We all know that Buffy was granted inhuman strength at the time of her calling, but physical strength alone is not what makes Buffy so successful in her slaying. The Watcher’s Council puts Buffy’s skills to the test in “Helpless;” they claim “A slayer is not just physical prowess. She must have cunning, imagination, a confidence derived from self-reliance.” Buffy passes the test, proving that she is in possession of all these skills and more.
Beyond these requisite skills that can easily be discerned from watching her battles, Buffy also gains strength from her personality and perspective. She is clear-headed and quick thinking as you can see when she is fighting the crazed vampire in “Helpless.” She is strong-willed and knows how to use her emotions. The support system of her friends and the love she has for her family serve to make her even stronger, driving her past what she might have been able to achieve alone. All this is clear in “What’s My Line Part 2” when she is talking with Kendra.
“The things you do and have I was taught distract from my calling. Friends, school, even family... Emotions are weakness, Buffy. You shouldn’t entertain them.”
“Kendra my emotions give me power. They’re total assets.”
“Maybe. For you. But I prefer to keep an even mind.”
“I guess that explains it... When we were fighting, you’re amazing. You’re technique, it’s flawless. It’s better than mine... Still, I would have kicked your butt in the end, and you know why? No imagination... You’re good but power alone isn’t enough...”
“...I could wipe the floor with you right now!”
“That would be anger you’re feeling... The anger gives you fire. A slayer needs that.”
Buffy’s emotions provide her with the drive she needs to get things done. These emotions come from love for her family and friends, from her care for total strangers (Alan in “Consequences”), from her sense of morality (most evident in her struggle during “Bad Girls”), and from her need to see justice done. Buffy’s strengths go far beyond any normal slayer’s because she has far more than they do; she has friends who help her fulfill her duty, and she has a personal attachment to seeing that duty fulfilled.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Never Trust Authority
The show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, offers a reversed perspective on the role of parents and youth. In “Generation Lapse: The Problematic Parenting of Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles,” Cynthia Bowers claims that the authority figures fulfill the stereotypical “teen role” of irresponsibility sprinkled with drug and alcohol abuse which is probably most poignantly depicted in “Becoming Part 2” when Buffy orders her panicking parent to “Have another drink, Mom.” While Joyce is selfishly thinking about the life she wants for her daughter regardless of the atrocities that would be committed because of her wish’s fulfillment, Buffy is out doing her duty and picking up the slack of the ignorant adults to the great lose of all she loves.
As Ken describes, “You got the look, though... Like you had to grow up way too fast”. Buffy quickly takes on the role and responsibility of parent in “Becoming Part 2” and “Anne”. She is the one who must take care not only of her family but also of the rest of the world. In the former episode, Buffy must sacrifice, Angel, her most precious object for the sake of the greater good; the situation is oddly comparable to a mother who has discovered her lover is abusing her children and must remove him from society for the sake of her “children.” In “Anne,” Buffy is on her own taking care of herself as well as the helpless Lily. Even Giles recognizes Buffy’s role when he soothes Joyce with the words “Buffy is the most capable child I’ve ever known... I honestly believe she’s in no danger.” Joyce does nothing; Buffy is the real mother figure in the series.
Beyond just a reversal of roles, the adults are not only portrayed as childish but also as evil. Almost all the monsters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are of the adult generation with the exception of the pathetic “Anointed One.” In fact, Family Home, where Ken claims the children will be safe and cared for, is actually a trap to deceive youth into being led into the demonic slave trade. All the authority figures in Buffy, Joyce Summers, Principal Snyder, Ken, even at times Giles (episode 2.6 “Halloween”), fail Buffy causes more harm and hindrance than help. Authority figures are never portrayed as supportive, encouraging, or even safe.
As Ken describes, “You got the look, though... Like you had to grow up way too fast”. Buffy quickly takes on the role and responsibility of parent in “Becoming Part 2” and “Anne”. She is the one who must take care not only of her family but also of the rest of the world. In the former episode, Buffy must sacrifice, Angel, her most precious object for the sake of the greater good; the situation is oddly comparable to a mother who has discovered her lover is abusing her children and must remove him from society for the sake of her “children.” In “Anne,” Buffy is on her own taking care of herself as well as the helpless Lily. Even Giles recognizes Buffy’s role when he soothes Joyce with the words “Buffy is the most capable child I’ve ever known... I honestly believe she’s in no danger.” Joyce does nothing; Buffy is the real mother figure in the series.
