An Analysis of Cheese as Metaphor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Warning! Contains spoilers for Buffy season… er… various. Proceed at own risk.
Remember the cheese cuy in Restless? There has been a great deal of speculation about the metaphysical and psychological importance of the cheese guy, but many devoted Whedon fans argue emphatically that the cheese man means nothing cos Joss says so. “The cheese man means nothing. He is the only thing in the show that means nothing.” Ah ha! See? This can mean only one of two possibilities. Either Joss is trying to throw us off the scent... or he is in denial. So I have made it my mission to discover and reveal the secrets of the cheese guy. And I think I may have cracked it.
The secret may in fact lie in the wisdom of nursery rhymes. And for this tip off I must acknowledge one Seth Good, who, it appears, must be a student in a pop studies course at Purdue. Seth points out that the cheese man is obviously carefully placed to trigger a resonance with the children’s song, The Farmer in the Dell. The song ends with the words “The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone, The cheese stands alone, The cheese stands alone, Hi-ho, the derry-o, The cheese stands alone.” Clearly an echo of the words of the first slayer, who growls “We ... are ... alone!” Buffy responds by looking at an image of the Scoobies, and saying, “I am not alone.” Effectively she is saying, “I am not cheese.” She is not yet ready to accept this aspect of her identity. When the cheese guy appears and dangles the cheeses in front of her, Buffy says, “That's it. I'm waking up.” She doesn’t want to be faced with what she is. Cheese.
Let’s turn for a moment to the dreams of the other Scoobies, and the central role of the cheese guy. When he first appears, in Willow’s dream, he says to her, “I've made a little space for the cheese slices.” Obviously the most important issue in Willow and Buffy’s relationship is finding space for each other amidst all the relationships and slaying and other commitments. Then, in Xander’s dream, the cheese man holds up the plate of cheese slices and says, “These ... will not protect you.” This is an important dynamic in Xander and Buffy’s relationship, and ultimately the cheese (Buffy) will not be able to protect him from the loss of an eye and a lover. To Giles the cheese man says, “I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.” The key issue in Giles and Buffy’s relationship is about control and authority. Who wears the cheese? All of these relationships clearly point to the fact that Buffy is the cheese.
In fact the metaphor spreads beyond the confines of Restless. I am not able to go into every use of the cheese metaphor at this point, but I would like to list a few examples.
Way back in season one we can find references to the cheese metaphor. In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Xander makes a comment about string cheese. What he is actually making a comment about is Buffy, and the fact that he is jealous that she has a crush on another guy.
The cheese metaphor crops again in Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered Buffy that rat feels “a sudden need for cheese.” This is the need to return to her true form, as Buffy/slayer/cheese.
In Dead Man’s Party, Giles votes for a smelly cheese night (focussing on Buffy) but the others are not ready to totally forgive her yet.
In The Freshman Olivia says “Rupert, is this Bleu cheese or is it just cheese that's gone blue?” She is questioning their relationship – she is subconsciously and prophetically beginning to have doubts about whether there is a place for her in Giles’s life, which is already so full with other cheese (Buffy and slaying).
In The Initiative. It cannot be insignificant that when Riley asks Willow to help him get to know Buffy, the first thing Willow replies is, “She likes cheese.” What she is in fact saying though is that Buffy is the cheese. And perhaps Willow is saying that Buffy is starting to find some kind of self-acceptance. Riley must realise the full significance of Willow’s statement, because later in the episode he says to Buffy, “Did Willow tell you I like cheese?” By doing this he is letting Buffy know that he likes her.
In Doomed Spike mocks Xander for “delivering melted cheese on bread. Doing your part to keep America constipated.” Spike is rubbing in the fact that Xander is merely a sidekick, Buffy is the only real cheese. And in fact sometimes Xander actually slows Buffy down.
In Once More With Feeling Xander sings, “She eats these skeezy cheeses that I can't describe.” Perhaps he is suggesting that Anya sometimes turns to cheeses other than Buffy, and this disturbs him.
In Wrecked, Willow talks about keeping stinky yak cheese in her bra. She is acknowledging that she has made another, inferior, cheese (magic) more important than Buffy.
