Friday, March 17, 2017

Femslash Friday: Buffy Edition

You might have heard that the 20th anniversary of the airing of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot was last week.

First, how has it been 20 years already?

Secondly, BtVS remains one of the shows that serves as my point of reference for other TV shows (the other being Xena, obvs). By that I mean, once the baseline of "Does it pass The Bechdel Test?" is established, I consider: what kind of relationships exist among the characters, how do the women relate to one another (primarily as rivals or allies?), how do men relate to and respect (or not) women, are there queer relationships and/or subtext potential, is the dialogue smart and quirky?

But also, BtVS was very white. And, even Willow and Tara seemed to exist as queer islands in a sea of heterosexuality, which is true of  many queer TV characters in general who seem to exist completely disconnected from other LGBT people. If the show is re-booted, I hope a more diverse ensemble is included.

Oh, and also, I've watched the series several times through. I know some folks say that the show is timeless, and perhaps it is in a sense. But, with each viewing, I've felt further removed from the high school, and then college, realities of the characters. If there's a re-boot, maybe the Scoobies could be middle-aged versions of themselves (+Tara).

And yet. Here are the episodes I often return to: "Halloween," "The Wish," "Doppelgangland," "Fear, Itself," "Hush," "Restless," "The Gift," "Once More, With Feeling."  I don't remember much of Season 7, honestly. After "Seeing Red," things get blurry for me.

Anyway.

Fan vid of the week. Willow Rosenberg doing her veiny-dark-Willow-hiding-underneath-a-thick-veneer-of-adorkableness thing.

No comments: