Imagine you’re home watching a horror movie and as always, the villain, whether serial killer or vampire or some other unidentified monster, has got their victim cornered. The monster creeps through the dark alleyway while the movie plays with shadows and lights in a way where you can’t see enough of the monster, yet you still fear it. Then you see the victim running and screaming away as fast as possible. The monster moves slowly, yet somehow catches up to his victim in a moments notice. That’s normal for a horror movie; it’s a part of the supernatural element that makes us fear the monster, but that’s not where the cliche comes in. It’s who the victim is that is the problem. The monster attacks and the victim’s revealed. She’s a small, defenseless, blonde woman. Then she dies, and later in the movie a man rescues another woman from the same fate from the evil monster. But what if that didn’t have to happen anymore? Joss Whedon decided to change that blonde woman’s fate with a show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
No longer did the blonde girl have to be the victim when, in 1997, Joss Whedon aired the cult classic show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He decided he was done letting that girl get hurt every time and instead made her what monsters fear. He made her the vampire slayer, but she does so much more than just kill vampires. Buffy was a cult classic for a number reasons, one of the biggest being her ability to fight evil. We all want to see the hero in ourselves, and Buffy shows us that no matter who we are, we can be great.
Buffy’s the one girl who you think you just know right off the bat. She would be expected to be the popular pretty blonde who’s ditzy and the first one to die if attacked, just like in the movies. She proves herself to be the opposite time after time. However, the legacy didn’t start with her. It started generations before with the first Slayer. They could have made the slayer a boy, or that the slayer could change gender every time one is called, but it’s always a woman, The opening line for several episodes is “Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the the vampires, and demons, and the forces of darkness; To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.” This phrase is repeated consistently to enforce the idea that it is one woman and one woman only that can handle the monsters in the world. However, it doesn’t discriminate against male power in any way, just simply promotes female power. It was revolutionary of it’s time for the powerful message it sent to women. At that time, songs like “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls and television shows like Sex and the City were the only things slightly promoting female power, and they didn’t do it in the way they should. Yes they showed women in dominant roles, but they promoted the idea that women can only be symbols if they are sex symbols who dance on poles or that all that women are concerned about are their relationships and a desperate need to have a boyfriend to take care of them. Buffy expressed a sense of independence and that a woman could not only be on the same level as a man but could be better. In fact, Xander, one of the males on the series is known as the “Zeppo,” the guy who doesn’t really help much but is still there. Emotionally he’s a great friend, but it usually comes down to Buffy and Willow for the actually physical work and attacks on evil.
Women in media were often depicted as being weak for men and needing them to go on with love always clouding their judgment. This idea is opposed as early on as the season 2 finale of Buffy when she has to kill the love of her life, Angel, to save the world from an evil hell dimension. Of course that choice seems simple, but in reality it would take a very strong person to be able to put the world above their feelings, and that’s something Buffy did every time she had to. Buffy is often called a “strong female figure,” but part of that title is the problem with society. She shouldn’t be a strong “female” figure, but just a strong figure. One time, show creator Joss Whedon was asked “So, why do you write these strong female characters?” and he responded with “Because you’re still asking me that question.” This shows that, even years after Buffy aired, people are still confused by the concept that women are strong people in general and are shocked when they see them in the media, as if the strong women we see in media today are an anomaly compared to “real” women. However, all of this is just the idea of the slayer. The show begins a feminist movement through its’ audience in the real world with Buffy being the main feminist, which resonated with a lot of women helping induct them into this fandom. However, every woman in this show was powerful and strong in her own right. Cordelia was popular and “ditzy,” but was also actually very intelligent and kindhearted. Dawn faced identity issues and overcame them. Anya learned how to find equality for men and women. The most important feminist character besides Buffy though is Willow, a shy girl who eventually finds strength in herself, besides being cast in the shadow of Buffy.
Buffy, even when questioning her slayer role, is always a proud feminist. Over and over again she proves she’s strong when compared to the men around her. She is independent and never feels bad about who she is and what she wants. She essentially tells the patriarchy elements of the show (the Watchers Council, Caleb, etc) to screw off when she stands up for herself and does things her own way, without anyone dictating her life. Not only does she stand up for herself, but she does it in cute skirts and high heels. Being a badass doesn’t mean she has to be a tomboy or wear camouflage jackets, she can wear whatever the hell she wants and still be seen as the strong hero she is. She wants to be fashionable, and that’s not a bad thing because she still wants to save the world at the same time. She’s got her priorities but knows what she likes and doesn’t let anyone talk down to her for being exactly who she is. She is supposed to be alone in the world with her Watcher fighting evil, but she still goes out and has a social life because that’s what she wants. She has friends, which she is often told she can’t. As the series goes on it becomes apparent she may be the first to actually do this, and that’s because Buffy decides her own life. She knows when to keep them around or when they need to be out of harm’s way. She also knows when she needs help, and isn’t afraid to ask for it. Being independent doesn’t mean doing everything on your own, but it means being comfortable enough with yourself to make decisions, and sometimes those decisions are to get help from others. She also decides to be a real living person. Often women are told they are too emotional, and many of the past slayers agreed and shut down their emotions having no emotional ties to anyone or anything. Buffy draws strength from it and shuts down the idea that women are “too emotional,” or even if they are that that is a bad thing to be. She’s quoted as saying to her emotionless slayer friend, Kendra, “My emotions give me power. They’re total assets.” Eventually, Kendra goes on to die, she has no real friends to back her up, and no real reason to fight to continue living when Drusilla gets to her. Buffy’s in complete control of her life, even when she isn’t. She’s one of the most powerful female characters in all of television, which is why it’s a no brainer that women followed the show avidly and still are invested in it today. What makes Buffy a truly strong character though, is her ability to show her enormous power. Her ego doesn’t get in the way. She doesn’t need to feel “special.” When The First attacks in season seven, she changes the rules of the Slayer game. She is not bound by a man’s ritual in which he created the first slayer (which by the way,
involved being tied up, tortured, and forced to fight the demons of the world). She instead brings power to every potential slayer in the world and shares her incredible strength and speed. However, she couldn’t have done this without her powerful Wiccan friend Willow. As much as Buffy is important to her own show, her friends share equal importance and are just as big reasons that a fandom was created for the show as Buffy is. She and her friends do a lot more than just kill monsters. They deal with real life monsters: friends, family, boyfriends and girlfriends, high school, and growing up.