Beyond just a reversal of roles, the adults are not only portrayed as childish but also as evil. Almost all the monsters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are of the adult generation with the exception of the pathetic “Anointed One.” In fact, Family Home, where Ken claims the children will be safe and cared for, is actually a trap to deceive youth into being led into the demonic slave trade. All the authority figures in Buffy, Joyce Summers, Principal Snyder, Ken, even at times Giles (episode 2.6 “Halloween”), fail Buffy causes more harm and hindrance than help. Authority figures are never portrayed as supportive, encouraging, or even safe.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Humanity: Monster or Man
The appearance of the Judge (from “Surprise” and “Innocence”) in Buffy puts forth an interesting question; What is it that makes us human? According to legend, the Judge is “brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity, to separate the righteous from the wicked, and to burn the righteous down.” Giles claims that no human has ever survived the Judge’s purging, yet it is not humans alone who are burned for their humanity. This brings us back to the question, what defines humanity?
The audience’s first thought is that it might have something to do with love. After all, the judge first fixes on Spike and Drusilla. The Judge condemns them, “You two stink of humanity. You share affection and jealousy.” For the two emotions to exist, there has to be some form of mutual caring between the vamps. The Judge’s first actual victim though is the scholar vampire. He “is full of feeling. He reads.” The scholar falls victim to the apocalyptic monster due to his passion for books and learning. Love would be the obvious conclusion to the Judge’s determining factor.
However if you look more closely, love can’t apply. Drusilla doesn’t love Spike. He is merely an amusement to her, the one who took care of her and filled the long years. As soon as Angel is turned back into Angelus, Spike looses his appeal to Drusilla. Love doesn’t fade that quickly.
Angel provides a better reference to discovering the factor used to determine humanity. With a soul, he is vulnerable to the Judge; without, he is “clean.” The soul is not the answer though, because other soulless vampires can still have aspects of humanity (i.e. Spike and Dru). So what else has changed? In “Innocence,” Ms. Calender’s uncle explains that “Angel was meant to suffer, not live as human.” Angel’s gentleness and contentment have disappeared. His guilt is gone and with it his good intentions. Which of these made him human?
His soul provided a conscience that made him care about things beyond himself. This is where the answer lies. Spike and Drusilla care about each other even if it might be for different reasons. The scholar cared about his books and knowledge. Angel cared about Buffy. It is our care for things outside of ourselves that gives us our humanity; without it, we would be no more than self-indulgent hedonists with a drive for pleasure and satisfaction even at the destruction of all else.
The audience’s first thought is that it might have something to do with love. After all, the judge first fixes on Spike and Drusilla. The Judge condemns them, “You two stink of humanity. You share affection and jealousy.” For the two emotions to exist, there has to be some form of mutual caring between the vamps. The Judge’s first actual victim though is the scholar vampire. He “is full of feeling. He reads.” The scholar falls victim to the apocalyptic monster due to his passion for books and learning. Love would be the obvious conclusion to the Judge’s determining factor.
However if you look more closely, love can’t apply. Drusilla doesn’t love Spike. He is merely an amusement to her, the one who took care of her and filled the long years. As soon as Angel is turned back into Angelus, Spike looses his appeal to Drusilla. Love doesn’t fade that quickly.
Angel provides a better reference to discovering the factor used to determine humanity. With a soul, he is vulnerable to the Judge; without, he is “clean.” The soul is not the answer though, because other soulless vampires can still have aspects of humanity (i.e. Spike and Dru). So what else has changed? In “Innocence,” Ms. Calender’s uncle explains that “Angel was meant to suffer, not live as human.” Angel’s gentleness and contentment have disappeared. His guilt is gone and with it his good intentions. Which of these made him human?
His soul provided a conscience that made him care about things beyond himself. This is where the answer lies. Spike and Drusilla care about each other even if it might be for different reasons. The scholar cared about his books and knowledge. Angel cared about Buffy. It is our care for things outside of ourselves that gives us our humanity; without it, we would be no more than self-indulgent hedonists with a drive for pleasure and satisfaction even at the destruction of all else.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Relationships: What a Girl Will Do OR A Reversal of Roles
We all know that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is all about having a female hero save the world while the male characters provide the sex appeal and comic relief, but so far that heroic role has been reserved for only one girl, Buffy. The other girls, Cordelia and Willow, in the show still fulfill the usual female roles sideliners who can help but still require a hero to come to their rescue. “Halloween” turns this whole act around. According to Buffy, “the whole point of Halloween... [is that] it’s come-as-you-aren’t night.” This is certainly the case for the Slayer gang as Willow and Xander take the lead with Buffy as the damsel in distress hoping “some men will protect us [women].”
