Robin Moon
It’s been a rough couple of years for Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans. Last year, the youngest cast member, Michelle Trachtenberg, tragically passed away. In March of this year, we lost Nicholas Brendon, closely followed by Anthony Stewart Head in June. Despite these huge losses, their performances will be fondly remembered, and the characters live on through rewatches. Many, many rewatches, if you’re me.
Buffy is one of those TV shows that feels simultaneously of its time and timeless. The ’90s / early ’00s charm is undeniable, evoking a specific sense of nostalgia for the era. Yet, the themes of good vs. evil, growing up, power and responsibility, friendship, and love (to name a few) are eternally relatable, regardless of the context. Sure, there are aspects of Buffy that haven’t aged well (looking at you, early-seasons Xander), which I’d say are down to certain biases of both the time and the creator. Rather than discussing those today, I want to delve into how this show shaped a generation.
It would be ridiculous to say that Buffy pioneered feminism in the media, but it certainly inspired women and girls both back when it aired and even still now. All through the magic of Sarah Michelle Gellar and the story as a whole, Buffy reminds them that they’re capable of wielding power, that they can be strong as well as vulnerable, intelligent as well as goofy, brave as well as scared. Regardless of gender, the show undoubtedly had an impact on its audience, but also on media in general. Some notable examples are the genre mish-mash of horror and comedy, and witty dialogue now famous in teen media, so embedded in the show that it’s even known as “Buffyspeak”. So, as part of our Summer Reruns series, I’ll be taking a look at the lasting impact of Buffy, including elements of the show that I’ve never really stopped thinking about.
Adolescence
From Seasons 1 to 3, Buffy is majoritively set in high school, and Season 4 focuses on the transition to college. Therefore, a huge part of the character arcs and overall story revolves around adolescence and growing up. This is a pretty universal experience, and a whole range of events and complications are covered. The main thing: being a teenager sucks. (Yes, pun intended). Of course, not all of us have to deal with fighting vampires and demons on a daily basis, but I think we can all relate to troubles with fitting in at school, navigating early relationships, fallouts with friends, and difficulties with parents.
Buffy’s dynamic with her mother, Joyce, is a key element of the early seasons of Buffy. Since she has to sneak out at night so frequently, hide the inevitable bloodstains in her clothes, and keep a huge part of her life secret, Buffy appears, to her mother, to be a difficult and closed-off daughter, and this hugely impacts the closeness of their relationship. She’s your classic “misunderstood” teenager, and for an even better reason than the rest of us. When Buffy finally tells Joyce that she is the Slayer at the end of Season 2, the wording used in the scene can be likened to a queer teenager coming out and their parent’s response—Joyce says “Honey, are you sure you’re a vampire slayer? […] I mean, have you tried not being a slayer? […] It’s because you didn’t have a strong father figure, isn’t it?” The moment is played as comedic, but laughs aside, it really speaks to the struggle that teenagers often have in discovering and asserting who they are.
This point of contention between teens and adults in early Buffy is also seen across other characters and their dynamics. Willow and Xander’s parents are largely absent, but it’s heavily implied that Xander especially has a strained relationship with his family and that he’s from an unpleasant home environment. But it’s not just family; there are running tensions with authority figures in general, including the police and teachers. The former, because they’re also mostly absent, but incompetent when they aren’t, and the latter because… Well, let’s just say Sunnydale High doesn’t have the best track record with principals.
Buffy’s struggles in school are a result of slaying taking up the majority of her time, but instead of offering support and trying to understand what’s really causing issues in academia, the teachers (especially principals) label her as a “problem child,” amping up the pressure for her to perform in school and threatening expulsion left, right, and centre. This is a common issue in schools, particularly in a time before teachers had the sensitivity training they do now. Again, none of us can relate to the vampire slaying specifically, but being the Slayer can easily be substituted for a myriad of reasons why a kid might struggle in school, and the feeling is the same.
S3E11 (“Gingerbread”) showcases what happens when tensions with adults and authority come to a head. The episode follows a literal witch-hunt, wherein witchcraft in any form is banned at Sunnydale High as a result of fearmongering from police, teachers, and parents, when two children are found murdered. It’s a clear commentary on the Salem Witch Trials, and how Wicca is misunderstood. However, the way in which parents are so quick to turn against their children without taking the time to understand or trust them speaks to the teenage experience. Sometimes, when you’re at that age, it truly does feel like your power is being taken from you, and it’s so hard to make your voice heard.
Another type of relationship that can be tough to navigate in adolescence is that of a romantic nature. It would be remiss of me not to mention Buffy’s relationship with Angel, as it’s a central aspect of the plot from Seasons 1 through 3. Is their love dramatic and over-the-top? Yes. Does it make me feel ill every time I hear Buffy say “when you kiss me, I want to die”? Absolutely. However, did I have huge feelings and apocalyptic sentiments as a teenager? Of course! It’s amped up for the sake of television, but I think most people would be lying if they claimed they didn’t go through similar angst in their first relationship or crush.