A fan favorite of the show, Willow Rosenburg, may actually be one of the strongest characters in the series. She first comes on as a nervous, shy, nerd who isn’t confident in herself and is in love with her best friend Xander. Over the course of the series, she finds her strengths and overcomes her fears. At the time the show aired, a nice family was thought to be a husband, wife, and several kids that were probably Christian. Willow changed that when she began practicing witchcraft. Willow is probably the sweetest, most caring character on the show, yet she is involved in magicks and deviates from the normal life that most families identified with. She’s a rebel in her own right, but in a self-empowerment kind of way. There was one point in her life where she had become addicted to magick as one becomes addicted to drugs. She eventually fought back and became sober, and when faced with the pressure to use magick when she wasn’t ready, she stood her ground and said no. She only used it when she felt comfortable, and that was to empower thousands of potential slayers and protect the world. This moment embodied the women’s liberation and empowerment movement. Her religion is not the only thing that set her back from most television characters, but her sexuality was a big moment in television history. There had been several other characters to come out as gay before, but with Willow it was different. She came out, and it was all okay. It was a slow transition from her loving her ex boyfriend, Oz, to her newfound love for her friend Tara, but it happened seamlessly. When Buffy first found out, she “wigged” a little bit, but she quickly accepted Willows sexuality and nothing changed between their friendship. While it was just revolutionary in itself to have a gay character, what I think is the most important thing to come from that is that it wasn’t a problem for ANYBODY. Willow was never ashamed of her orientation and neither were her friends. There was no subplot of someone bullying her for who she chose to love or some big emotional scene where people were in disbelief of who she was. Being gay wasn’t a big deal, it was just who she was. Her relationship with Tara was probably one of the most favorited in the entire series, as they loved and supported each other. Her transformation from sheltered to confident, unsure to Wiccan, and straight to gay was something that related to a lot of fans. Even if the fans didn’t want to be Wiccan or were not gay, Willow symbolized that change could happen no matter what you want that change to be, and that change is perfectly okay.
Buffy and Willow were two very impactful characters, yet they had their flaws, which is what made them so incredible. Buffy fell in love with a vampire which, even if he did have a soul, was probably a bad move. Angel was kind, but loving him had a price. She slept with him, and that caused him to lose his soul. As a result, he tortured Buffy and her friends, and even killed some in the process. Although this was a very obvious “Don’t have sex while you’re too young” metaphor, she went and had it anyway and dealt with the consequences and came out strong for it. Willow got addicted to magick and hurt Dawn by accident when getting high off it. She then also almost destroyed the entire world as Season 6’s big bad, and killed the man who killed Tara in the process. She almost went to the point of no return but her friend from day one, Xander, helped her redeem herself. These women have made tons of mistakes, but they’ve always owned up to them and redeemed themselves. These characters were real people that related to the real people watching behind their television screens. They brought a lot of empowerment into the show, but as the audience, you can’t relate to a hero if they aren’t flawed because we as people are flawed, and that’s a good thing.
While these two women were important for the viewers to identify with, there were a lot more elements in the show that people were drawn to. The entire first several seasons dealt with kids in highschool battling demons, symbolizing actual students’ demons. They struggle with responsibilities, bullies, and discovering who they are. Students in high school have to face their own issues, which were represented many times with actual monsters. The bullies turned into vicious hyenas, the teachers became praying mantis, the students turned invisible when they felt invisible, and a mother wanting to live out her glory days is a witch that takes over her daughter’s body. There’s also the fact that the whole school was settled on the Hellmouth, which was a symbolization that high school was hell. The entire series is about growing up and accepting the responsibilities real life faces you. What’s good to note about the Buffyverse is that it continues on besides the show. Angel, Buffy’s first love, goes on to have his own show. While Buffy deals with growing up, Angel deals with what happens once you’ve actually grown up. It deals with adult responsibilities. This spin off series allows the fandom to grow and to continue to identify with it’s messages. Buffy also went on to become a comic book series, allowing an even bigger audience base to connect with the characters as some people may just not be fans of television.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was in itself a progressive movement for women, the LGBT community, high school students, and so much more. Other characters like Angel, who is looking to redeem his past actions, Xander, who is looking for his place in the world and his importance to his group, Spike, whose love for Buffy changes him from a monster to a man, and Dawn, who has to define herself and accept who she is after hearing about her origins, are also all characters the audience could identify with. There’s something in this show for everybody, and even those who aren’t science fiction fans still enjoy it. The fandom of this group is enormous and continues growing every year because of it’s relatable characters and storylines hidden under the premise of a show about fighting evil. There’s so much more to Buffy than just a girl who slays vampires.