5 reasons today's teens need to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Taake]

http://screenrobot.com/five-reasons-todays-teens-watch-buffy-vampire-slayer/

I came across this list today and found it interesting.
I know that at least on these boards we've discussed eg Willow taking responsibility for her magic addiction as well as the entire layout of that plotline. And not always thinking it was handled in the best of ways...

So reading through this list do you guys agree or disagree? Do you perhaps have other reasons why todays teens need/ should watch Btvs?

🙂

 

[Buffy Summers]

Only 5? 😀

Here they are, for reference:

1. It teaches that it’s cool to be yourself
2. It has strong female characters
3. It portrays a positive sexual image of women
4. It doesn't shy away from serious issues
5. It teaches you that recognizing someone else’s strength doesn't diminish your own

Well I think our discussions on this board would say that it does all these things on the surface, but not so much if you delve in deeper. You can make arguments on both sides of each of these.

 

[Still a Scoobie]

number 6: IT'S THE BEST DAMN SHOW EVER!

 

[Buffy Summers]

number 7: Bad things happen when you don't take responsibility for your own actions/own up to your mistakes.

Okay, so that didn't really happen on the show. But it should have (see: Xander...Willow...Spike...every other character...)

 

[thetopher]

Number 8: It's got a really good spin-off show- I mean, how often does that happen?

 

[Fuffy Baith]

1. It teaches that it’s cool to be yourself
2. It has strong female characters
3. It portrays a positive sexual image of women
4. It doesn't shy away from serious issues
5. It teaches you that recognizing someone else’s strength doesn't diminish your own

1. and 2. I totally agree with.
3. Not so much. I guess it's good for Willow and Tara, but outside of them the sexual image of women is not always positive or right. Cordelia, Faith and Buff season 6. Not a good message for teenagers but it's realistic. There's always that girl in school like Cordelia or Faith.

4. and 5. I guess I agree with that.

9. The awesome fight scenes, that teach us to be quipy after we win.

 

[Lyri]

10. It gives you a totally new speech pattern.

Come on, who here hasn't ended up saying something in Buffy's signature style, lol.

 

[thetopher]

11- It's got some cool British characters in it (Wes, Giles, ...Spike, Ethan, Drusilla) and isn't afraid to poke fun at them as well. 🙂

I do love that Joss is a Anglophile.

 

[Doppelgang]

12) It really makes you stop and think about how you are living your own life, because of all the metaphor's used within many of the story-lines.

 

[Blaze]

1. It teaches that it’s cool to be yourself

Agree with this one! If there's one thing that is true about BtVS it's that characterization is constant and character's are truly themselves. Plus, the whole idea of the show is kind of about defying stereotypes, so that's cool.

2. It has strong female characters

Again, super agree with this one. The characters in Buffy are extremely flawed, but they are often also very good role models. They aren't just goody two shoes of Mary Sues, they feel real, which is even better. I don't want to see an heroine that is perfect just because she's a woman. That is boring and put unrealistic expectations of what a strong female character should be. Buffy doesn't do that, the characters manage to do awful stupid things and still put up a good image of strong characters.

3. It portrays a positive sexual image of women

Concerning Willow and Tara (which I think is mainly what they are saying), I couldn't agree more. These two are the reason I understood that it was okay to be gay. I went to catholic school in a fairly small town where there was zero diversity. It was normal for people to make homophobic comments and gay was used extensively as something negative. That sucked, but Buffy was the reason I stuck through it and realized that things were going to be okay. People, especially at the time, needed a show that portrayed a realistic gay relationship.

As for other characters, obviously everything was not always a positive sexual image. If were talking about Spuffy s6, then obviously it's very negative. But I think it's equally important to talk about abuse or other issues in relationships. Buffy opens up the door for discussion on serious issues which is equally important.

4. It doesn't shy away from serious issues

This one depends on the context. Again what's great is that the show open doors for discussions related to hard issues. The issues weren't always dealt with properly on the show, but at least it touched on those issues.

5. It teaches you that recognizing someone else’s strength doesn't diminish your own

I really like this one, not something I would have thought about if I made that list, but I like it.

13. This show started the whole vampire craze! It might be copied, but it will never be surpassed 😛