Article rec/meta/discussion: Depressing facts of Buffy
Buzzfeed posted a list of "Most Depressingly Realistic Lessons" on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it got me thinking. The author, while discussing the most "depressing" aspects of the show says, "Buffy is essentially a bildungsroman, a coming of age tale. At its core, it’s not about vampires or demons."
Yep. We know this, but it's worth re-iterating because there hasn't been a show since that has done this as well. What was so genius about Buffy - and what made it so easy to relate to - was how real it was to life, the vampires weren't literal, really - they were metaphors for the horrors of life. Every time Buffy slayed a vampire, she was destroying her own personal demons.
But then there was Truth-Sayer Spike, (ironically, the one whom Buffy was most drawn to when she was depressed) who always told Buffy the harsh truth, even when she didn't want to hear it.
Spike: We just keep coming. But you can kill a hundred, a thousand, a thousand thousand and the armies of Hell besides, and all we need... is for one of us, just one, sooner or later, to have the thing we're all hoping for.
Buffy: And that would be what?
Spike: One good day.
Spike was right, of course: No matter how many vamps Buffy slayed, there would always be more, each one capable of killing her, despite all her strength. She could never win. Despite that reality, Buffy has never given up. That is how she fights the injustices of life.
Perhaps the lesson of Buffy was learning not to kill your demons - but to learn to live with them. If so, that's pretty darn good advice we could all benefit from.
We can't avoid bad things from happening, but we can learn to deal with them with grace - like Buffy did.
Of all the choices in this list, #1 is the best: Joyce's death did leave Buffy - our strong, capable, Buffy helpless. And that vulnerability, that imperfection was what, in addition to everything else, made her so real and relatable to us. Buffy couldn't save her mother. And that, perhaps, is the saddest thing Buffy ever had to endure, the reality that she was not all-powerful...that she was human, too.
Buffy's flaws don't prove she's not a hero, in fact, they prove what a hero she is.
You can click though here to see what they chose as the most depressing moments.
Thoughts? What, for you, was the most depressing thing about BtVS? Were to able to relate to the show or its characters better as a result of it?
Yep. We know this, but it's worth re-iterating because there hasn't been a show since that has done this as well. What was so genius about Buffy - and what made it so easy to relate to - was how real it was to life, the vampires weren't literal, really - they were metaphors for the horrors of life. Every time Buffy slayed a vampire, she was destroying her own personal demons.
But then there was Truth-Sayer Spike, (ironically, the one whom Buffy was most drawn to when she was depressed) who always told Buffy the harsh truth, even when she didn't want to hear it.
Spike: We just keep coming. But you can kill a hundred, a thousand, a thousand thousand and the armies of Hell besides, and all we need... is for one of us, just one, sooner or later, to have the thing we're all hoping for.
Buffy: And that would be what?
Spike: One good day.
Spike was right, of course: No matter how many vamps Buffy slayed, there would always be more, each one capable of killing her, despite all her strength. She could never win. Despite that reality, Buffy has never given up. That is how she fights the injustices of life.
Perhaps the lesson of Buffy was learning not to kill your demons - but to learn to live with them. If so, that's pretty darn good advice we could all benefit from.
We can't avoid bad things from happening, but we can learn to deal with them with grace - like Buffy did.
Of all the choices in this list, #1 is the best: Joyce's death did leave Buffy - our strong, capable, Buffy helpless. And that vulnerability, that imperfection was what, in addition to everything else, made her so real and relatable to us. Buffy couldn't save her mother. And that, perhaps, is the saddest thing Buffy ever had to endure, the reality that she was not all-powerful...that she was human, too.
Buffy's flaws don't prove she's not a hero, in fact, they prove what a hero she is.
You can click though here to see what they chose as the most depressing moments.
Thoughts? What, for you, was the most depressing thing about BtVS? Were to able to relate to the show or its characters better as a result of it?