A Deeper Look Into Buffy

I’ve watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer a few times over, at this point; and it’s become one of my favorite shows to watch when I’m feeling spooky. I love Buffy’s ferocity and strength, Willow’s quirky cheerfulness, Xander’s humble vulnerability, and Giles just being Giles. This show was brilliantly written. All vampire slaughtering and cringy puns aside, I’d like to take a deeper look at Buffy’s journey and its meaning.

As we all know, Buffy is an ass-whooping, sassy teenage girl who lives in a universe filled with vampires, demons, and other dark beings. She’s a semi-magical being called the Slayer, a calling passed onto her after the previous Slayer died. She stands alone as the conquering heroine against all evil. But I think she was really an ordinary girl who was dealing with a lot and needed something to help her cope.

Buffy is the star of this show, obviously; so, everything that occurs is from her perspective. The story begins with her and her mother living in a new town, and Buffy’s mentally preparing herself to start her first day at a new school. She’s still dealing with the fact that she no longer has both parents in one household; and, as an only child, she has to go through this transition alone. Naturally, this leaves her with feelings of resentment, frustration, and insecurity; though, she tries her best to keep those feelings to herself. This is why she needs vampires to slay: they’re the symbol of the anger she’s not able to show or take out on anyone else.

These feelings also bring out a rebellion in her that wasn’t present before the divorce, which is why she’s always sneaking out of the house at night, skipping classes, and dating older men. Like any teenager, she acts out in the only passive aggressive ways she knows how.

The impending doom of the Master’s re-emergence into her world is Buffy’s depression coming to a head, and Giles’ prophecy about her death is actually the beginning of her suicidal thoughts. The Master is her symbol for all that is making her upset and her want for escape from those things, which is why she fears him so much and why he seems so powerful to her. Her first death is a suicide attempt after facing all those fears and raw emotions with as much courage as she had. Another Slayer being activated through these events (Faith) is symbolic of Buffy losing her personal power and strength—her self-doubt creeping in.

Around this time, Buffy and Angel do the deed, which results in his turning evil (losing his soul due to a moment of true happiness). This situation could be perspective-based or true to her reality: after getting the sex he craved, her older boyfriend turns into a bit of a dickhead, which crumbles the fragile trust that she had built up for him. But, like any young girl in love, she wants to prove that what they had wasn’t just a huge façade. In the end, of course, it ends in a brutal breakup that crushes her spirit.

A deeper look into Buffy will continue next week. Stay spooky!