I do hate the Buffy against all the characters moments, and eventually she's right. For example, The Yoko Factor in which all the characters were angry at each other is seen by so many as the Scoobies against Buffy just because of Buffy's last line and eventually Buffy was right. That fight was between them all, each one was on her/his side. But, yeah, moments like that tend to make me dislike Buffy in spite of myself.
Question Why isn't Buffy your favourite?
- Thread starter WileyDairyGnome
- Start date
As far as I'm concerned, Buffy is my favourite, my hero, and I do relate to her (even tough it took me many many rewatches to understand her character and love her). I have some moments where she annoys me a bit or where I think "Oh, get over yourself" but on the whole...Yup, Buffy is my favourite!
Goby
Brb, shipping Snoyce
I don't know which I disagree with more!
Buffy and Holden are amazing, and I love them both.
For me Buffy and SMG are amazing, and I sometimes forget how amazing she it. I love the supporting cast, and especially Willow and Ats Wesley. But sometimes I see Buffy/SMG and I'm amazed at her acting skills. I think most of us just take Buffy/SMG for granted.... sort of like water or oxygen.
IMHO Buffy is great throughout the series. She can be a bit arrogant, but she is The Slayer. But for some reason, I like Willow just a bit more.
Z
zobothehobo
Someone else loves Holden! We're in the minority, most people hate him... but I love him so much!
Personally, it's not about taking her for granted. When I was younger Buffy was my absolute hero and I adored her, and when I rewatch the early seasons, I still feel that. But as the series goes on she stops being that person I admire and respect. It's not about taking her for granted, otherwise I would have always disliked her and throughout the whole series.
And again, it's nothing to do with SMG. I love Sarah; but I don't hero worship her any more lol but her and her acting skills don't have any bearing at all.
That's one of the things that annoys me the most. She's given so much room and expects so much simply because she's The Slayer. And I don't buy it.
L
LizzieRainbow
Guest
For me the reason Buffy is not my favourite character is because i tend to like the people who do not stand out as much. Im not what you would call popular and i never have been but because i was an outsider when i was younger in television shows i tend to notice the characters that are like me and like them more than the main character of the show.
I love Buffy. Every aspect of the character, when she is at her best and her worst. I think that is partly because I can relate to her. Much like Buffy, I am very secluded, secretive, isolated. I don't like to ask for help when I need it. I don't tell anyone my feelings or secrets. I am the kind of person who "can handle it themselves" I wish I could reach out more but I'm nearly incapable of it. Even though everybody needs it and nearly all of my family members have done it, I refuse to go to therapy!
I can definitely see why people would not like her very much though. It is kind of unrealistic the way she always saves the day and they win and have a slumber party *coughRESTLESS!cough* But I guess that is just how the show is going to be because really...who wants to ever see the good guys lose? Technically, they did lose in The Gift. Buffy died and that kinda sounds like losing to me. And Buffy lost at first in Prophecy Girl because again she died. And I can't even tell you how many times in S2 she fell for the "It's a trap for the Slayer, Oh wait it's for her friends!!" trick. I mean you'd think she would learn her lesson, right?
Anyways, totally understand that. She is sometimes portrayed as a cheesy hero (S7). Even though in S7 I think she was putting on kind of an act for the potentials, because she had to go all "motivational speech every 5 seconds" to keep them in order and encouraged. If the girls had to be lead by a S6 Buffy, they would have all died, so she had to make herself a little showy. But that's just my take on it.
I can definitely see why people would not like her very much though. It is kind of unrealistic the way she always saves the day and they win and have a slumber party *coughRESTLESS!cough* But I guess that is just how the show is going to be because really...who wants to ever see the good guys lose? Technically, they did lose in The Gift. Buffy died and that kinda sounds like losing to me. And Buffy lost at first in Prophecy Girl because again she died. And I can't even tell you how many times in S2 she fell for the "It's a trap for the Slayer, Oh wait it's for her friends!!" trick. I mean you'd think she would learn her lesson, right?
Anyways, totally understand that. She is sometimes portrayed as a cheesy hero (S7). Even though in S7 I think she was putting on kind of an act for the potentials, because she had to go all "motivational speech every 5 seconds" to keep them in order and encouraged. If the girls had to be lead by a S6 Buffy, they would have all died, so she had to make herself a little showy. But that's just my take on it.
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
Frankly, I'm surprised at all of this Buffy-hate going on.
Buffy is extraordinary. Despite her bad calls, she's a hero, and in my opinion, a character who demonstrates conviction and is worthy of respect.
I agree with Kean in that I support both my favorites equally (except in my case Angel would be substituted for Spike.)
Sometimes I side with Spike, but usually I side with Buffy.
Buffy is extraordinary. Despite her bad calls, she's a hero, and in my opinion, a character who demonstrates conviction and is worthy of respect.
I agree with Kean in that I support both my favorites equally (except in my case Angel would be substituted for Spike.)
Sometimes I side with Spike, but usually I side with Buffy.
lol, 'all' of it? I don't think there's any Buffy hate here. I think there's two or three of us who haven't sung her praises and none of us have said we hated her. I made a point of not using that word, in fact.
And why is it surprising, out of curiosity? Because she's your favourite character? Or because, as has been suggested, we should like her because she's the main character?
I'm not entirely sure that I agree with the use of the word conviction and I've already said I lose a lot of respect for her, especially in S7 (how she treats Giles, Wood, Faith and not to mention her "friends". You're right she is extraordinary, and she is a hero. But she isn't one I like.
Goby
Brb, shipping Snoyce
Interesting....
