Buffy Anne Summers, aka

When I first started watching Buffy, just a few years ago, I was recovering from surgery. I was one of those of whom you hear so often that had always thought, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Excuse me? What a stupid notion.’

I suspect that attitude is common. In fact, I’ve heard it several times now from my acquaintances. A friend calls it a kiddie show. My housekeeper grins condescendingly whenever she happens to catch me in the act of watching Buffy (and she catches me in the act rather frequently).

So what is it about Buffy? Why would a grown man subject himself to the disdain of his peers over this obviously sophomoric entertainment? And isn’t Buffy the Vampire Slayer just another one of those media phenomena that are corrupting the morals of our youth? Or Satanic? Or something?

To my peers, I say don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. (And you have to get at least through the end of season two, in my opinion, before you can claim to have truly tried it.) To Buffy’s sanctimonious critics, I say anyone who says Buffy the Vampire Slayer is just about teen angst, or that its popularity is due to the perennial appeal of vicarious violence, or that it was just another Hollywood attempt to corrupt the young with themes of moral ambiguity, . . . well, you guys might as well say the Holy Bible is just about lust, war and stubborn stupidity.

So what is it about Buffy? Buffy is smart, strong, and socially connected. Buffy has friends, friends she sticks with and strives mightily to protect through thick and thin. She doesn’t hold grudges. She is introspective and able to admit she is sometimes in the wrong. She is hard when she has to be, yet soft when she wants to be, and always tries to fight the good fight — even when she is overwhelmed and bewildered. What it is about Buffy is that Buffy is about teen angst part of the time and is about the appeal of vicarious violence part of the time, and if Buffy the Vampire Slayer contains themes of moral ambiguity, well, that’s life, isn’t it?

In a world in which we often have difficulty discerning which path to take, or when and whether to bend or break a rule for what may be a greater good, and in which yesterday’s enemies may become today’s allies and vice versa, what could be less corrupting than to watch a TV show (or, say, read a comic book) that tempts us to try to live our lives with intelligence, strength, flexibility, connectedness — fighting for our friends when they need us, yet readily willing to accept their assistance when the tables are turned? In short, what could be less corrupting than to watch a TV show that tempts us to try to live our lives a little bit more like Buffy?

So what is it about Buffy? Well, I say Buffy is simply good, clean, morally uplifting FUN.

What do you say?

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