This episode is “the very embodiment of be careful what you wish for” as Ethan summarizes in his explanation to Giles. At the beginning of the show, Buffy is desperate for a love life, specifically one with Angel, but as she states it, “Ambush tactics [and] beheadings [are] not exactly what dreams are made of.” As Cordelia starts to try her own moves on Angel, Buffy becomes driven, almost to the point of obsession, to find out exactly what kind of girl would please Angel. It is a personality quirk more characteristic of the stereotypical teenage girl than a confident savior of the world (but as she points out “I’m a teen. I act immature!” (from “What’s My Line Part I”)), yet the jealousy mounts as Buffy learns more about Angels past loves as a human and the carefree life she imagines those women had. In an impulsive effort to attract Angels attentions, she chooses the costume of a noble woman from Angel’s era as her Halloween outfit, wanting “to be a real girl for once.” She is left in the role of a courtly lady who “wasn’t bred to think” and refuses to do anything but lie there and cry when she is attacked because “it’s not [her] place to fight.”
With Buffy spelled into the role of the “simpering moron” from Angel’s past, it is left to Willow and Xander to pick up the slack on the slaying front. As the only one of the trio who retains her memories during the curse, Willow is forced to take charge as the leader of the group and wear the sexy clothes that go with it. She gainfully instructs the others on how to fight and gains some much needed confidence in the process. Xander provides the brawn and combat tactics having finally gained the ability to fight his own battles and win; his Halloween wish, unlike Buffy’s, happens to be very advantageous to himself and the rest of the group. He gets a second chance to confront his bully, Larry the pirate, and ends up finally rescuing Buffy in the process. Xander is given the opportunity to prove his masculinity.
This episode is “the very embodiment of be careful what you wish for” as Ethan summarizes in his explanation to Giles. At the beginning of the show, Buffy is desperate for a love life, specifically one with Angel, but as she states it, “Ambush tactics [and] beheadings [are] not exactly what dreams are made of.” As Cordelia starts to try her own moves on Angel, Buffy becomes driven, almost to the point of obsession, to find out exactly what kind of girl would please Angel. It is a personality quirk more characteristic of the stereotypical teenage girl than a confident savior of the world (but as she points out “I’m a teen. I act immature!” (from “What’s My Line Part I”)), yet the jealousy mounts as Buffy learns more about Angels past loves as a human and the carefree life she imagines those women had. In an impulsive effort to attract Angels attentions, she chooses the costume of a noble woman from Angel’s era as her Halloween outfit, wanting “to be a real girl for once.” She is left in the role of a courtly lady who “wasn’t bred to think” and refuses to do anything but lie there and cry when she is attacked because “it’s not [her] place to fight.”
With Buffy spelled into the role of the “simpering moron” from Angel’s past, it is left to Willow and Xander to pick up the slack on the slaying front. As the only one of the trio who retains her memories during the curse, Willow is forced to take charge as the leader of the group and wear the sexy clothes that go with it. She gainfully instructs the others on how to fight and gains some much needed confidence in the process. Xander provides the brawn and combat tactics having finally gained the ability to fight his own battles and win; his Halloween wish, unlike Buffy’s, happens to be very advantageous to himself and the rest of the group. He gets a second chance to confront his bully, Larry the pirate, and ends up finally rescuing Buffy in the process. Xander is given the opportunity to prove his masculinity.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Vampires: What are they? Who are they?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a series grounded in myth. With myth comes metaphor; it is an expected aspect of any mythical analysis. What do these imagined creatures mean? What depths of our psyche do they represent?
Consider the vampire. A regular aspect of many mythical fictions, the vampire is the center demon in this television series. Buffy is hardly the first story to bring these creatures into popular culture, however. Vampires have been around for ages, embodying a wide range of metaphoric representations from sociopaths to seductive perfection. Still a general conclusion can be made; vampires are chocolates. They provide a sort of ecstatic, even sensual, pleasure (the vampire’s bite is said to provide a high similar to that of narcotics), yet they are sinful, soulless. Of course their lack of a soul grants the vampires a sort of conscience-free action that we have all desired at one point or another. With their heightened sense and strength, immortality, and their perfect physique, Vampires represent the ideal human at an inhuman cost. As their aversion to sun might suggest, vampires represent our darkest fantasies; unable to accept them as our own we push them off onto this romanticized myth.
