Perceptions of BTVS

[NeonNightLight]

Heya, I'm a newbie here if that's not totally obvious haha 🙂

Anywayz, I've been watching Buffy for a couple of years, and I don't know if this happens with anyone else, but whenever I'm talking to my friends about TV shows we enjoy, and I bring up Buffy, I seem to get a lot of 'uhh what?' type of reactions. This also seems to happen when I recommend others to watch it, where they might laugh for a moment and then disregard my suggestion. Now, I suppose the title 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' can be slightly off putting because it sounds cheesy/campy/something that doesn't take itself seriously (not to mention it's not that much of a recent show) but it kinda frustrates me that such a great show is brushed aside. I'm not really sure why it has such a negative connotation attached to it. Maybe it's just because my friends and I are teenagers, and tend to go for the more popular and recent shows (i.e. Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, etc.)

So I was wondering, what do your family or friends think of BTVS and your viewing of it?​

 

[Blaze]

I guess I was born in generation Buffy, when I was a teenager, most people had watched, or at least heard of Buffy. I had a few friends with which I would talk about the shows for hours. Nowadays, most people don't really scream I love Buffy, so I don't really know anyone that watches the show outside of this forum, but one in a while I'll hear it mentioned. I remember the show was re-running when I entered university and most of the residence would have it playing in the background, so again, I'm guessing I just grew up in the generation that just knew what Buffy was.

As for my family, I don't think they could care much, probably got sick of me talking about it when I was younger. My dad does like Angel a lot though.

 

[fitz1980]

Cult TV shows are often a thing that people either get or they can't understand why anybody else would. There is usually very little in between.

 

[Xin Rong]

When I tell people about my obsession with all things Buffy, I'm usually met with patronizing looks. People tend to assume that it's a silly show, meant for teenagers. These people have obviously never taken the show seriously, if they had bothered to watch it with an open mind then they'd see the greatness of it, although season 1 does little to subvert people's expectations, if I'm making someone watch the show to illustrate it's greatness I usually aim for a later episode.

 

[The Thirst Evil]

I actually complete understand when people give this reaction, because I used to do exactly the same. The person that got me into Buffy told me that they liked it, and I remember saying "You watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" as if there was something horrifically wrong with that. And then I watched it, and it changed everything.

I think you really have to watch it to understand. To an outsider (for want of a better word) it doesn't make sense. When all you know about the show is the title, and maybe a vague outline of the concept, you're bound to think it's nothing more than a cheesy show for tween girls. That was the perception that I had of it, and it took sitting down and watching a few episodes to change that.

 

[The Bronze]

I've got nothing at all to back this theory up but I suspect there's a large amount of people who would have loved the show but have missed out on Buffy because of the name and maybe seeing an episode or brief summary of the show. It's a real shame for them to be honest.

My girlfriend had only ever seen a random episode before meeting me and assumed it wasn't for her. I got her to watch a few episodes with me, which she did to humour me. She ended up getting hooked and is now doing a rewatch with me some years later.

We've just moved into a new place and have the Buffy and Angel boxsets on the shelf. My teenage cousin sees them, looks confused and comments about what they're doing there and if I still watch them. I try to explain how great it is but everyone is always reluctant to listen, it needs to be seen for yourself.

 

[VisionGirl]

I'm going to come out & say that part of it might be about sexism. A show about a teenage blonde girl?! It must be fluff, silly, superfluous. Does anyone think that about Teen Wolf? But yes, the name Buffy is part of it. Of course, that's part of the deal- it's a play on that stereotype. But if you don't watch it, you wouldn't know that. The seriousness & symbolism is seen as early as season 1. Although maybe most teens these days can't get past the '90s fashion, I dunno. If you think people give you weird looks, you should see the way people look at me lol! A woman in her 40s who watches that kind of show?! And really, I don't watch a lot of teen shows, I didn't even as a teen. The only other show about high school that I've watched is Glee, and I have that up as soon as they started focusing on the kids who graduated, ugh. @@ But I was just as interested in the adults in that show (I work in public education after all).

 

[sleecin]

All my friends are querky and oddballs. So when I talk about watching buffy. They tell me its a great tv show or they get ciurious about it. I am lucky with my friend crowd I have. They even joined me with my buffy RPG. It was so much fun.

 

[Steven123]

I said on one of my posts probably about a year ago now, in my opinion, the Buffy & Angel following is more of a 'cult status'. If you were to ask most people now what they thought of either show, chances are they haven't heard of it or seen it. This isn't to say that the shows aren't gaining new followers all the time since it's still shown on t.v, just that the number of followers it currently gains is a lot slower.

I worked in a book store warehouse a few years ago (for a very large book retailer in the UK, WHSmith) and I don't think we ever received one order of Buffy or Angel books in my time there, not even on special orders, so I think that in it's self probably shows that there isn't a lot of recognition for the show now, apart from people who watched it years ago (or new comers).

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Some people have a hard time taking a show seriously with a name like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, I've found that once they view it, and and see how clever/funny/sophisticated it is, they often change their mind.

My advice is to just show one of these non-believers an episode.

Also, welcome to the boards.

 

[PassionBecoming]

Oh, I get that a LOT. People think it's crazy that I have them all on DVD and quote the show all the time, and then I tell them I'm on a forum completely devoted to BtVS....and they want to lock me in the looney bin. But I don't care because it's awesome!! I do have a few friends that are fans of the show, so that's nice. One is in my Bible study - her and her husband watch an episode on DVD every Tuesday night; another is our associate pastor (I work at our church) so we chat about it. 😀

 

[fitz1980]

I saw a behind the scenes thing where writer/producer Marti Noxon even said that when she told her mother she had been hired as a staff writer for Buffy season 2 her Mom's reaction was something like "at least it's work; I'm sure something better will come along next year."