Buffy isn't perfect. I think we can attribute that to Joss's brilliant writing. He could have made Buffy perfect, kind, and charming. Instead we get a hero with real deficiencies.
If we can't agree on Buffy, perhaps we can agree that Joss is a genius? 😉
Lol, not sure Flannie will agree to that 😉
I can agree on Buffy though. She's my favorite (as Angel is on Ats) the character I empathise with and feel the most throughout the entire show
As for Joss... I'll say he's a brilliant storyteller but I won't say genius. I think that's giving him way too much credit!
Goby
Brb, shipping Snoyce
Oh, I'm sure Flannie will agree! We agree on everything! 😉
I agree with your comments about Joss. He is a brilliant storyteller, and perhaps even semi-genius, but he's no Hemingway or Steinbeck.
But if we call Hemingway and Steinbeck super-geniuses, then we could call Joss a genius. 😉
I wouldn't have wanted her to be perfect. Far from it. My issue is that in the earlier seasons I liked that Buffy could recognise those 'real deficiencies' and deal with them in a way I admired. But she isn't like that towards the end. One of her huge flaws for me is they way she falls into denial about her flaws which goes back to what I said earlier about how everything is brushed over because 'she's The Slayer'.
Lol, no Im afraid we can't. The issues I have with Joss are ten fold compared to Buffy 😉
Ha, this literally made me laugh out loud. You know me too well, m'dear!
Seeing Red
Villain
I love Buffy but Faith is my favorite. I love Faith because she is such a mis-understod charecter and I can really relate to that. She just wants to fit in, then the one person she was able to trust and looked up to abanded her in the one time Faith really needed her. (Again this happened to me) Also Faith is really cool, she finds the fun in everything thing she does. Also all the pain and hardships that Faith goes through then her road to redemption really makes me feel for her.
zobothehobo
Scooby
It's funny. In all of your posts in this thread, you've posted about how Buffy in the early seasons makes you feel that she's your absolute hero and you adore her, but as time goes on, you loose that.
To me, at the beginning, she's this whiny, bratty, preppy girl who can't be preppy. She was put in a situation where she couldn't be the homecoming queen anymore and she was upset about it. A good portion of Buffy's character in the first three seasons are about how she used to be popular, and then she became the Slayer and came to Sunnydale... and now it feels (even though it's never explicitly said) that she admires them and envies them from afar. I mean just the act in season 3 of going out for homecoming queen... That was her admitting to me she missed that life. The life the other two high schooler's in the core four had never known. The life I had never known. The life the other two high schooler's in the core four (well Xander's debatable here...but..) had never wanted or wanted to know. The life I had never wanted or wanted to know. I was a lot like Buffy in the sense of I was famous in high school without being popular. Everyone knew who I was, but that didn't mean they liked me and I wasn't in the "in" crowd. But I loved that. I looked at the people who were in the "in" crowd and I never wanted to be them at all. When I look back over my high school experience, I smile when I think about how I was famous... without being popular. I made my mark. And yes, my attitude about this is 'cause I'm a bit of an attention whore... but I value what I had so much. I had an opportunity to be stared at and have everyone wondering what I was up to, while being myself when I was in high school. Most people don't get that. And Buffy had it. And she wished she didn't. She wanted to be part of the "in" crowd. It just made me feel like she was so ungrateful.
And she whined a lot. From her attitude, I got a lot of "why me?" kind of vibes. And not like the "why me?" as in "why was I chosen?" inquisitive stuff... but "why me?" as in "*pouts* I just want my life to be like it was before! Why was I chosen to do this??? Why can't they get someone else? I don't want to!" I don't want my heroes to HAVE to do the right thing, I want them to WANT to do the right thing. I want them to WANT the position they're in. Buffy never truly wants it, which I guess is why she never becomes my favorite character. But she does a lot less whining and complaining about it and her attitude changes. I feel in season 7, she's a lot closer to wanting it than she is in seasons 1-3. She doesn't scoff as much, she doesn't pout as much, she doesn't use a whiny complainy tone when she has to do something for her slayer duties. By the end, she accepts that Slayer!Buffy and Real!Buffy are the same Buffy. The slayer part of her is just that, part of her. It is her. There's not the real her, and then the slayer. There's only her. That's another thing that feels SO important to me. Each of us have parts of us, but they're parts of us that make up us. There is never the "real" you and then the "this other side" part of you. There is only you. Part of growing up is accepting that. I resent myself for not accepting it sooner, 'cause my life would have been much easier... and I resent Buffy for not accepting it sooner too... probably for the same reason.
That pretty much sums it up lol Don't forget I was about 8 years old when I started watching Buffy so was at the prime age where Buffy was totally my hero but I never really 'got' her. So while I can totally see why you feel the way you do about earlier Buffy, and could even take steps towards agreeing with you on many points, I kind of can't let go of that admiration I had of when I was younger. Which is what I think is what I was referring to when I kind of said something about nostalgia. Does that make any sense at all?!
I totally agree about the change in her attitude towards her role as The Slayer and that she does accept it a lot more as she gets older, but at times I kind of miss the more 'fun' and slightly naive Buffy and again that probably has much more to do with me than it does with her.
Z
zobothehobo
I can totally understand the nostalgia and everything.
Whirlwind
Faith's Boy Toy
She's one of my favorites, but I guess she's not my favorite because I don't think she's as complex as some of the others, like Spike, who is my favorite because of the wonderful character development he got throughout the series. Buffy was developed too, no doubt about it, but I just found Spike's story more interesting.