Darla stands as a perfect example. The sweet goodness you know you shouldn’t have. Her dress adds to this fact. As Angel points out, “What’s with the Catholic schoolgirl look?” The name, Darla derives from the world darling. Darla, herself, embodies raw sexuality; she is lust with a touch of sadomasochism.
Darla, and all she represents, is the favorite of the Master. The Master spends nearly the entirety of his existence on the series trapped underground, buried in a sense. He is suppressed, and he represents all that Buffy has suppressed, all of her emotions or potential aspects she is unwilling to accept or embrace. “With power comes responsibility,” the Master recites. Until she is ready to face him, Buffy is unwilling to think of slaying as anything more than a side job; very often she forgets the responsibilities associated with her role as Slayer as when she chose to go on a date with Owen rather than accompany Giles to the funeral home. Buffy nearly got both Giles and Owen killed because she wouldn’t see the responsibility that came with her role. Also, one of Buffy’s greatest fears is for killing to become easy, for her to become cold and lose her ability for empathy. Once the master is freed (and duly killed), Buffy can no longer suppress the “big bad” within her; it too is freed as her attitude shows upon her return in season two episode one, “When She was Bad.” It isn’t until she has fully confronted the Master a second time and ground him “into talcum powder,” as Xander says, that she vanquished the demons within.
Colin, too, stands as a very metaphoric symbol in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As a child we expect him to represent pure innocence, and so he does when we first see him on the bus in “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date,” but once the vampires turn him into one of their own Colin becomes the representation of pure evil. Even as we watch Colin lead Buffy into Hell, we can’t help but think of him as helpless; we want to reach out and “help,” as he begged of Buffy. His mere form as a child makes him the stuff of nightmares and horror shows. Mix that in with a couple biblical references and allusions, and our sense of what should be is twisted, shattered.
Another vampire, or in this case set of vampires, who’s name alluded to biblical stories was The Three from the episode “Angel.” The Three are the embodiment of masculinity. They are strong, tough, and practically overdosing on testosterone. Their name comes from a reference in the bible to King David’s Warriors, sometimes referred to as The Three, perhaps as a bit of foreshadowing for the trinity that is introduced in the New Testament. The fact that The Three in Buffy the Vampire Slayer nearly destroy her is yet another way evil has chosen to twist and mock religion. Buffy has to be rescued by Angel when she is fighting them, but in the end a woman, Darla, defeats them.
Angel, himself, is surely one of the greatest metaphors of the show so far (through episode one of season two). Angel represented the battle of self; he is unsated desire. He is a vampire; he craves human blood, but he also has a soul and the guilt that comes with it. As Darla says in reference to the humans, “Guess what precious; you’re not one of them.” Angels response is similar, “I’m not exactly one of you either.” There is a battle raging within him between the human and the demon, because Angel is cursed to be both. Even more than a representation of this battle, though, Angel is unsated desire. All that he craves, Buffy, warm blood, forgiveness, an end to the pain, is lost to him. Buffy is a slayer not to mention a child. Blood though he craves it has become despicable to him. It is too late for forgiveness, and the end is lost forever for immortals.
Consider the vampire. A regular aspect of many mythical fictions, the vampire is the center demon in this television series. Buffy is hardly the first story to bring these creatures into popular culture, however. Vampires have been around for ages, embodying a wide range of metaphoric representations from sociopaths to seductive perfection. Still a general conclusion can be made; vampires are chocolates. They provide a sort of ecstatic, even sensual, pleasure (the vampire’s bite is said to provide a high similar to that of narcotics), yet they are sinful, soulless. Of course their lack of a soul grants the vampires a sort of conscience-free action that we have all desired at one point or another. With their heightened sense and strength, immortality, and their perfect physique, Vampires represent the ideal human at an inhuman cost. As their aversion to sun might suggest, vampires represent our darkest fantasies; unable to accept them as our own we push them off onto this romanticized myth.
Darla stands as a perfect example. The sweet goodness you know you shouldn’t have. Her dress adds to this fact. As Angel points out, “What’s with the Catholic schoolgirl look?” The name, Darla derives from the world darling. Darla, herself, embodies raw sexuality; she is lust with a touch of sadomasochism.
