TV Appreciation: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

We seem to be in a bit of a literary vampire renaissance. Twilight and True Blood in particular have managed to get younger generations into the vampire myth. Having recently done a dissertation on the ongoing popularity of vampire fiction I wanted to take some time to discuss one of my favourite shows of all time: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact at one point last year I found myself in a heated debate within a group of friends where the table was divided between Buffy fans and non Buffy fans where I ended up exclaiming "If you don't support Buffy, you don't support women!" because, you know, I'm a devoted fangirl.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a show that is currently shown on the SyFy channel, came out in 1997 and ran until 2003. The show followed young woman, Buffy Summers, who is a vampire slayer in the quaint town of Sunnydale.


"Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires,demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer."

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon: God of the Nerds, was an ambitious show with some really kick ass female characters. As a slayer Buffy took the stereotypical young, female victim often found in vampire books/films and empowered the image thus providing a strong, female role model. As the show goes on more complex and harrowing  villains are thrown her way and she, along with her friends, have to battle new foes. As the show goes on the villains, the plot, the characters etc all become more intense. Whedon and Noxon really know how to capture the attention of the viewer. As the series goes on it tackles a variety of problems: both demonic and human.


After the seventh season of Buffy, the TV show ended. Then "Season Eight" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out in comic book form via Dark Horse. Also whilst Buffy was on the air a spin off show based on the character Angel was created that ran concurrently with the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There has been a long series of Buffy comics, plus a handful of one shots, and a series of paperback stories from the Whedonverse.


Joss Whedon considered the Hollywood stereotype of 'the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie' and decided to subvert that idea so as to create someone who was a true hero. He explain that his main aim was to explore 'female power: having it, using it, sharing it'

Having been raised by two women himself, Joss Whedon creates strong female characters with complex emotions. His use of psychological theory, playful pop culture references and clever writing techniques are what make this show so special. If you've not seen it I highly recommend sitting down to watch it - especially if you're a fan of supernatural fiction. I can pretty much guarantee you won't regret it.



I highly admire Joss Whedon for tackling the infamous interview question:
Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters?
A: Because you’re still asking me that question.

Links:
Interesting Buffy Facts!