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Does Buffy the Vampire Slayer get a bit silly?

66 replies

FancyARoot · 26/07/2020 22:22

Yes, I know it’s silly from episode 1. But does it get ridiculous? Is it worth persevering with?

I must have watched a few back in the day as I knew who everyone was etc, but I never really watched it. Recently started watching from S1E1. I’m now on season 3 where Angel has just come back and it’s all going very woolly. Then I read ahead a few episode descriptions and just though ‘eh!? That sounds daft’

Should I stick with it? Or has the best already been?

Thanks!!

OP posts:
QueenCT · 27/07/2020 00:05

I think I've watched it at least 10 times start to finish and I still love it. Angel spin off is also good

AnneOfQueenSables · 27/07/2020 00:13

We're rewatching just now with DS. It has lots of fun, silly episodes but it was also groundbreaking. The later seasons have more 'creative' episodes in format and style. They've been copied so much, it's easy to forget Buffy did them first.

Pipandmum · 27/07/2020 00:15

I'm watching it with my 15 year old daughter. It is silly but enjoyable enough but I wouldn't watch it on my own. Far more interesting things out there.

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MoreSchnitzelPlease · 27/07/2020 00:17

I was 12/13 when Buffy started to be shown on TV over here. I remember that the 6:45pm showing on BBC2 was edited, and later in the week they showed the episode again unedited at 11pm or something like that. I'm not sure that the unedited episodes are suitable for 12 or younger. Go by the age rating on the Dvds. It deals with themes that are not suitable for children.

TinyMetalBirds · 27/07/2020 00:18

My favourite was season 5 and the first half of season 6. I rewatched the first episode recently with DS1 which I hadn't seen for around 20 years and did feel it had aged, I don't feel the same about season 5, possibly because I rewatch it so often.

ZZGirl · 27/07/2020 00:19

It's both mature and cheesy but that's its charm!

NooneElseIsSingingMySong · 27/07/2020 00:24

I am am massive Buffy fan, I used to watch it on BBC2! The budget for the first season was very, very low so sets were minimal, the costumes weren’t always brilliant (Oz’s werewolf suit has been described as a hairy onesie!). But I love it. It’s always going to be a bit daft in places but it definitely feels more real in some parts. Season 4 is definitely a low point with the odd cracking episodes “Giles with a chainsaw” and “Hush” in particular....I tend to persevere through season 4 because it gets better again after that.

InescapableDeath · 27/07/2020 00:28

I still love the Buffy Musical! But reading about how awful Joss is/was has somewhat affected how I see it. He treated Charisma Carpenter so poorly when she was pregnant on Angel, his wife revealed he was sleeping around while pretending to be a feminist, and recently it’s come out that he was awful on whatever superhero film he was last involved with. Ew.

TinyMetalBirds · 27/07/2020 00:31

I believe Joss identified himself with Xander, which may explain why he was never one of my favourite characters and treated Anya so badly.

getherout34 · 27/07/2020 01:30

''his wife revealed he was sleeping around while pretending to be a feminist''

eh being unfaithful has nothing to do with being a feminist, would you say a women cheating on her husband is misandry? I have gay friends who cheat on their partners-does that make them against the equality of men? Having affairs isn't necessarily attacking a gender.

FannyFungi · 27/07/2020 01:44

I’m kinda torn on it. I didn’t think I’d watched it first time round but remembered a lot of episodes watching it during lockdown. It is very silly and at times funny but I don’t think it dated well in terms of language - eg lots of references to spaz (and others that evade me now)

I got a bit uncomfortable at the angel relationship - he’d been watching her for years & fell in love with her before she’d ever seen him but they went on to have sex when she was 16. It pushes the idea of the romantic stalker /paedo a bit far and then there’s the whole spike thing. Again stalker/rapist that she falls for. I get the more subtle nuances in their relationships and that neither men were human but still it’s very uncomfortable watching now. Both men essentially groomed her or wore her down until they got what they wanted.

And then there’s the fact that she’s always losing the fight with big burly bloke vampires who are beating the fuck out of her then last minute she ‘dusts’ them. I Wondered if it glorifies violence against girls but did producers think by adding the winning twist for buffy at the end of each fight justified the severe beating she got - and still she walked away without so much as a bruise.

I get that it’s fantasy but whose fantasy?

user1471565182 · 27/07/2020 05:33

How the hell is the buffys sister actor still only 34?

Original poster
FancyARoot · 27/07/2020 06:43

Ooh thank you, I’ll keep going with it!!
I remember watching a bit much further on where something happens to buffy then the others try to help her but actually what they do wasn’t helping....trying not to give spoilers! And I thought Willow was a lesbian?

I’ve just watched the episode with Oz’s terrible werewolf suit and angel snarling like a dog after buffy chains him up. But he seemed to come round pretty quick and not hold it against her 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
FancyARoot · 27/07/2020 06:46

@getherout34

''his wife revealed he was sleeping around while pretending to be a feminist''

eh being unfaithful has nothing to do with being a feminist, would you say a women cheating on her husband is misandry? I have gay friends who cheat on their partners-does that make them against the equality of men? Having affairs isn't necessarily attacking a gender.

