.......I can never speak so
passionately about Buffy the Vampire Slayer as when
confronted with a skeptic. There are about four Buffy fans at my
high school, as far as I can tell. So, by skeptic I mean a large
percentage of my peers. Typical response from a boy, eyes
rolling:"C'mon, she's a blonde chick in a Wonderbra who fights
vampires."
......."Oh, you must watch Dawson's
Creek" is my usual retort. Occasionally, I will defend Buffy more
elaborately. First and foremost, it has a sense of humor. So many
teen shows have a nasty habit of taking themselves way too
seriously, and for a chronologically young but emotionally mature
viewer, the result is often embarassingly corny dialogue:
Teenagers snicker instead of empathizing. Buffy, on the other
hand, revels in camp and young-love melodrama, taking it's high-
school-is-hell metaphor to realistic yet fantastic levels. Scoff
at Xander's adolescent pinings for a mysterious young woman, but
remember: She's a resurrected Incan mummy who really just wants
to suck his life force out. Ah, the trials of youth.
.......Furthermore, once a week in my
very own home, two teenage girls and their father sit in front of
the TV for the purpose of watching (get this) the same
show. We cheer the mix of sarcasm and sincerity (tipped to
the sarcasm side, just the way we like it), pratfall and
subtlety, sex appeal and cautionary tale (virginity is generally
relinquished to either a vampire, a werewolf, or an evil Slayer).
And Buffy is so savvy in it's range of emotions and jokes that
the viewer never becomes too emotionally distraught (see Incan-
mummy example). Essentially, we are entertained. Any Buffy-
related conversation I have never sounds like the excruciating
reenactments of Dawson-and Joey-whining I become privy to on
Thursday mornings.
.......For some, Buffy's appeal is
it's brutal portrayal of high school. For others, it's the pop-
culture refrences ("Does anybody else feel like they've been
Keyser Sozed?"). And for some, the lure is a Wonderbra'd
blonde chick fighting vampires, and that's fine by me. Because
the basic truth about Buffy herself is known by all who
appreciate her: She is the intelligent, youthful hope that
anyone, when confronted with life's little ghouls (metaphorical
or otherwise), will be able to-as Willow put it-kick some serious
demon ass.