In Storyteller, Andrew and Jonathan dream about the cheese man. This symbolises the fact that they will return to Sunnydale, the home turf of Buffy.
And, finally, it should be noted that David Boreanaz (Angel) likes Cheese Steaks (Buffy).
Finally I would like to discuss the expansion of the cheese metaphor to include Dawn. One of the first hints that Dawn will appear comes in Graduation Day Part 2, when Faith foretells the coming of “Little Miss Muffet.” The reference to the old nursery rhyme is continued in Real Me, when the crazy guy mumbles about curds and whey. Curds and whey are of course bi-products of the cheese making process. The milk is curdled, separated, into curds and whey. The crazy guy can see that although Buffy and Dawn share the same blood, they are made from the same milk, that milk has become curdled. He sees the changes in reality that lead to the separation of curds and whey, the separate form that Buffy has taken on. Buffy needs to be cut, pressed, hardened, salted and ripened (she needs to go through a death and resurrection) before she will once again be stable in her mature state as cheese.
To conclude, let us return to the original children’s song, The Farmer in the Dell. The song was originally sung by colonial children in America, to accompany a game. Marcia Faye McGee has written from the painful sense of isolation that could be triggered by the calls of “The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone.” This is the refrain that occurs over and over throughout every season of Buffy. The cheese stands alone. Buffy stands alone. But it does not have to be so. The loneliness of the cheese can be shared, and thus extinguished. The farmer takes a wife, The wife takes a child, The child takes a nurse, The nurse takes a cow, The cow takes a dog, The dog takes a cat, The cat takes a rat, The rat takes the cheese, and the cheese reaches out and takes all the potential slayers in the world, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Next week: The use of cereal as a plot device.
Update
The terrible truth about cereal…
Brilliant stuff -- I am now completely sold on this cheese theory! But cereal...? I await with interest :)
Posted by: Tracey at July 2, 2004 12:29 AMI liked the theory where the cheese represented not Buffy, but her slayerness. Can't remember where read it though.
Posted by: iona at July 2, 2004 09:46 AMhehe. Yak cheese in her bra. Xander makes Buffy constipated. And what's a cheese steak, eh precious?
Posted by: Tahnda at July 2, 2004 01:27 PMSteak and processed cheese in a bun, apparently. http://www.phillysbest.com/phillysteak.html
Posted by: Fi at July 5, 2004 12:26 AMuummm... all i know is FOR A FACT, that every little thing in that show means somthing, always does, so the whole cheese thing, well i bet thats really important, it explains alot, the way this person portrayed it, its all commming to me, i now understand the cheese guy YAY!
Posted by: vastgirlie at July 6, 2004 01:52 AMThere's another layer in the Initiative: Riley is asking Willow about his chances of a romantic relationship with Buffy, and in telling him she likes cheese, she's saying that Buffy likes to be alone, or needs to be at that time.
I, personally, would go next to eggs:
There's the sassy (aka saxon, or with their shells dyed) eggs in Forever, which was aired around Easter, that involved Joyce's attempted resurrection, and the Gora egg in the same episode.
There's also eggs in Bad Eggs, Blood Ties, the Body, and As You Were.
Posted by: Steanne at July 6, 2004 04:33 AMI have always thought that the cheese man had some semblance other than just irrational quips to make the dream sequence more realistic. Good Work! I'm glad I'm not the only who thinks deep about BTVS.
Posted by: terra at July 6, 2004 05:40 AMI can accept these conclusions. I am very happy to see this issue being addressed. However, I came to my own conclusions about The Cheese Man after the first airing of restless. I ask you all to consider this aspect as well.
BTVS has always been very self referential, and quite self conscious (reflexive). To me, the cheese man is the aspect of cheesiness in the show personified. He relates to each of the characters differently because each of characters have their own corny/cheesy aspects. The cheese man only had to wave the cheese in front of Buffy, because the story is told from her perspective. At that moment, Buffy comes face to face with a joke about her inherant cheese factor. This theory is slightly Freudian, but since we're refering to a dream episode, I think it works. The presance of cheese in buffy(the show) has always signified the show's self-conscious knowledge that it can be quite cheesy.
