I'd never heard of Empire before I moved here; it's quite a popular popcult magazine in the U.K., though (I often borrow issues from my British coworker and fellow geek). As several commenters have stated/inferred, it skews heavily toward fantasy and science fiction. It also skews much more heavily, if I may generalize about gender, toward stereotypically masculine tastes in genre and tone.
As for Buffy, I have a lot of affection for it; used to loooooove the show, but now it's simply like a friendly ex. I do think it's wildly uneven, and that it requires a large long-term buy-in to really pay off. (I had the same problem with Babylon 5, which I kinda enjoyed but still don't see what all the fuss was about.) That said, Buffy is a wonderful evocation of adolescence, with a really savvy use of metaphor and horror archetype; and it's got some really zippy dialogue. It also took some nifty narrative risks.
But each to her own taste, as the old woman said while kissing the cow.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-25 02:47 am (UTC)As for Buffy, I have a lot of affection for it; used to loooooove the show, but now it's simply like a friendly ex. I do think it's wildly uneven, and that it requires a large long-term buy-in to really pay off. (I had the same problem with Babylon 5, which I kinda enjoyed but still don't see what all the fuss was about.) That said, Buffy is a wonderful evocation of adolescence, with a really savvy use of metaphor and horror archetype; and it's got some really zippy dialogue. It also took some nifty narrative risks.
But each to her own taste, as the old woman said while kissing the cow.