Everyone is a potential Slayer

[eumelia]

It is often asked which Book changed my life (Jane Eyre), what Movie changed my life (Free Willy - do not laugh, the underlying meaning of the film is so important it's as relevant today as it was almost fifteen years ago).
But very rarely do people ask what television show changed my life.
Why is that?
Because the medium is so vast, it's easy to get lost in all the crap that it spews, it's very difficult to find shows that are really good and meaningful.
I can think of two shows that really shaped me into the person I am today.
"Captain Planet" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

"Captain Planet" is, again, as relevant today as it was then (when I was in elementary school), it presents the lowest and most basic of Human corruption and how a person really can make a difference, it saddens me that only now I can really appreciate the genius of that children's cartoon, it was instrumental in my environmentalist ideology (and only now am I thinking seriously of becoming a vegetarian, yeah I know, הצתה מאוחרת anyone?). I even dressed up at Purim as Linka, the Russian controller of Wind.
I hope I can get that show on DVD so I can influence the next generation of my family.

"Buffy", ahhhh, "Buffy". One can write almost endlessly about Buffy, I know because I've read many articles and books on the subject, one can watch the episodes again and again and again (except "the Body", which never fails to leave me dehydrated and in awe of the absolutely magnificent art of Joss Whedon), and every time you discover another level of humanity that you missed the fourth time you watched it.
Discovering Buffy at the tender age of 12 (along with my two bestest friends) affected me in degrees I cannot even begin to describe.
I wish Mummy had gotten into it along with me, I think she would have worried a lot less about my "obsession" if she had and as an "X-Files" fan, I don't know why she didn't, perhaps because it was young and in the moment and it spoke of problems she no longer though she had to deal with.
"Buffy" inspired me to become as strong a woman as possible, it opened my eyes to the fact that women (especially short and cute ones) are underestimated and disregarded, until they prove themselves (either by opening their mouth, like the Lovely Cordelia, or throwing a punch like the Goddess Buffy).
"Buffy" inspires me to get into martial arts, it inspired me to explore my spirituality beyond the default I was born into (I'm glad I discovered that being Jewish is compatible with being an Agnostic and a Gaiaist), it inspired me to become a writer, it inspired me to explore my other obsessions like various Comic Books, Fantasy and Sci-Fi, it showed me the power of books (don't speak Latin next to them) it showed me the power of words.
"Buffy" is beyond fandom, it transcends academia, it already has cult standing, I will not be surprised if "Buffy" and it's spin offs "Angel" and the comic book "Fray" become a sacred text for a new religion in a few hundred years, because despite it being of a certain time and place the ideas and concepts it shows and formulates are timeless and cannot be anachronistic, by their very nature.
I think "Buffy" as a fandom has the potential to out live "Star Trek".
When I go to Cons and I see the new fans of "Buffy", who caught the re-runs, or have a friend who has the DVDs, this New School of fans (I consider myself Old School - since I watched it when it first aired) will inspire more and more fans and more people will be changed for the better by this exceptional work of art in a disrespected medium.

That's what "Buffy" truly is, because every woman, man and child is a Slayer!

Comments

[ayellowbirds.livejournal.com]

I think "Buffy" as a fandom has the potential to out live "Star Trek".

Now watch as the trekkies descend en masse towards you, hollering war-cries in Klingon.

I think an inclusive Whedon fandom, more than just a Buffy/Angel fandom, is going to be a very powerful presence soon. He's won a lot of new fans during his time writing the X-Men, and then there's us Browncoats. Just wait until Wonder Woman comes out... then he'll get a whole new army of geeky fans.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I do not fear the trekkies, I am a "girl" who knows the difference between a Galaxy class ship and a Sovreighn and knows the difference between a Vulcan and a Romulan, I also know what Kap'lah means :) Trekkies fear me! MWAHAHAHA!

I can't wait for Wonder Woman :D

[digzmania.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your analysis on "Buffy" as an inspiration for personal character formation. I think that there are a lot of personality traits, and character lessons, that we can take into consideration from shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Although, I personally wouldn't go as far as to assign it to be the basis of any future cultic religious perspectives.)

BTW: My favorite episode to watch over and over is "Once More. With Feeling." The musical episode. The song, "Walk through the Fire," always struck a very pesonal chord with me; at least the first verse. Her plea to once again be able to feel the fire burn, or as she is saying... to at least feel anything, made me realize that I had a lyrical means to describe how my bipolar depressions made me feel. I finally had a way to express them to my family with the meaning and feeling behind the words that came out of my mouth.

I too, and a Trecker (old old school), and a Treckie (TNG, DS-9, and even Voyager.) I watched the first two seasons of Enterprise, but lost track when it switched networks in my local market.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are some of the most colorful ways to express the human dream, and hopes for better futures; as well as to express our worst fears and nightmares of possible outcomes to real life problems.

I was a huge TV sci-fi fan in my younger days (Battle Star Galactica (the original), Incredible Hulk, Dr. WHO, and Buck Rogers.), and have become even more so of a Sci-fi fan in recent years as the genre has moved beyond simple entertainment and into a means to address real to life concerns and human emotion (Babylon 5, Buffy, Angel, Battle Star Gallactica, Star Gate, etc...).

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

(Although, I personally wouldn't go as far as to assign it to be the basis of any future cultic religious perspectives.)
Yeah, that is a little extreme, but I was really in the momentum :)

The genre has moved beyond simple entertainment and into a means to address real to life concerns and human emotion.
That's what I love most about sci-fi and fantasy the most, I too got into the genre though Star Trek:TOS, but I was only seven when I watched the reruns and I just couldn't grasp what I was seeing in TNG, it was only in my teens (and once more getting into it through Buffy) did I realize the genius of the fandom.

My ultimate favourite episode is "The Wish" from season three, I thought it was just amazing how the AU was so conceivable, I loved it.