Just had to add this. Thanks.
"I wear the cheese. It does not wear me." - I always thought this was an adaptation of a quote from the movie of The Man In The Iron Mask. DiCaprio comes storming out and everyone expects him to have gone to pieces because he's been put back in that hidious mask. He manages to hold things together, and when others express surprise at this he comes out with "I wear the mask. It does not wear me."
To address the possible deeper meaning of this with resepect to cheese, I would like to suggest that it is more an issue of Giles' sense of identity, including his position of control and authority but extending far beyond it. Restless comes at the end of season 4, a season in which Giles' role was somewhat confused. He struggled to find a strong sense of focussed purpose in his life without his job as librarian and watcher. His encounter with the cheese man expresses his growing recognition of both his ability and need to move on. He 'wore' the role of watcher, his involvement with Buffy (ie, the cheese), but he is far from being defined by that - it does not 'wear' him.
Posted by: Missiedith at July 6, 2004 11:17 AMYou know I always liked cheese. Which could be why I always liked Buffy. And Urkel.
See Urkel also liked the cheese. And in the end he was always alone, because no one ever understood him.
Suddenly feeling pain for Urkel. And a powerful hankering for cheese.
Posted by: Danie at July 6, 2004 02:25 PMUtterly brilliant. Cheese......that would explain alot of things.
Posted by: Fool at July 7, 2004 03:27 AMyou guys have way too much free time on your hands...GET A LIFE
Posted by: shaddy elsaghir at July 7, 2004 07:46 AMWell if you haven't realized shaddy that Buffy fans are very smart so it doesn't take us long to catch on. Sorry if you don't have five minutes out of your day to contemplate.
Posted by: Danie at July 7, 2004 11:29 AMI think you really hit the target with the cheese analogy, and I must add that the cheese metaphor is not without precedent. It reminded me of the young adult novel "I Am the Cheese" by Robert Cormier, a very creepy psychological mystery about a teenager who realizes he doesn't know who he is. Isn't this the fundamental issue in Buffy's journey to adulthood?
I copied the following from Amazon.com:
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Imagine discovering that your whole life has been a fiction, your identity altered, and a new family history created. Suddenly nothing is as it once seemed; you can trust no one, maybe not even yourself. It is exactly this revelation that turns 14-year-old Adam Farmer's life upside down. As he tries to ascertain who he really is, Adam encounters a past, present, and future too horrible to contemplate. [...] Readers will easily relate to the shy and confused Adam, whose desperate searching for self resembles a disturbingly exaggerated version of the identity crisis common to the teenage years. [...]
--Emilie Coulter
في كان واحد ياحيوان اسمه سبايك يكرهابافي موووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووت
Heh, this is great, but you missed something-- the vampire concept! Vampires bite, right? Well, since Buffy is cheese, they would want to take a bite out of her. Since she also has some attraction for vampires (hence Angel and Spike), this could be an oblique message saying that they want to "have a piece of her." Yeah... I need a life.
Posted by: Allie at July 8, 2004 03:38 PMYou've all completely missed the point. Nothing is as closely tied with the concept of cheese as the state of Wisconsin. Therefore, the frequent references to cheese throughout the Buffyverse clearly imply the infallibility of Brett Favre and the superiority of the Green Bay Packers, bratwurst, and domestic beer....
Posted by: Tundra at July 8, 2004 04:49 PMDid y'all ever think that maybe Joss put the cheese man into a show that has significance in all the episodes so that he could get a chuckle reading on the Internet that his main character could be summed up by "The Farmer in the Dell'? I think the cheese man is just like he said: nothing, just some random stuff he threw in for $*^%s and giggles.
Posted by: Sieya at July 8, 2004 06:00 PMThe other theory that Iona refers to might be Svend's one... about three years ago Svend wrote up something about this.
Sveeeeeeeeeeeeend! Come here!
Posted by: morgue at July 8, 2004 08:16 PMI'm blown away by the whole cheese metaphor!! And the layers just keep on coming...