Darla, and all she represents, is the favorite of the Master. The Master spends nearly the entirety of his existence on the series trapped underground, buried in a sense. He is suppressed, and he represents all that Buffy has suppressed, all of her emotions or potential aspects she is unwilling to accept or embrace. “With power comes responsibility,” the Master recites. Until she is ready to face him, Buffy is unwilling to think of slaying as anything more than a side job; very often she forgets the responsibilities associated with her role as Slayer as when she chose to go on a date with Owen rather than accompany Giles to the funeral home. Buffy nearly got both Giles and Owen killed because she wouldn’t see the responsibility that came with her role. Also, one of Buffy’s greatest fears is for killing to become easy, for her to become cold and lose her ability for empathy. Once the master is freed (and duly killed), Buffy can no longer suppress the “big bad” within her; it too is freed as her attitude shows upon her return in season two episode one, “When She was Bad.” It isn’t until she has fully confronted the Master a second time and ground him “into talcum powder,” as Xander says, that she vanquished the demons within.
Colin, too, stands as a very metaphoric symbol in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As a child we expect him to represent pure innocence, and so he does when we first see him on the bus in “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date,” but once the vampires turn him into one of their own Colin becomes the representation of pure evil. Even as we watch Colin lead Buffy into Hell, we can’t help but think of him as helpless; we want to reach out and “help,” as he begged of Buffy. His mere form as a child makes him the stuff of nightmares and horror shows. Mix that in with a couple biblical references and allusions, and our sense of what should be is twisted, shattered.
Another vampire, or in this case set of vampires, who’s name alluded to biblical stories was The Three from the episode “Angel.” The Three are the embodiment of masculinity. They are strong, tough, and practically overdosing on testosterone. Their name comes from a reference in the bible to King David’s Warriors, sometimes referred to as The Three, perhaps as a bit of foreshadowing for the trinity that is introduced in the New Testament. The fact that The Three in Buffy the Vampire Slayer nearly destroy her is yet another way evil has chosen to twist and mock religion. Buffy has to be rescued by Angel when she is fighting them, but in the end a woman, Darla, defeats them.
Angel, himself, is surely one of the greatest metaphors of the show so far (through episode one of season two). Angel represented the battle of self; he is unsated desire. He is a vampire; he craves human blood, but he also has a soul and the guilt that comes with it. As Darla says in reference to the humans, “Guess what precious; you’re not one of them.” Angels response is similar, “I’m not exactly one of you either.” There is a battle raging within him between the human and the demon, because Angel is cursed to be both. Even more than a representation of this battle, though, Angel is unsated desire. All that he craves, Buffy, warm blood, forgiveness, an end to the pain, is lost to him. Buffy is a slayer not to mention a child. Blood though he craves it has become despicable to him. It is too late for forgiveness, and the end is lost forever for immortals.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The First Stage of the Female Hero's Journey
The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though written by a male screenwriter, stands as an ideal representation of a modern feminist myth. Buffy Summers is one of the first examples of popular culture that starred a feminine hero. She can be strong and confident while remaining a stylish, teenage girl who talks like a valley girl and walks around in heels as she battles a world of magic and demons. The main male characters in the first three episodes, Xander and Giles, are assistants to Buffy, dependent on her. A girl is the one saving the world.
According to “Prologue: Woman as Hero in Twentieth Century Literature,” the female hero’s journey consists of three distinct stages of physical and mental development: virgin, mother, and crone. In episode one of season one, “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” Buffy is just beginning her journey as Sunnydale’s hero. She is the virgin, absorbed with her own schoolgirl interests. Buffy wants only to have a normal life surrounded by friends rather than fiends. She tries to resist her duty and the accompanied responsibility until it becomes her own “potential friend[s]” that are in danger. As she explains to Angel when he tries to warn her against rescuing Jesse, “I’ve got a friend down there. Or, at least, a potential friend.” Once her would-be normal life is threatened, Buffy is willing to fulfill her duty. Not until she accepts this destiny (to a point) does she actually find a social niche among her classmates, Willow and Xander, and even the librarian/watcher Giles. Still, Buffy is insistent on distancing herself from her fate. She tries to explain this to Giles when he attempts to forbid her from becoming a cheerleader in “The Witch.” “I just, wanna have a life,” she protests. Buffy is trying to find a balance between her responsibility to others and her individual wants.
