Help Help Wanted! Buffy Audience Research

[kimi100]

Cult TV, Female Fandom & Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Hey, my name is Kim. I'm a final year university student carrying out my dissertation. My research topic involves the potential links between cult television and female audiences, for which I am using Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) (of which I am a big fan) as an example. If you could take some time to answer the following questions, I would be forever grateful. Your answers can be as detailed or as brief as you wish. I am interested in replies from both female AND male participants. By participating you are giving me permission to use your answers in relation to my project. If I am to quote you in my work, I will do so anonymously. All participants will be acknowledged. I look forward to reading some of your responses! 🙂 (And I hope I've posted this in the right place, I'm new to this!)


1. Gender:

2. Age:

3. What is your interpretation of the term "˜cult television'?

4. Would you describe Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a cult television programme? Please explain your answer.

5. What aspects of Buffy's character do you find most appealing and why? Are there also aspects of her character that you don't find appealing and why?

6. Are there any female characters in other programmes that you would compare to the character of Buffy? Please explain your answer.

7. "˜Fandom' refers to a group of particularly dedicated and active fans surrounding a certain subject, e.g. a specific TV programme/film/actor/director... etc. Would you identify yourself as being part of a Buffy "˜fandom'? If not, why is this? If so, is Buffy the first kind of fandom you think you have engaged in?

8. For a long time, fandom was considered largely a male preserve. Buffy is well known for its fans, especially its unusually large female fandom. Do you think Buffy is a rare example of a programme that has activated and encouraged female fandom? Or are there other programmes that you think of as an equally suitable outlet for this? Please explain.

9. Are there any aspects of the series Buffy that you also recognise in other programmes? Please explain your answer.

 

[Sweet J]

Hey I have a friend who goes to that Welsh college that I cannot pronounce!

Small world!

Gender: Martian

Age: 23


3. Interpretation of the meaning of the term 'Cult Television'- not exactly dictionary man here, but TV that is sufficiently complex and atmospheric that an audience will continue to be enthralled by it long after the TV show is over.


4. I would reluctantly call BtVS a Cult TV show, reluctantly as 'Cult' has, despite my above definition, negative connotations of being unpopular and hokey.

5. Buffy's superpowers & novel form of humour, originality is certainly a virtuous characteristic.
Unappealing is her 'holier than thou' attitude and Corny lines- Overconfidence and self righteousness is nauseating and I cringe in the face of corniness.

6. There are no other characters quite comparable to Buffy in my opinion, Xena is a whole different kettle of fish.

7. I'm not as dedicated as I wish I were, life tends to take priority, but I'd identify as part of the fanatic domain/fandom if such a place exists. The Buffyverse is the only TV subject I would call myself an aficionado of, whether you wish to construe aficionado to be synonymous with ''fan(atic)'', is entirely up to you.

8. I believe Xena, Charmed and other shows have large numbers of female fans, so do I think BtVS has in someway 'encouraged' female fans? I don't believe so, not moreso than other shows, though I could be wrong.

9. I recognise a whole host of BtVS aspects reflected in other shows, in my mind, the X-Files leading chiefly amongst them. The format of the shows are similar with the 'monster of the week' being a mainstay of both, albeit more prominent in the X-Files.

I suppose, I'm not making this easy on you?

but still, hope that helps!

and best of luck with getting more people answering!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

1/
Male

2/
56

3/
I've never heard of the term 'cult television'. I have heard of programmes having a cult following though.

4/
Yes, Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a TV series that has a cult following. The reasons can be varied though, it might be due to some folk liking the subject matter, or others identitying with certain or various characters.

5/
I don't like the character of Buffy much, she has way to many floors as far as I am concerned. She is meant to kill the vampires but she has slept with two of them, she befriends a demon, plus other stuff. (Isn't that known as sleeping with the enemy, in its wider sense of meaning.)

6/
Not that I can think of. The series of Charmed started to be close, but the leads were in a different age group and, not to put to fine a point on it, they would make (except Piper) Cordelia seem like a nun.
But if there was, would there be such a large following for the show? Now if films were to be included.

7/
I really like the show and the genre of the show, but I'm not active in my liking of the show. So, according to your interpretation of the meaning, I'm not part of the fandom, thereby the second part of the question does not apply to me.

8/
For a long time women and girls didn't write in to tv shows, men and boys did. Society didn't view that sort of thing as 'ladylike'.
But Buffy did get a large following of girls and women, not solely because of the show. It was a 'sign of the times' thing. A pop group promoted this thing called, 'girl power'. They were The Spice Girls, then Buffy The Vampire Slayer came on TV and the concept of girl power was raised to a whole new level.

9/
Plenty of other TV shows had the theme of killing vampires and demons, but such was the fanbase that Buffy created, even now, if another show had a young girl leading the battle against vampires and demons it would be compared to Buffy.