Posted by: faithfan at July 9, 2004 12:14 AMBy the way, does anyone think they're up to carrying the metaphor a little further, ie chalk and cheese? perhaps the chalk is the deathly white vampires, while in direct opposition to buffy as cheese??
Posted by: faithfan at July 9, 2004 12:22 AM"I wear the cheese. It does not wear me."
As Morgue said, I proposed that the cheese represented not Buffy, but the power of the Slayer; and the cheese man was Buffy's unconscious commenting on/warning about her relationship with that power. She is the Slayer, the Chosen One; but one of the main themes of the series is that she strives to stop the role from defining her completely.
"These... will not protect you."
Throughout the series, we see that those Slayers who become the role die young. See, for example, Kendra, or almost all the Slayers seen in flashback; compare with Faith (who avoids this fate by rejecting the role), Buffy, and to a certain extent Principle Wood's mother (who survives long enough to raise a child before giving in to the role).
Slayers have nifty powers - but they die. Being a slayer will not let her protect her friends. The way that Slayers normally deal with that is by isolating themselves, but Buffy refuses to give up dreams of normality. And as the show demonstrates, her solution works better than the traditional one - and in the end, she rejects the "lone wolf" model entirely. She doesn't resolve the situation by rejecting the role - but she's not consumed by it, either. Instead, she has made a little place for it within herself.
***
I could go on, but I've only got five more working days before I start on my holidays, and I'm moving flat tomorrow. But I'm pretty sure that you can see the gist of my idea, so I'll leave the rest as an exercise for the reader. :)
Posted by: Svend at July 9, 2004 11:53 AMAwesome stuff. For a while I had believed that the cheese man was really just what Joss said...a weird dream thing that meant nothing.
But really, these meanings are all clear. Joss never says nothing. Not when he could be saying something.
also...
Look at all your comments! Even people getting angry with you! Wow.
Ok, you all realise that you're taking this waaaaay too seriously, right?
Posted by: Fi at July 9, 2004 03:19 PMI was just pleased I remembered the basic outline of what I was thinking three years ago - I generally have trouble remembering what day it is. :) Analysis is often more looking into a mirror than a book anyway.
(Does analysis of blog comments qualify for that statement just as much as analysis of a television show? Hmm. :)
Posted by: Svend at July 9, 2004 03:44 PMGreat Jobs. love how you brought everything together Sure does make sense. I await the next cereal thing with patience
Posted by: WillowMWarren at July 9, 2004 05:08 PMre: waaaaay too seriously
But it's sooo much fun. And everybody loves cheese... I mean Buffy... I mean cheese... arrgh!
Posted by: Missiedith at July 10, 2004 09:22 AMI recently wrote a blog entry on cheese.
I watch Buffy.
Spoooky...
Posted by: Siobhann at July 10, 2004 10:45 AMIf the cheese refers to the slayer's powers rather than the slayer herself, then by deduction shouldn't "These... will not protect you" refer to the fact that just because Buffy is endowed with the powers, they will not protect her or make her life easy? She can still (definately) die, and suffer as much as anyone else. Or maybe the other slices of cheese refer to past slayers, and "These will not protect you" means she cannot rely on slayer wisdoms of generations gone, as she needs to change with the times and adapt her powers to the new dangers and circumstances. It could mean that the powers of past slayers cannot protect her.
Posted by: faithfan at July 10, 2004 02:25 PMBrilliant stuff. Very insightful. I have seen every episode from the very first airing of the series, and your theory makes excellent sense. You should have had an entry in the "Philosophy Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale"
Posted by: Dani at July 10, 2004 04:06 PMMy only problem with the cheese analysis is that cheese is inherantly mundane and ineffectual. Why would you choose such representation of super powers? Maybe that is why there is such emphasis on the falibility of the super powers - in the end Buffy only wins because she can retain the value of her humanity.
Posted by: .carla at July 12, 2004 12:01 AMor maybe it mere acknowledges how powerful cheesy things can be (which adds additional layers to the skeezy cheese line).