In the first three episodes of this series, Buffy undergoes a form of symbolic separation from her mother, a necessary step in the virgin hero’s journey as maintained by the afore mentioned article. She is forced to keep her calling as Slayer a secret; her mother does not know or even suspect this aspect of her daughter. In “The Harvest,” Joyce bans her daughter from leaving the house after she gets a call from the principal informing her that Buffy has missed classes. Buffy is in a hurry to get to the Bronze in order to save the youth clubbing there from the slaughter of the Harvest She attempts to explain the importance of the situation but is unable to tell her mother the full truth. Joyce just thinks she is being a frivolous, petulant teenager and grounds her. Joyce can’t understand what her daughter is dealing with because she does not know. The mother and daughter are growing distant as a result of Buffy’s secret life. This distance is highlighted in episode four, “The Witch.” Buffy is excited about trying out for cheerleading, yet her mother is completely preoccupied with work. In the middle of a discussion with Joyce, Buffy asks her mother “What am I trying out for?” Joyce had been participating in the conversation yet she has no idea what they were talking about and wasn’t aware that Buffy wants to be a cheerleader again. After Buffy talks to Amy and discovers she trains with her mother every day, Buffy speaks to her own mom about all the time Amy’s mother spends helping her daughter; all Joyce has to say is that she is needs to work. Then later after Buffy finds out she didn’t make the squad, Joyce tries to convince her daughter to join the yearbook team like she did when she was in high school, Buffy has never expressed interest in such an activity and refuses. The conversation ends in hateful remarks on both ends. Buffy may still live with her mother, but they have grown apart. Buffy is searching for her own, separate identity.
According to “Prologue: Woman as Hero in Twentieth Century Literature,” the female hero’s journey consists of three distinct stages of physical and mental development: virgin, mother, and crone. In episode one of season one, “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” Buffy is just beginning her journey as Sunnydale’s hero. She is the virgin, absorbed with her own schoolgirl interests. Buffy wants only to have a normal life surrounded by friends rather than fiends. She tries to resist her duty and the accompanied responsibility until it becomes her own “potential friend[s]” that are in danger. As she explains to Angel when he tries to warn her against rescuing Jesse, “I’ve got a friend down there. Or, at least, a potential friend.” Once her would-be normal life is threatened, Buffy is willing to fulfill her duty. Not until she accepts this destiny (to a point) does she actually find a social niche among her classmates, Willow and Xander, and even the librarian/watcher Giles. Still, Buffy is insistent on distancing herself from her fate. She tries to explain this to Giles when he attempts to forbid her from becoming a cheerleader in “The Witch.” “I just, wanna have a life,” she protests. Buffy is trying to find a balance between her responsibility to others and her individual wants.
In the first three episodes of this series, Buffy undergoes a form of symbolic separation from her mother, a necessary step in the virgin hero’s journey as maintained by the afore mentioned article. She is forced to keep her calling as Slayer a secret; her mother does not know or even suspect this aspect of her daughter. In “The Harvest,” Joyce bans her daughter from leaving the house after she gets a call from the principal informing her that Buffy has missed classes. Buffy is in a hurry to get to the Bronze in order to save the youth clubbing there from the slaughter of the Harvest She attempts to explain the importance of the situation but is unable to tell her mother the full truth. Joyce just thinks she is being a frivolous, petulant teenager and grounds her. Joyce can’t understand what her daughter is dealing with because she does not know. The mother and daughter are growing distant as a result of Buffy’s secret life. This distance is highlighted in episode four, “The Witch.” Buffy is excited about trying out for cheerleading, yet her mother is completely preoccupied with work. In the middle of a discussion with Joyce, Buffy asks her mother “What am I trying out for?” Joyce had been participating in the conversation yet she has no idea what they were talking about and wasn’t aware that Buffy wants to be a cheerleader again. After Buffy talks to Amy and discovers she trains with her mother every day, Buffy speaks to her own mom about all the time Amy’s mother spends helping her daughter; all Joyce has to say is that she is needs to work. Then later after Buffy finds out she didn’t make the squad, Joyce tries to convince her daughter to join the yearbook team like she did when she was in high school, Buffy has never expressed interest in such an activity and refuses. The conversation ends in hateful remarks on both ends. Buffy may still live with her mother, but they have grown apart. Buffy is searching for her own, separate identity.
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