport. umd. edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? id=0737b5e2-8766-4318-a13a-9ef14709da71%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&hid= cxx Latham, Jo. Is it dangerous? Alternative readings of drugs and addiction in Buffy the vampire Slayer. Watcher Junior. June 2010. Web. 13 October 2012. http//www. watcherjunior. tv/05/latham. php Cover, Rob. Not to be Toyed With Drug addiction, Bullying and Self-empowerment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Continuum Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 2005 19(1) 85-101.