30 days of Buffy meme: what you think made Buffy so great
Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Favorite Example of 90s Special Effects
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
Buffy is so amazing that it's hard to pinpoint one thing that makes it great. I could say the characters, the humor, the writing--I could say anything and it would be completely legitimate. What I am going to say is that it's partly all of these things combined. What made me love the show so much (aside from Giles, and later, Spike) is that so many of the better contrived plots and monsters were such brilliant metaphors for real life problems--almost all of which I've had to face. Watching a girl and her friends kick the hell out of everyday issues personified in demon form? That is cathartic in the extreme. Some of my favorite moments, metaphorical and not, were Watcher-Slayer dynamics, Willow scanning a demon into the computer network, Spike and Drusilla (and pretty much every other time that Spike turns the Whedonverse notion of vampirism on its head), sex making Angel evil (to the point where my mantra later became "KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS, ANGEL!"), Buffy coming out as the Slayer to her mom, Giles getting fired as Buffy's Watcher (and still staying), Faith (just Faith--she is rife with metaphor, meaning, and symbolism), blowing up the high school, Buffy's roommate trouble, Spike's chip, the Buffybot and all of Spike's other attendant Buffy obsessions, the major depression and apathy that Buffy struggles with in Season Six (as I told a friend "I was just happy to see my internalized problems on something external"), "Normal Again," Spike's soul and all the myriad of critical thought associated with it--particularly in regards to Angel, Andrew and the nature of evil, the weird relationship Buffy and Spike have from beginning to end, and foisting independence and strength upon a cadre of unsuspecting girls and women many of whom, we shall see, cannot handle it and don't really want it (which is a very real conundrum in feminism). Pretty much anything in this show that made me want to write a critical essay a la my Communication Studies degree is some sort of metaphor that I adore, largely because it somehow applies to my own life or things that I see on a regular basis.
So what makes Buffy great? It's my life on screen. And your life, and everyone's life. It's hard to watch Buffy and not find someone or something to latch onto for the ride--be it over-identifying with nerdy Willow, or seeing parallels between your life and Spike's pining obsessions, or falling in love with Xander. There's something in here for everyone.
(Caps are by by Emma-Jane.)
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Favorite Example of 90s Special Effects
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
Buffy is so amazing that it's hard to pinpoint one thing that makes it great. I could say the characters, the humor, the writing--I could say anything and it would be completely legitimate. What I am going to say is that it's partly all of these things combined. What made me love the show so much (aside from Giles, and later, Spike) is that so many of the better contrived plots and monsters were such brilliant metaphors for real life problems--almost all of which I've had to face. Watching a girl and her friends kick the hell out of everyday issues personified in demon form? That is cathartic in the extreme. Some of my favorite moments, metaphorical and not, were Watcher-Slayer dynamics, Willow scanning a demon into the computer network, Spike and Drusilla (and pretty much every other time that Spike turns the Whedonverse notion of vampirism on its head), sex making Angel evil (to the point where my mantra later became "KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS, ANGEL!"), Buffy coming out as the Slayer to her mom, Giles getting fired as Buffy's Watcher (and still staying), Faith (just Faith--she is rife with metaphor, meaning, and symbolism), blowing up the high school, Buffy's roommate trouble, Spike's chip, the Buffybot and all of Spike's other attendant Buffy obsessions, the major depression and apathy that Buffy struggles with in Season Six (as I told a friend "I was just happy to see my internalized problems on something external"), "Normal Again," Spike's soul and all the myriad of critical thought associated with it--particularly in regards to Angel, Andrew and the nature of evil, the weird relationship Buffy and Spike have from beginning to end, and foisting independence and strength upon a cadre of unsuspecting girls and women many of whom, we shall see, cannot handle it and don't really want it (which is a very real conundrum in feminism). Pretty much anything in this show that made me want to write a critical essay a la my Communication Studies degree is some sort of metaphor that I adore, largely because it somehow applies to my own life or things that I see on a regular basis.
So what makes Buffy great? It's my life on screen. And your life, and everyone's life. It's hard to watch Buffy and not find someone or something to latch onto for the ride--be it over-identifying with nerdy Willow, or seeing parallels between your life and Spike's pining obsessions, or falling in love with Xander. There's something in here for everyone.
(Caps are by by Emma-Jane.)