Posted by: .carla at July 12, 2004 12:06 AMWell, obviously the cheese does not refer to Buffy but more to her slayer powers or power in general. Let's go through some examples again:
Willow’s dream, the Cheese Man says to her, “I've made a little space for the cheese slices.” Willow is carving out her own little piece of the power pie. Maybe it's not slayer power but it shows her desire for such power and is a foreboding of things to come. Then, in Xander’s dream, the cheese man holds up the plate of cheese slices and says, “These ... will not protect you.” Obviously, Xander has issues with Buffy using her powers to protect him and therefore is wrestling with the idea that some day Buffy will not be there to protect him. He is subconsciously admitting that her power can not protect him 24/7, he has not advanced to the idea of using his own power or creating power for himself like Willow. Also, foretelling his loss of eye and love when Buffy can't protect him. To Giles the cheese man says, “I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.” I wear the power it does not wear me. As a scholarly fellow Giles would understand the danger of allowing the power to control and corrupt. This is a manifestation of his desire to wear the power, not let the power wear him or "his" slayer. However, he does not focus the time needed with Willow to protect her from the corruption of power, so this also is a foretelling of future events. Someone he knows will be corrupted with power.
As for Buffy ignoring the power dangled in front of her, her confrontation with the Cheese Man, Buffy has always tried to live as normal a life as possible with her powers, therefore having her powers flaunted in front of her would make her want to "wake up" and return to the normal world.
.
Then again it could mean nothing.
Or maybe it just means Joss likes cheese (in whatever form be it cheesy plot devises, cheesy romantic stories, or string).
Posted by: Atuin at July 13, 2004 06:02 AMThat is one crazy analogy. It went way too far, trying to link certain things that aren't linkable. I can't believe someone wasted their time coming up with that. Cheese in a bra doesn'y mean she has put magic before Buffy, and because someone dreamed about a cheese man doesn't conclude that they will return to Sunnydale. You can say these kind of statements with half the stuff that happens in life.
Posted by: Andrew at July 13, 2004 11:15 AMThat is hilarious! I run to go re-watch the episode with renewed curiousity. :)
For those who complain "get a life", excuse us, but how much time did you spend here reading this? Get your own life, I am rather enjoying this one.
Posted by: Silverback at July 14, 2004 01:21 PMI think the dream episode where cheese gets the most attention is very similar to something david lynch would have done with an episode of buffy. And in all things lynch there are two groups- that metaphor/symbol/action/angle, etc either was thrown in to help create the irrationality of a dream, and those who think that every single thing has subtext behind it, that is, that the cheese would have meaning. I personally beleive that Joss would have thrown this in to get us thinking a bit more, and a small opportunity to use ambiguity. It doesnt matter if the cheese is anything or not (but convincing case!), its just the fact that we've wondered about it and given some great thought and possibilities that makes it fun.
Anyway I think Joss would've just liked the opportunity to throw something like that in. The cheese is really probably one of the more obvious symbols to the series (obviously being a symbol, not what it is). Sorry for rambling..
You guys need 2 get a life... Stop dipping ur noses in something thats passe... I bet Joss is sitting and laughing his head off as he's readin through this... Anything can be turned into a metaphor if one wants... I like buffy too, but guys its (was) just a tv show.. move on, get a job, mature and realize how pathetic this is...
Posted by: FFFF at July 18, 2004 05:45 AMEver been in a literature class in high school or college, talking about some old book that was written years ago and the author long since dead? Do you remember how the teacher would discuss practically every single sentence and say the writer was trying to say this here, and this there, oh and he/she was implying with this sentence that blah blah BLAH!? Remember thinking that your teacher is crazy, she has no real clue what the author was intending, and more than likely, he was just writing what he was feeling that day? Remember wishing for that writer to come alive for just one minute, come into your class, and yell at the teacher for his/her stupidity? And then finallly, remember how you would chuckle to yourself when you realized that your teacher's entire job is to create "theories" on writings, use their imagination to come up with some explanation as to why something was written a certain way, the more outlandish, the more press it would get, and the fact that he/she is a sad person with no life?
I thought the exact same thing today after reading this. What more, the author of this subject isn't even dead. He's been saying, people, the cheese man meant NOTHING. Yet, so called Buffy scholars can find meaning in the smallest of things, regardless of what the man himself said or intended. They refuse to hear his very own words.
