Feminism in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When the show began, Buffy was young, peppy and confident in her role as the Slayer. Sure, she put up a little fuss at first, but she quickly began to thrive and see just how important being the Slayer was. By the end of the series, she had changed. She became full of herself, often ignoring those who helped to keep her alive longer then most Slayers. She began to resent her role Slayer and look at it through bitter eyes. In addition to this, she began a very unhealthy relationship with Spike. This plot saw her turning on her friends to help Spike. He attempted to rape her and she didn't make him face the consequences of that. By the final season, she became completely reckless. She went out alone at night to bring a potential Slayer back to the house with no weapons, despite the fact she knew the uber vampires were not easily killed. She allowed Spike to have the run of a house full of potentials even after learning that he was under the control of their enemy and could turn on them at any second. When one of her plans to stop the First Evil fails and Xander has been seriously hurt, she insists on running out to do the same exact thing just seconds after he gets back from the hospital. A far cry from the strong, smart heroine of a few seasons ago.
Buffy wasn't the only one who suffered later on. Willow also became a shadow of herself by the end of the show. She started out fine. A bit geeky and timid, but she could stand up for herself from time and time and was very loyal to her friends. She even gave up going away to Ivy League schools to stay in Sunnydale and help Buffy fight evil. By early season 4, she had hit her stride. She was working hard and excelling at UC Sunnydale, she was dressing better, and displayed confidence and seemed happy. She even began to study magic more seriously, becoming a stronger asset to the Scooby gang. Before long, she fell apart and began misusing magic. The writers essentially turned her into a crack addict with all the cliches they could throw in. Willow was unable to responsibly handle the power she had gained and became a problem. By the end of the show, she was regularly lamenting about magic and how it's too much for her to handle. Not exactly a strong female character.
Cordelia also suffered at the hands of the writers. During her time on Buffy, she was fun, confident, and honest. Sure, she could be a little shallow and rude at times, but she still managed to be a well-rounded good example of a strong female character. Until she moved to ANGEL. Her character growth on this spin-off series was good at first. She still had the bluntness and confidence she always had, but she softened up a little and added even more dimensions to her character. A couple of seasons later found her going blonde and becoming yet another mindless Angel groupie. She lost that brutal honesty that was her trademark and kept the heros humble and just started agreeing with whatever he did. She gave up almost everything that made her Cordelia and basically allowed her to be the servant of the men who dominated the show without any regard for her own life.
While Buffy got many good messages across and had a variety of interesting characters, the female characters are what suffered the most as the series went on. Sadly, the message that was at the heart of the series got lost along the way.
Published by Jamie B
I've interned with the Miami Herald, Wrote for and/or edited all three of my college publications, currently write articles for a real estate/travel site and I've edited a book for someone as well as an arti... View profile
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25 Comments
Post a CommentNice article with some decent points, though you seem to be ignoring the face that ALL characters have flaws, even the Slayer. Her attitude near the end of the series is a result of the many things that happened to her throughout it. Additionally, Buffy eventually is required to face her flaws, making her not a negative portrayal of a young woman, but a human.
Great points i have to give you kudos for that =)
Still i think you ignored some points. Like it's been pointed out earlier, Buffy was just pulled from heaven. No one gets over that in one episode. It was realistic. Did you forget the ending of season 7. She came up with the idea of sharing power rather than hogging it and suddenly didn't seem full of herself. Gotta agree with the Willow. It was cheesy. So was the cordelia storyline. They lost their spark. But i think they did good in cordelia's last episode in season 5 and willow for season 8. The writers screwed up for a while but didn't lose sight of the general message while dealing it realistically.
Well-written. Still, as a reviewer it's best to look at things from both sides. You mentioned how Buffy became full of herself and reckless, but at that time there was not time. The first was everywhere and citizens were even leaving the city with not a single clue why. Also, throughout the years, the writer's put each character through hard obstacles like stealing, killing, dieing, resurrection, breaking-up. People don't heal fully from some of those things. Especially Buffy who was released from a heavenly dimension by her friends. She felt very lost and made the unhealthy decision by going to Spike. I think the flaws that progressed made everyone more real even though the situations weren't.
Well-written. Gee, and I just posted a scathing verse about her on AC, called ALL ABOUT BUFFY.
=}
Go Blondes :)
Great article !
Felt sorry for the young blonde girl in horror films, I love it.
I miss watching Buffy. Good analysis
;-)
I never saw it, but who cares if there is feminism or not?