Into every generation, a TV series is born: one show in all the world, an awesome one. It alone will give us the strength and skill to fight medically inaccurate medical dramas, police procedurals which ALWAYS follow the same procedure and 90210. To stop the spread of this evil and diminish their ratings. That show is Buffy.
In the 90's, Joss Whedon created a cultural icon. Miniature Buffy's can now be bought on Ebay. Bookshops now sell the comic book continuation of the series. Academics reference Buffy in university lectures. There is now a such thing as 'Buffy Studies'.(We will ignore the excruciating 86 minutes of Kirsty Swanson's "acting", it was tantamount to Waterboarding)Sounds familiar, you say? The same thing can be said for Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. Except, there is one important difference; Buffy is teenage girl. This quote, from Spike, in the episode Touched, says a lot about the kind of hero Buffy is.
"You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I'd prefer you didn't. Don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you ... Here, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say "I love you", it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the One, Buffy."
If you have written Buffy off to be a load of feminist crap with a ludicrous title, well, you'd only be right. Minus the crap part. The show also offers violent, dramatic and well choreographed fight sequences, witty dialogue and popular cultural references, some diverse and beloved character, subtext (both subtle and obvious) and well- thought out story arches with a BIG finale. Most importantly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer gives us ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, people who don't give up trying until literally the end of the world. In Buffyverse,to quote Abraham Lincoln, we have faith that right makes might.
Having watched Buffy religiously in my childhood, I revisited it this year and realised just how much of the shows deeper meaning and metaphor I missed in my innocence. Now when I watch my box set not only am I visited by a deep and aching nostalgia but I have a new appreciation for the humour and innuendo I could not understand as a child. The show really is a something you should not be deprived of due to misconceptions or stubbornness. However, if you are looking for a series overview, this one feels the most fitting.
Buffy Anne Summers
1997-2003
She saved the world a lot.
In the 90's, Joss Whedon created a cultural icon. Miniature Buffy's can now be bought on Ebay. Bookshops now sell the comic book continuation of the series. Academics reference Buffy in university lectures. There is now a such thing as 'Buffy Studies'.(We will ignore the excruciating 86 minutes of Kirsty Swanson's "acting", it was tantamount to Waterboarding)Sounds familiar, you say? The same thing can be said for Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. Except, there is one important difference; Buffy is teenage girl. This quote, from Spike, in the episode Touched, says a lot about the kind of hero Buffy is.
"You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I'd prefer you didn't. Don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you ... Here, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say "I love you", it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the One, Buffy."
If you have written Buffy off to be a load of feminist crap with a ludicrous title, well, you'd only be right. Minus the crap part. The show also offers violent, dramatic and well choreographed fight sequences, witty dialogue and popular cultural references, some diverse and beloved character, subtext (both subtle and obvious) and well- thought out story arches with a BIG finale. Most importantly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer gives us ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, people who don't give up trying until literally the end of the world. In Buffyverse,to quote Abraham Lincoln, we have faith that right makes might.
Having watched Buffy religiously in my childhood, I revisited it this year and realised just how much of the shows deeper meaning and metaphor I missed in my innocence. Now when I watch my box set not only am I visited by a deep and aching nostalgia but I have a new appreciation for the humour and innuendo I could not understand as a child. The show really is a something you should not be deprived of due to misconceptions or stubbornness. However, if you are looking for a series overview, this one feels the most fitting.
Buffy Anne Summers
1997-2003
She saved the world a lot.