On a side note, I knew a girl who worked with my husband who was really into feminism and women’s rights (as I am) and we had some really good in depth chats about it, how women should help each other etc. Unfortunately at this time she was also having an affair with my husband, which did cheapen her views somewhat 🤔😂 some fucking feminist she was 😂 So I get it.
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notheragain4 · 27/07/2020 08:10

It's soooooooo frustrating Angel isn't on amazon prime, it was about a year ago!

Dogsaresomucheasier · 27/07/2020 08:14

Yes, it gets very silly, but it’s my guilty pleasure of an evening!

PassingByAndThoughtIdDropIn · 27/07/2020 08:30

I think it wears the ridiculousness of its premise on its sleeve - if you’re going to dislike a show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer for being silly then you may be in the wrong show.

The accusations from his ex wife of contradictions between Whedon’s soi-disant feminism and his infidelities are threefold.
A) he used his wife as a walking billboard for his feminism “look at me, I’m so enlightened because I’m in a long term marriage with a serious woman and don’t run around with underwear models like lesser men”. When in fact shagging a string of young actresses.
B) he gaslit her when she confronted him with her suspicions
C) he had a string of affairs with much younger women whom he was in a position to hire and fire.

NooneElseIsSingingMySong · 27/07/2020 09:16

Yeah let’s face it if Angel and Spike looked their ages (were grey and wrinkly) no-one would be saying how romantic it was!

Willow doesn’t come out until season 4, she has some Male romantic interests first.

getherout34 · 27/07/2020 11:31

''On a side note, I knew a girl who worked with my husband who was really into feminism and women’s rights (as I am) and we had some really good in depth chats about it, how women should help each other etc.
Unfortunately at this time she was also having an affair with my husband, which did cheapen her views somewhat 🤔😂 some fucking feminist she was 😂
So I get it.''

Eh again this doesn't in anyway make her less a feminist. It makes her a back stabbing deceitful person but that is inherent human nature that both genders have inherently but that has nothing to do with feminism or gender.

It is clear that feminism has really lost its meaning these days. Women standing together and being loyal to each other is not feminism either. If anything that is anti feminist because it infers women support women over men.

People standing together and ensuring there is equality between both genders and all people is feminism. Men and women can still be deceitful and disloyal but still be feminists.Feminism does not mean having saintly virtues, it means treating both genders as equals and wanting both genders to have the same prospects. Having affairs does not necessarily make you less a feminist.

getherout34 · 27/07/2020 11:36

''The accusations from his ex wife of contradictions between Whedon’s soi-disant feminism and his infidelities are threefold.
A) he used his wife as a walking billboard for his feminism “look at me, I’m so enlightened because I’m in a long term marriage with a serious woman and don’t run around with underwear models like lesser men”. When in fact shagging a string of young actresses.
B) he gaslit her when she confronted him with her suspicions
C) he had a string of affairs with much younger women whom he was in a position to hire and fire.''

Sure why does it matter. He did his job, what he did in his private life was none of our business. Was he supposed to be a saint along with it? He provided a service, what he did in his private life or his moral character had bugger all to do whether I liked his show or not.

Does that mean I should enjoy the food my chef cooks me in a restaurant or dislike the filling my teeth gave me because the chef/dentist aren't nice people? David Boreanaz admitted to having affairs too but none of that bothers me, I watched their show and they did their job well. What they did in their private lives was of no concern.Who cares?

getherout34 · 27/07/2020 11:40

How the hell is the buffys sister actor still only 34?

not hard because she was only around 15 when it aired and it was only 19 years ago, that's not that long ago. She was a child actor. SMG is still only early 40s and young.

getherout34 · 27/07/2020 11:42

''He treated Charisma Carpenter so poorly when she was pregnant on Angel'

She didn't tell him that's why until it was too late, you are supposed to tell your bosses in tv so they can write around it. I can see why.

Original poster
FancyARoot · 27/07/2020 11:43

On another side note how on earth am I nearly 34, I’m sure buffy only came out like a couple of years ago??!

OP posts:
getherout34 · 27/07/2020 11:56

''I got a bit uncomfortable at the angel relationship - he’d been watching her for years & fell in love with her before she’d ever seen him but they went on to have sex when she was 16.''

Wasn't she 17 when she bedded him, I think that is the age of consent in California? And where did he say he had been watching her for years? I thought he just met her when she moved to Sunnydale in season 1? Plus Angel was an 18th century young man from the past in the modern day, he would have come from the time in which older men would have being partnered with much younger females in their teens. The whole age of consent thing wouldn't have applied to his character.

'' It pushes the idea of the romantic stalker /paedo a bit far and then there’s the whole spike thing. Again stalker/rapist that she falls for. I get the more subtle nuances in their relationships and that neither men were human but still it’s very uncomfortable watching now. Both men essentially groomed her or wore her down until they got what they wanted.''

Paedo is interest in prepubescent children, Buffy was 16 when they met. Spike was mostly interested in Buffy because she was like him and no longer human in season 6, they were both dead and were both supposed to use sex to connect each other. Their violent sex was supposed to be more metaphorical to show their animal like urges as now both creatures/the undead.

PassingByAndThoughtIdDropIn · 27/07/2020 12:06

You don’t have to care getherout, I was just answering the question which was asked about why his infidelity might undermine his credentials as a feminist.