Question Graduate Research Project

[fiveby5]

Hi all,

I am in graduate school and in the midst of doing a class research project on BtVS as a fan phenomenon, specifically placing it the site of '10 years post airing'.
If you feel up for it i was hoping you would answer a few questions for me.

Key information you should know before answering:

-Any answers will be used for this research project only and they will help me discuss why BtVS resonated with fans so much, what is it about this show in particular.
-The only personal information that will be used will be your usernames and the stats that show up in the sidebar. This information will only be seen by my professor and the 10 graduates in my class to whom i will present a performance piece based on this information. No one else will be privy to the data i collect. I understand the trepidation some of you may feel at this and i promise that your privacy will be respected to the highest degree. If you wish for me to black out parts of your information or assign you a pseudonym just PM me or make an addendum to your reply and i will follow your instructions accordingly.
-If you have any questions i will of course answer them, so feel free to PM me.

I picked BtVS as a topic because of how much it carries weight with me, the show was a big part of my life growing up and it just made sense for me to look at it. I truly believe in the importance of looking at the impact it has had on fans & on society and, the impact it is still having a decade on.

The questions:
1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?
2)When did you being watching it?
3)What makes the show for you?
4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?


- Thank you in advance for doing this. I appreciate it.
Alex

 

[Steven123]

1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?

I came across it by accident really, it was the name that stood out when I seen it on the T.V menu, more so the 'Vampire Slayer' it seemed different at the time.



2)When did you begin watching it?

I started to watch it on a regular basis after the first few episodes that I watched, thankfully I caught it during the first few episodes of the first season, so I was hooked and followed it from there, I was probably 13/14 when I started to watch it.


3)What makes the show for you?

I think it can relate to our regular lives, especially during high school/college (apart from Vampires!!) but the whole high school scene they had, and every day regular problems, it gave you a world to retreat into if you were having your own problems, it was a place to escape to.

4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

I think the following of the show has developed a more 'cult' status and it's pretty much only well known to that following, it does still attract new followers,though, since it's still aired on T.V, I think now as well, that we can look back on the show and give a better account of it, what we loved, what we didn't love, what we wanted to be changed etc.

 

[Xin Rong]

1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?
2)When did you being watching it?
3)What makes the show for you?
4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

1. I started watching Buffy because the original trailer on BBC2 hooked me, and because I had an interest in the 'Gothic' and fantasy.

2. I began watching Buffy when I was 11, so that would be in 1999/2000

3. The continuity, the mythology and the layers of depth that most episodes contain.

4. My appreciation for the show has grown with each passing year, as I learn more and more, and notice more and more things, then my appreciation subsequently expands. For society, it has changed significantly, especially in the eyes of academics, in fact I read somewhere that it is one of the most academically written about TV shows. Additionally, since the rise of Whedon's fame with firefly/marvel etc then the show has become much more 'acceptable' in the mainstream sense.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Wow, these are some broad questions. I will try my best to answer them concisely.

1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?

I began watching BTVS in 2005. A co-worker at the time lent me the DVDs.

2)When did you being watching it?

You mean how old was I? I was 20.

3)What makes the show for you?

Oh, gosh. Where to start? For me, Buffy is a show that has everything; it has melodrama, it has action/adventure, it's funny, clever, well-written and well-acted. It's over-arching metaphor - that high school is Hell (and literally for the characters) is really clever. I resonate with the characters, I see myself in them. The show explores the important questions in life: What is death? What is life? What is love? What makes the show for me is simple: no matter how many times I watch an episode, I am never bored, I always see something new. Popping a Buffy disc in is like seeing old friends. It calms and soothes me. It can always make me laugh. Buffy is my therapy.

4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

Has the show changed to me? No. How could it? But mine and other fans interpretations of it are always evolving and changing. As we age, and grow, things in the show might mean something new to us, or we may see things differently. New papers on the show come out regularly. People are still critiquing and analyzing it. The fandom is still alive and well. Buffy will never die because there will always be new people discovering it.

Has it changed for society? I think so, in the sense that people respect Buffy a lot more. They see now that the show was seminal, that it did that no other show at the time had ever done. They see the academia surrounding it, the conventions, the fandom, and the fierce love that people have for this show.

 

[Kean]

1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?

I was flicking through the channels and landed on the last 5 minutes of Becoming Part II, specifically the shot where Buffy has the sword hefted to chop off Angelus' head and then Angel's soul is returned to him. That was it, I was all in from that point. I knew nothing about the show but from that scene I knew Buffy and Angel were meant to be with each other and that I needed to know what happened to them. I also needed to what had led them to that point, so I bought the VHS of S1 (and S2 when they were released).

2)When did you being watching it?

I was 11 years old. It was 1999, during the original airing on Sky One in UK and Ireland.

3)What makes the show for you?

The heart. Buffy and Angel's undending belief in something better and the responsibility they both feel in doing what they can to make that happen.

