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Here's a nice bit of stuff on missing Buffy and why, with a nod to Xander, forwarded to me by, of all people, my boss. It's from the newsletter of a friend of hers.
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 08:36:08 +0000
Copyright 2003 Deirdre Straughan
Life Without Buffy
We're suffering Buffy withdrawal. "Angel," the show which spun off from
Buffy four years ago, is good, but it's pretty much guy-centered. I have
no complaints about watching all the good-looking men on "Angel," but I
miss the presence of powerful women, and the role model that Buffy
provided for my daughter.
Ross started watching Buffy when she was 10, and today says that she
thinks she would have grown up a different person without the show. She
acknowledges that she also has her mother as a role model for a strong
woman, but points out that this is not the same as seeing a strong girl,
close to her own age, dealing with the joys and sorrows of being who and
what she is.
Which is a very good point. Being a strong, self-confident female is not
easy at any age; strength is a characteristic not appreciated in women
by most cultures or individuals (male or female). It wasn't easy for me
to grow into my strength (compounded, as it is, with geekiness), and I
certainly wasn't comfortable with it as a teenager, if I even had it
then. And I spent most of my adolescence in the nurturing environment of
Woodstock School, more accepting than most schools of student diversity.
So I wouldn't know how to advise Ross how to feel comfortable in her own
skin at this age and place, if it weren't for Buffy.
But don't take my word for it. "[Father John] Pungente used Buffy as a
role model for conveying solid values for teens. 'She is smart, willing
to learn about herself and live with who she is, even if she happens to
be a vampire slayer. She is independent, reliable, maybe too much a
Type-A personality, but still an entirely credible 1990s teenager.
Other shows deal with teenage problems - love, sex, peer pressure,
school work, family problems, body image, dreams, insecurity,
self-esteem - but Buffy adapts a literary and film genre for television.
The vampire myth and the sexuality it evokes speak powerfully to today's
teenagers.'" (MARTIN O'MALLEY: Orange County blues, CBC News Viewpoint |
November 14, 2003)
A point often overlooked by writers about "Buffy" is the role of Xander,
Buffy's average guy friend who, unlike her other friends, has no special
powers (magical or intellectual) to help him fight the forces of
darkness, both interior and exterior. "You know, Xander is as important
a role model as Buffy and people will never really get that, I think,
most of 'em. But, the fact of the matter is that I had a two-fold
intent, which was to create a role model in the idea of a girl who's a
genuine leader and the role model in a man who is not only comfortable,
but turned on by that." Joss Whedon, MSN Interview,
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=122421
Hear, hear. The world needs not only more women like Buffy, but more men
like Xander. Unfortunately for Ross, I don't think she'll find many such
in Italy, and even fewer in her age range.
+-----------------------------+
best regards,
Deirdre Straughan
http://www.straughan.com
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 08:36:08 +0000
Copyright 2003 Deirdre Straughan
Life Without Buffy
We're suffering Buffy withdrawal. "Angel," the show which spun off from
Buffy four years ago, is good, but it's pretty much guy-centered. I have
no complaints about watching all the good-looking men on "Angel," but I
miss the presence of powerful women, and the role model that Buffy
provided for my daughter.
Ross started watching Buffy when she was 10, and today says that she
thinks she would have grown up a different person without the show. She
acknowledges that she also has her mother as a role model for a strong
woman, but points out that this is not the same as seeing a strong girl,
close to her own age, dealing with the joys and sorrows of being who and
what she is.
Which is a very good point. Being a strong, self-confident female is not
easy at any age; strength is a characteristic not appreciated in women
by most cultures or individuals (male or female). It wasn't easy for me
to grow into my strength (compounded, as it is, with geekiness), and I
certainly wasn't comfortable with it as a teenager, if I even had it
then. And I spent most of my adolescence in the nurturing environment of
Woodstock School, more accepting than most schools of student diversity.
So I wouldn't know how to advise Ross how to feel comfortable in her own
skin at this age and place, if it weren't for Buffy.
But don't take my word for it. "[Father John] Pungente used Buffy as a
role model for conveying solid values for teens. 'She is smart, willing
to learn about herself and live with who she is, even if she happens to
be a vampire slayer. She is independent, reliable, maybe too much a
Type-A personality, but still an entirely credible 1990s teenager.
Other shows deal with teenage problems - love, sex, peer pressure,
school work, family problems, body image, dreams, insecurity,
self-esteem - but Buffy adapts a literary and film genre for television.
The vampire myth and the sexuality it evokes speak powerfully to today's
teenagers.'" (MARTIN O'MALLEY: Orange County blues, CBC News Viewpoint |
November 14, 2003)
A point often overlooked by writers about "Buffy" is the role of Xander,
Buffy's average guy friend who, unlike her other friends, has no special
powers (magical or intellectual) to help him fight the forces of
darkness, both interior and exterior. "You know, Xander is as important
a role model as Buffy and people will never really get that, I think,
most of 'em. But, the fact of the matter is that I had a two-fold
intent, which was to create a role model in the idea of a girl who's a
genuine leader and the role model in a man who is not only comfortable,
but turned on by that." Joss Whedon, MSN Interview,
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=122421
Hear, hear. The world needs not only more women like Buffy, but more men
like Xander. Unfortunately for Ross, I don't think she'll find many such
in Italy, and even fewer in her age range.
+-----------------------------+
best regards,
Deirdre Straughan
http://www.straughan.com