In any case, I think all of you who agree with this "theory" and the writer himself fail to remember the best thing about Joss. His HUMOR! That man can create humor in the oddest, most dire, worst situations. Give it up people. Joss intended one thing with the cheese man. Comedic relief.
Posted by: Josh at July 18, 2004 05:45 AMInteresting analysis of the potential metaphor. I did once read a 'young adults' book called 'I am the Cheese'. I believe the protagonist's surname was 'Farmer', and he felt he was 'the cheese' in the song since he was lonely.
However.....a recurring theme throughout 'Buffy'...and, indeed, the final ass-kicking plot twist, is that Buffy is NOT alone. She has a tight circle of close friends and family members who help her to fight evil. Indeed, after just 13 episodes, she's not even the only slayer, so the cheese = slayer power metaphor doesn't really wash.
Nice try, but I think Joss was telling the truth. Cheese means nothing, it's just funny.
Posted by: foofy at July 19, 2004 02:18 AMI'm really thinking that the cheese man means nothing. a lot of times i haven strange dreams where parts of them don't make sence or mean anything. but that "cheese stands alone" theory is quite creative...i kinda like it
Posted by: Mollylyn at July 24, 2004 09:05 PMI loved it. Cheesy though it is :-) You are the Big Cheese of metaphores.
Now, about the cereal.....
c, buffy is a very staight forward show. no major indept analysis will do any gud. cheese does not mean any thing. cum on, atleast believe a creator when he says sum thin. i mean in da show majic is spelt wid a "k" in da end not a "c".
BIG DEAL!n da cereal thing is a joke, rite?
No offense, but I find you stupid. It's just CHEESE\!!!! Listen to yourself!!! Why do people always try to see things that aren't there??? If Joss said it's nothing I believe him, what's he got ot hide? Stupid.
Posted by: robert at July 28, 2004 03:48 AMI have always loved buffy and always wondered what the role of the cheese man was. Now I know!! This really explains alot and it makes alot of sense. Now who does buffy end up with in the end. That is the question.
Posted by: Prudy at July 29, 2004 01:50 PMAll I know is that you have way too much time on your hands
Posted by: Eli Oberlander at July 29, 2004 02:25 PMExcellent thoery i have been trying to work it out since the episode aired, i never knew there were so many cheese references in Buffy.
Posted by: Cheese Man at July 31, 2004 03:07 PMfor the lov of buffy, ppl, jus open that cereal article n get sum sense into you head.
oh, n robert:IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!HA!
for the lov of buffy, ppl, jus open that cereal article n get sum sense into you head.
oh, n robert:IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!HA!
for the lov of buffy, ppl, jus open that cereal article n get sum sense into you head.
oh, n robert:IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!HA!
Oh, and so, you think that what's has been done is a waste of time ? Oh... Sorry guys, but you have lost 15 minutes to read it and another 5 minutes to respond, so, you're SO-IMPORTANT-LIFE has suffered ? we're sorry but don't waste our time and leave your commentary to you. We don't need it.
Anyway, wonderful job, it's clearing some things in the way of Joss Whedon would, with humour. Good work.
PS: Even if Joss has said that it don't mean a thing, he probably do it without any conscience of doing it :P
Posted by: xander at August 5, 2004 05:53 AMStupidy is superfluous in here, which is a shame among buffy fans. Xander, learn how to write/speak/think. I know it's difficult, but it is, in fact, possible.
Treasa, what the hell do you want for me?
Who in god's name cares about cheese and cereal? Isn't there enough in buffy to care about? The great plots and storylines? the dialogue? NO! LET'S TALK ABOUT CHEESE! YOU STUPID DINGBATS!
Sorry about the typo, it was a mistake. I'm not stupid like you.
Posted by: robert at August 7, 2004 07:04 AMoh sorry robert if what i say is not good in english. i'm french, sorry for my spelling. but my idea is clear, i think.
Posted by: xander at August 8, 2004 05:00 AMWow, lol, a lot of love in here. Sour grapes never tasted so delectable! ;)
Btw, very creative theory, even if it is only meant for humorous purposes! :)
Posted by: Amused at August 10, 2004 01:19 PMI must say that this is one of the more interesting posts on any website. Excellent deduction on the cheese theory. Could be Buffy, or her powers...more stuff to think about. For all of you who replied with "get a life," the fact that anyone would take time out of their life to think about the intricacies of a TV show that controlled an hour of our lives each week just shows an intelligence level higher than yours. College professors and international scholars have written many books about the most trivial subjects known to man. I could be wrong, but I believe a man from Rutgers published an article in newsweek supporting the absurd connection between The Wizard of Oz, and Dark Side of the Moon. Furthermore, making comments such as yours, after reading a lengthy rant like the one above, and (with my apologies) my own, is quite ignorant. Not only did you spend at least ten minutes reading this theory, you took the time to respond to it. You can continue to think that devoted BtVS fans need to get a life, but I think that you need open up your mink to think outside the box.
Long live Buffy, Spike is the Champion!!!
Posted by: williamthebloody at August 11, 2004 09:39 AMWhat exactly does it mean when Joss says the Cheese Man means nothing? Does that include what Cheesey says or just the random appearance of a bald, bespectacled man with plenty of cheese?
Even if it is just a random thing thrown in for dream and humour value, it was interesting to read all the different interpretations and opinions. It would be pretty hypocritical for someone to come along now after reading all the postings and blast Fionnaigh's essay as totally stupid (even if you think its wrong) because it's managed to hold a lot of people's interests and provoked a lot of discussion.
Posted by: Will Lee Tell at August 11, 2004 11:00 PMI think that anyone who is telling us to get a life needs to just leave others alone and let them talk about whatever they want in their own dang blog. I'm sure the author doesn't really care what you think anyway. I love the cheese metaphor is the most awesome thing I've ever read. I read it outloud to my mom. Whether it is true or not (I think it is) it's really fun, indepth and thoughtful. I think it's great and now I'm going to go read about cereal.
Posted by: Andrea at August 12, 2004 05:01 PMi would be inclined to believe Joss when he says that the cheese man meant nothing, but the cheese stands alone theory fits so perfectly that i can't help but believe that it's true.
Posted by: ¡Aspirex! at August 13, 2004 11:22 PMGood Work Girl! I really think that your cheese theory could have been, at first, just for fun but, as I finish to read it all it's clear that, for all the insight into the series and the characters, it could be... Not... I SHOULD be taken seriously as a very good theory on the misteriously "cheese man" in "Restless".
I'm very sorry for all these people that doesn't understand that a theory is to be studied, analized and (maybe) criticized -that's the reason theories exists- so, please, be kind with all of us that give credit to a very clever girl on a very tricky subject.
Sorry for my mistakes writting this because I'm from Panama and we talk (and write) in spanish. Love to you all.
Fabrizio
Posted by: Fab! at August 14, 2004 06:05 AMwell the only thing that I cqan think of thats not included is when he says the Man in the Iron Mask line, "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me"
Posted by: Kat at August 19, 2004 10:23 PMOh, I wanted to mention this one "The Wizard of Oz, and Dark Side of the Moon", but my skills aren't good enough to make me understand about this. Really I have to thank you williamthebloody, for telling with the right words what I was saying. An Yes...
Spike IS the REAL champion !!!!
Posted by: xander at August 20, 2004 11:02 AMI'm surprised that this cheese man (From only one ep "Restless") is going to be more polemic than XFiles generic (don't know the name in english), I only thing it's good.
Je suis surpris que l'homme au fromage (d'un seul épisode "Restless") aie autant de polémique que le générique d'X-Files, je trouve ça bien :), au moins les grands esprits se rencontrent :P
PS: If you want a traduction of your text, me and a couple friends are happy to do it. Just leave a message here.
Posted by: xander at August 20, 2004 11:17 AMJust because somebody doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they have a closed mind, williamthebloody. Thinking outside the box has nothing to do with it and you're just writing it to justify the way you think.
Posted by: voiceofreason at August 31, 2004 07:41 AM