4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

As I've gotten older (and particularly since I went to college) my opinion of the show is much more critical. I think it is deeply flawed in many respects. I also believe there are better shows out there. However, the personal meaning BTVS has for me, in particular what the characters of Buffy and Angel mean to me, remains true. They are my favourite fictional characters, and their story is the most important (personally) work of fiction I've ever encountered.

 

[Lyri]

1) I was in high school - second year, I think. I overheard some people in the hallway talking about a 'lame' show that was supposed to start that night, with a 'weird' name, and 'who the hell is gonna watch something called Buffy, the Vampire Slayer? That's so stupid.' It caught my attention mostly because I couldn't understand how someone could base their opinion on a show from nothing more than its name. So I went home and watched it. Been here ever since.

2) It was the first airing, so I must have been..13? If [MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] was 11, I had to be at least 13, lol.

3) I love the friendships. I love the relationships between all of these people, how complex they are, how different everyone is and yet how they can all have the same goal and still care about each other. I love Buffy's heart, I love her determination to NOT be labeled as one thing and one thing only. I love her struggle to have a life, a real one, and not one that was handed to her.

4) I see the show in a different light now, I view things different, through the eyes of an adult rather than a teenager. My opinions on the show and certain characters has changed drastically since I've grown up and I'm much more critical about certain things that have happened rather than just sweeping them under the rug and putting it down to 'oh, but that's just the way they are'. BtVS is no longer my favorite show, but it was always be the show that will be closest to my heart, the one that means the most to me. After all, it DID give me my best friend. 😉

 

[Blaze]

1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?

I began watching BtVS by luck. I had just moved to a new house with cable and was flipping through the channels when I landed on the last 5 minutes of the s4 Halloween episode (funny how we remember those things). I then caught the episode Where the Wild Things Are a few weeks later. At that time, the show aired every day, so I started watching it regularly and it didn't take long before I was completely addicted. I didn't miss one episode after that, and watched the whole seven seasons back to back (and a few times over).

2)When did you being watching it?

I think the show had just just finished airing or was in it's final season when I started watching, so I must have been around 12.

3)What makes the show for you?

There's so much that makes the show for me. It's the only show that I'm still completely in love with after 10+ years, and it's definitely the show I've watched the most. I think what made it so great when I was younger was that it's truly something I could connect with. Yes the show is about vampires and monsters, which isn't really my genre in the first place, but there's this touch of realness to it that is very rare. I was able to identify with them going through school, then I grew up with the group and was able to identify with them in later years. I think what makes the show is also how ground braking it was at the time, and still is today. It's one of the first, and only show that portrayed different sexualities, depression, sacrifice, death, addiction etc, in a somewhat realistic light. They didn't do it because it was mainstream, they did it because they had a story to tell. I watch a lot of TV, some shows are amazing, some are entertaining at best, but no other show had the charm, the personality, and the impact BtVS has had on me.

4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

This is such an interesting question, because the show has changed tremendously to me, and yet it hasn't at all. My opinions on a lot of the topic has changed, that's pretty normal since I'm viewing it as an adult now. But at the same time, I was going through a rough patch last year and decided to do a re-run, and I was surprised at how much the show still impacted me. Aside from the nostalgia, I had forgotten about how good the show made me feel, how it was able to cheer me up, even in the darkest of episodes, because I feel like I've known those character for so long that they are comfort to me now. It's like going back and seeing old friends. I don't think the show will ever be truly different to me, it'll always have a huge place in my life, and it'll always give me something to identify with, no matter if my opinions on certain character or storyline changes. There might be better shows out there, but I'll never love another show as much as I love this series, and what it means to me.

As for society, I believe that the show has now progress to being a cult show. The community for it just keep growing, at this point I don't think the show will ever be forgotten, and Buffy has taken a spot amongst the other well known heroes.

 

[fiveby5]

Thank you so much for the responses, i appreciate you taking the time to reply and for being so responsive in your answers.
If any of you have any questions about the project i am doing feel free to PM me at any time.
- Alex

 

[fitz1980]

Hi all,


The questions:
1)Why did you begin watching BtVS?
2)When did you being watching it?
3)What makes the show for you?
4)It's been 10 years since the last episode aired, how do you think the show has changed (to you and to society)?

- Thank you in advance for doing this. I appreciate it.
Alex

1. I had heard a lot of good things about it, but never watched an ep. Fiancé was a fan but hadn't watched it in years. So we decided to watch it beginning to end.

2. Started watching about a month ago.

3. I love horror, action & strong female characters.

4. Since I only started watching a month ago it hasn't changed much for me. I will say I think it was one of a hand full of shows that changed US TV along with Babylon 5 and a few others. They did multi-episode story arcs when most hour long dramas were doing mostly standalone EPs. They did morally ambiguous characters when most shows did good vs evil. These days shows with moral ambiguity and serialized stories are all over TV.