I always thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a popular show, but apparently is not very cool to say you like Buffy. But I disagree. I respect people who have watched the show and don’t particularly like it, but the most uncool of the uncool people are the ones who think are TOO COOL to watch or like a show like Buffy.
I’m one of those people who grew up watching Buffy… something that my writing teacher thought was nifty. The fact is that I was like 11 when I remember watching an episode of Buffy… and I have been a fan ever since. Am now 22, so have been a Buffy (and Whedon fan) for half my life. Le GASP!
I’ve seen the episodes so many times, that even my mom (who despises Fantasy and Sci-Fi) has seen repeat episodes of Buffy. Once, while watching a re-run on Canal Fox, my mom told me “Haven’t you watched this episode before? I know I have seen it at least 3 times… so by now you must know all the lines.”
The fact is that growing up watching Buffy shaped who I am today (I am most certainly sure about that). Being an impressionable 11-year-old with a knack for martial arts (am a fan of Bruce Lee), I thought Buffy kicked major ASS.
So it was so easy for me to watch Buffy… with a combination of ass-kicking, supernatural, and teenager-ness that gave a great transition of viewing habits between my pre-teen and teen years. It does help a lot as a young adult to know that Buffy was metaphorical (but you don’t really know what a metaphor means when you’re 12… do you?). So for those of you who don’t know… What the EFF is Buffy about?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was conceived from the failed Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie (Hilary Swank can be spotted in the film, GASP!). Concept was there, a blond Californian girl who is the chosen one… the one to carry the weight of humanity on her shoulders, while still going to high school. She saved our asses, while still attending high school… and did so for 7 years. Obviously, the high school thing ended in season 3, otherwise Buffy would be borderline retarded.
I couldn’t relate much to the high school experience. I never though of high school as a literary Hell’s Mouth… maybe more like Purgatory? xD Well, I didn’t care much for high school anyway… but the show pulled me in for the supernatural. The spirits, the unknown, the vampires, the body-possessing hyenas… the ass-kicking. Where else would you find a 5’1″ tall heroine who would kick so much demon ass? Ok, I was a Buffy fangirl as a little kid, and as I’ve grown older, my fangirly-ness has shifted around [Anya – Fave Characters]. In the end, Buffy always ended up being about the people… people we think are monsters after they’ve done something to us… like the first guy who doesn’t call us back after a banging night, or the horrible roomate we think it’s a demon. The bully who we think is a monster as well… only here, they are actually monsters, demons or vampires.
It’s also about being humans, making mistakes… as teenagers, we always seem to be on our high horses and think we’re better than anyone else… no one knows as much as we do, no one does as good as we do. But we grow up, making our own mistakes, and then realize nobody is perfect… even the heroine (us).
I may not be a Buffy… I may not be a Willow… a Cordelia or an Anya… and thank god I’m not as nuts as Drusilla ever was. But in which show will you ever see a bunch of women who don’t always sit around talking about their latest romantic conquests, or ranting about their romantic mishaps… Yes, they had those, but they didn’t always talk about those~~
And, oh POOH! Don’t forget about the men… people always look down on Xander, whom I personally like a lot. Most people swoon over Spike (no offense to James), but Xander needs some loving. Everyone was special… vampire with a soul… vampire with a chip, very intelligent Giles, chosen one… ex-demon, super witch, the key, etc… but Xander was super normal.
Character development is the reason why you should watch this show… study why things happened, and why such character made that choice. A supernatural show where supernatural characters are only human. One of the shows… if not the only one, that made me support any of the couples throughout its running… even if I didn’t like Buffy/Spike at the beginning, they’ve sunk in…
Anyway, I like the show so much that I’m reading the Season 8 comic… and I’m not a comic book person. xD
