A children's show?

Tueuse de Vampires

Tueuse de Vampires

Love will tear us apart..
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
5,752
Age
37
Location
Berlin
Sineya
Okay, I keep encountering this issue...


whenever I tell people that Buffy is myy favourite show, many people react as if it's a show that should exclusively be watched by children and young teens.
It's driving me crazy and I'm growing a little tired of explaining myself to them. Apparently, there's a lot of people that used to watch the show and then 'grew out'of it.


Do you know the phenomenon? What do you usually tell people like that?
 
Anyone who's ever watched BtVS, especially the later seasons, should know it's definitely NOT a kids' show. Maybe the first few seasons it could be seen as a teen show, but the content in the last two seasons, especially, makes me go "Huh?" to those who insist it's not a grown up show.
 
I think part of it is the name of the show, and part of it is the fact that it starts out set in a high school.

I'm a member of a general entertainment forum, and there's currently a thread going for a rewatch/first watch of the series, and a lot of people have popped up to say that they've never tried watching it before, because of the high school aspect - they don't want to watch a high school show.

It's definitely not a kids show, though... goes to some very dark places.

And perhaps the current teen-vampire phenomonen has something to do with it? Maybe the hype around Twilight etc. has put people off watching a show which -- for all they know -- is about teens and vampires.
 
I think you might be right, Amy... The fact that it starts out in a high school, and with the popularity of "Twilight", people think it's for teens. If they gave it a chance, they would see differently.
 
Yeah tell me about it, people dont take it seriousley, i know i watched it as a young child, but it's not for children.
I find that there's more older fans than younger fans? MmmmMm.
 
UGH! I so know what you mean!!!! Every single person I told responded with "I thought that was a kid show?" I have this Spuffy fan vid on my ipod....I normally show them that 😛 They don't think its a kid show after. 😀
 
Kristine said:
Okay, I keep encountering this issue...


whenever I tell people that Buffy is myy favourite show, many people react as if it's a show that should exclusively be watched by children and young teens.
It's driving me crazy and I'm growing a little tired of explaining myself to them. Apparently, there's a lot of people that used to watch the show and then 'grew out'of it.


Do you know the phenomenon? What do you usually tell people like that?
Click to expand...

I encounter this a lot as well. People seem to think that because the characters were in HS for the first three seasons, that it's exclusively a "teen" show. What I always say is that the show's audience was meant to grow up with the characters. For instance, if you were 16 (like Buffy was) when you first started watching, then you would be her age right now in the series (22 or so, yes?). As the show progressed, it dealt with darker and more adult subjects. Simply put, the show matured with it's target audience. Regardless, Buffy fans are of all ages obviously.

You know what else you can say? When they try to make the claim that Buffy is a "Teen" show, point them in the direction of Slayage, the Online Journal for Buffy Studies. There's tons of academic articles written on the show by people in their 40s and beyond. People who are Professors, etc. Or point them in the direction of one of the many books written by adults on the subject.

Or simply tell them, "Watch the show. Give it a chance. I bet you'll change your mind."

Ironically, I'm the youngest person in my meet-up group here I run here in Seattle.
 
Hmmm... I've never really encountered the age demographic problem, maybe since I am a teenager myself. Most people just ask me if that's the show with the hot vampire with blond hair and Sarah Michelle Gellar. lol.
 
When I was in college, I made it my weekly ritual to stop whatever I was doing and order in from the local Papa John's pizza shop and watch Buffy. I moved halfway through the year and my new roommate was like "How can you like that show? It's so immature." I just laughed and said "Ok, you'll see". The first episode i got her to watch with me was "The Harsh Light of Day" and she was like "WOW that was a real situation... That dude totally blew her off after she slept with him!" and I was like "See, there is more to this show than just vampires and monsters." After that she watched with me every week and it became an us thing instead of a me thing. We even took in a stray cat we found in our parking lot and it was Kellie's idea to name the cat Angel. 🙂
 
E
Emzzie
awwwwww :)
T
Tasha
ahaha i named my black cat angel, he's a broody cat too. LMao.
B
BillyidolwannaB
Mmm papa johns, yum.
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Your banner is the greatest thing ever ;)
I think the reason is that, mostly, the people saying it's a kid's show are the older generation, the ones who were in their late teens or early twenties when the show started. Obviously, this isn't true for everyone, but probably the majority of those people think it's true. The people who thought they were too old or too cool to be watching a vampire show when it first started.