From awkward first dates to messy breakups to losing your virginity, Buffy has got you covered. Sure, your first love might not have been a 200+ year old vampire, but most of us have dealt with young heartbreak. We know what it’s like to cry yourself to sleep after being dumped. We know the daydreams in class, the tentative confessions, the doodling your crush’s name in your diary. We know, through it all, that Buffy gets it. Each character has their own varying experience with relationships, some more chaotic than others, so there’s something everyone can relate to. Even though my own story was very different, I still feel the tug at my heartstrings when I watch Willow realise she’s fallen in love with a girl and come out to her friends. I still feel Buffy’s hurt when the guy she sleeps with in her first week of college doesn’t call her. I still feel Xander’s confusion and reluctance to put a label on his fling with Anya. Because even though they’re romanticised as in any other TV show, these relationships are what any teenage relationship is: messy. And that’s something that will never change across time.
Adulthood
After the Scooby Gang mostly join Xander in not attending college, we get into the weeds of adulthood from Season 5 onwards. The best way I can put it is: Season 5 is about becoming an adult, Season 6 is about rejecting the responsibility of adulthood, and Season 7 is about accepting the responsibility of adulthood. Most importantly, Buffy reveals the truth of growing up; being an adult is just as messy as being a teenager. The difference is that you have the tools to cope with it.
Season 5 is focused on family, and with the addition of the younger Summers sister, Dawn, we see Buffy take on the role of the responsible older sibling. Not only this, but with their mother’s ongoing illness and eventual death, much of the parental duties are passed onto Buffy as well. These are very real circumstances that hit home extra hard. Buffy can slay vampires all day long, but she can’t stop these aspects of life that affect everyone at some point. Her struggle to come to terms with the reality of her mother’s illness is addressed in S5E8, “Shadow,” when she claims “there has to be some kind of mystical cure” to Joyce’s brain tumour. Buffy desperately tries to find a supernatural solution that she can fight, insisting that she has to “do something.” It’s an incredibly human reaction, reaching for something you can control in the face of the uncontrollable, especially when it’s hurting someone you love. Even Buffy isn’t all-powerful, and it’s these limitations that make her a sympathetic protagonist.
It’s a running joke in the Buffy fandom that the Big Bad of Season 6 is depression, and it is rather painfully true. In the wake of not only Joyce’s but also Buffy’s death, pretty much every single character is at their all-time low in Season 6. Raising Buffy from the dead has catastrophic consequences for her own mental health, and the fallout from discovering that they selfishly pulled her out of Heaven devastates her closest friends. Our beloved father figure, Giles, goes back to England for most of the season, leaving all the 21-year-olds to fend for themselves without guidance. (It’s okay, we forgive him. At least I do.).
What happens is the result of having your safety net completely removed: bad decisions and utter carnage. Buffy grapples with the numbness of being removed from peace and forced back into slaying by entering into a toxic sexual relationship with Spike. Willow becomes a magic addict which leads to endangering Dawn, closely followed by a crushing break-up with Tara. Xander calls off his wedding with Anya as a result of a demon manipulating his second thoughts and insecurities. Then Anya also sleeps with Spike after their break-up… It’s a trainwreck, basically. And it’s the season that has resonated with me the most in recent years.
I’d hedge my bets and say every single person has been through a minimum of one of three things in their early-to-mid 20s: a life-changing break-up, a job you despise, and a rock-bottom mental health episode, probably as a result of the first two. Being an adult sucks. (What, did you think I wouldn’t use the same pun twice?). The hardest thing in this world is to live in it, after all. Even the heroes can make poor choices and be awful people sometimes—that’s just part of being a person trying to survive when the odds are against you. But, as Buffy also tells us, once life has kicked the crap out of you, you come out of the other side all the stronger for it.
Which brings us to Season 7. When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way is up. Buffy uses her experience as a Slayer to train up the Potentials for the final battle of Sunnydale. Alongside her role on the supernatural side of things, she also takes a job as a guidance counsellor at the new-and-improved Sunnydale High. It’s safe to say that by this point in the show, Buffy is equipped for any eventuality in life, whether that be vampire-related or otherwise. The multitude of lessons she’s learned—and that we’ve learned with her—throughout the show are taught to the next generation of kids. Not only this, but we as the audience have taken those lessons with us too.
When I have insecurities about my relationship, I think of Willow and Tara, Buffy and Spike, Xander and Anya, and remember that love requires hard work. When I catch myself being judgemental, I think of Cordelia’s nuance, and remember that people aren’t always what they seem on the surface. When I worry that I can’t make it through something, I think of Buffy saving the world again and again, and remember that I should never give up because things will get better. And when I’m being cheesy (case in point), I think of Xander’s goofiness and heart, and remember to have no shame about the way I express myself.
Where Do We Go From Here?
It’s hard to pin down just one reason why Buffy has deeply touched so many fans over the decades. To name a few, memorable characters, emotionally impactful plots, and universal themes certainly contribute to its status as a cult classic. Regardless of the fantastical elements of the show, the effect it has had on its audience is absolutely real. For an in-depth read about how Buffy impacted one of our guest writers, I’d heavily recommend reading Mel’s article here. But I can certainly attest to the feeling that Buffy played a part in the person I am today. And I know I’m not alone in that.