For a majority of fans who watched from the beginning, we were between the ages of 12 and 16 when the show first aired, so we grew up with these characters and experienced what they experienced as they experienced it. Others found out about the show online or through friends, some years after the show ended, and decided to give it a try, based on the opinions of others. The people who thought it was a kids show when it started didn't have someone to explain to them that S6 was probably one of the darkest, most thought provoking pieces of television ever, or to point out how many ground breaking episodes Joss had delivered. All they had to go on was a name like 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer' and the fact that it was three high school friends and their stuffy English librarian fighting vampires.

I can sort of see their point, even if I don't agree.
 
T
Tasha
yup i agree with the last sentence>
Well said, Lyri... When I first started watching the show, I was a freshman in high school and just 15 years old. My mom was 43 and at first she would roll her eyes and never wanted to watch with me. All through the first two seasons she felt like it was just a show for teens. It wasn't until Season 5 that she really started to admit that it was a good show, not just for teens but for anyone who wanted to watch. She cried right along with me when they showed "The Body" and when I called to tell her that Buffy died in "The Gift" she sobbed right along with me. Now she actually likes to sit down with me and watch my DVDs when she comes to visit.
 
LMAO, the only ep of the show my mom will watch is 'Pangs' which to me, is stupid, I love the ep, but come on! 'Pangs'?! LOL, but she loves Spike's lines in that and laughs her head off every time.
 
LOL Lyri!! 😀 My sister doesn't really like the show, but she loves "Fear Itself". That episode always cracks her up. 🙂
 
I am shocked that anyone would think Buffy is a kid's show! They probably attribute it to the fact that it was on air when they were younger, but the themes in Buffy are especially adult and dark (and sometimes sexy. ;D)
 
I never talk about it in RL. Some people here don't even know what Buffy is, most of them don't remember it, and the ones that do remember it are not fans. But if your friends and people you talk to about Buffy say that to you, then they don't know about higher level of the show, maybe they think it's only, vampire here, vampire there, little sun and stake in the heart.
 
My parents did, they had this amazing ability to walk through the room when I was watching on TV at the worst times like, in S4 when Buffy's takes on the power of Will, Xand and Giles to fight Adam, they walk through as Buffy turns his missile to a bird (awesome I know, but but taken out of context looks a little silly) - and they just laughed, there were many more times like that.

I think they stopped when I wasn't able to buy season 3 in HMV because at the time it was 18's, so I had to get them to get it for me, lol!
 
It's easy for someone that doesn't watch or like the show to run it down by calling it a 'kid's show' but I think the main thing with Buffy is that issues seem light-hearted but have an underlying adult theme. For example, Angel losing his soul perhaps could be seen as very dramatic and entertaining but it clearly relates to how women spend the night with someone and afterwards are not the same. It shows the hurt and anger of Buffy, how it affects herself and her family. I just think that if someone cant look past the obvious metaphors in Buffy, they shouldnt be able to comment on it saying its just a kids show. Phewww rant over! 😀
 
People thinking it's a kids show happen all the time. But I can sort of forgive them if they haven't watched the show. A show called "Buffy the vampire slayer" with a blonde teenage girl in the lead killing vampires. It really doesn't sound like a show for grown-ups does it? If I'll try to change their opinion I just tell more about the show, the age of people on this board and the books and studies about the show. Clearly not only teens.

But as for this.

Kristine said:
Apparently, there's a lot of people that used to watch the show and then 'grew out'of it.
Click to expand...

That's not something I've come across. But on the other hand most people I knew that like/liked the show is from this board.

Growing out of shows happen all the time. Not like it's anything special for Buffy. Your taste may change as you grow older. And to me that's not a problem. But if they start saying "I've grown out of it since it's only for kids" when I'll wonder how much of the show they really watched. Or if they just spend time drooling over certain characters and ignored the story.
 
I don't think it's a kids show. To be honest, my parents hate that I watch Buffy, but they know that it's pointless trying to stop me now considering I've already seen every episode God knows how many times. I know my sister would never, ever let my neice watch the show, and most of my friends think I'm too young to watch it. I think people think it's a kids show because it's about vampires, and considering the amount of teen vampire stuff around now...Not surprising really.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom