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I believe it might be interesting and instructive to consider Buffy against the background of her peers and predecessors among female heroes in popular culture.
I use the term "female hero" deliberately to distinguish between conventional heroines, and women like Buffy who take the heroic role traditionally reserved for the male protagonist. Nor is it necessary for the female hero to have super-powers, although they seem more tolerable in some quarters if they do. Wonder Woman, who started in the 1940s would not have been so generally acceptable unless she had been a kind of female superman. The Annie Oakley type was accepted only in a specialized role, as crack shot in her case.
Two formidable female heroes come to mind who had no special power: Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies, and Helen Mirren's superbly flawed and gritty Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect TV series. Jane relies on her brains and force of character, whereas Ripley kicks ass, especially in the second Alien movie, which was directed by James Cameron.
In the first two Terminator movies James Cameron made Linda Hamilton's character Sarah O'Connor grow from a frightened waitress into the co-savior of the human race.To date I would say Sarah O'Connor is my favorite female hero in the movie/tv medium--closely followed by Buffy Summers.
Buffy can be nicely contrasted with Xena, who enjoyed a vogue which was much more short lived than Buffy's. In fact Buffy continues as a cult figure whereas Xena has faded. I think Xena began well, with an excellent cast, but they made a mess of it. They made a mess of it because they did not take it seriously. Xena, most of the time, was ludicrously invincible fighting and winning battles against odds which simply insulted the intelligence of the viewers.
Then there was the violence done to history. In one episode Xena would be helping Helen to escape from Troy, and the next week she would be having a ragged affair with Julius Caesar, which would have involved a time jump of more than a thousand years. Eventually the rating plummeted. A little more thought and work would have given Xena a longer life.
Buffy's vulnerability, on the other hand, makes her more sympathetic and creates more dramatic tension.
What do we want in our female heroes now? Do we need more super-powered girls? Or do we want more normal women with plenty of brains and guts? Somebody did float the idea of a Buffy season in which she would have no slayer powers but had to fight the Big Bad anyway, as in the Season 3 episode Helpless. I confess this idea has a powerful attraction for my imagination and sympathy.But would the fans buy it?
I use the term "female hero" deliberately to distinguish between conventional heroines, and women like Buffy who take the heroic role traditionally reserved for the male protagonist. Nor is it necessary for the female hero to have super-powers, although they seem more tolerable in some quarters if they do. Wonder Woman, who started in the 1940s would not have been so generally acceptable unless she had been a kind of female superman. The Annie Oakley type was accepted only in a specialized role, as crack shot in her case.
Two formidable female heroes come to mind who had no special power: Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies, and Helen Mirren's superbly flawed and gritty Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect TV series. Jane relies on her brains and force of character, whereas Ripley kicks ass, especially in the second Alien movie, which was directed by James Cameron.
In the first two Terminator movies James Cameron made Linda Hamilton's character Sarah O'Connor grow from a frightened waitress into the co-savior of the human race.To date I would say Sarah O'Connor is my favorite female hero in the movie/tv medium--closely followed by Buffy Summers.
Buffy can be nicely contrasted with Xena, who enjoyed a vogue which was much more short lived than Buffy's. In fact Buffy continues as a cult figure whereas Xena has faded. I think Xena began well, with an excellent cast, but they made a mess of it. They made a mess of it because they did not take it seriously. Xena, most of the time, was ludicrously invincible fighting and winning battles against odds which simply insulted the intelligence of the viewers.
Then there was the violence done to history. In one episode Xena would be helping Helen to escape from Troy, and the next week she would be having a ragged affair with Julius Caesar, which would have involved a time jump of more than a thousand years. Eventually the rating plummeted. A little more thought and work would have given Xena a longer life.
Buffy's vulnerability, on the other hand, makes her more sympathetic and creates more dramatic tension.
What do we want in our female heroes now? Do we need more super-powered girls? Or do we want more normal women with plenty of brains and guts? Somebody did float the idea of a Buffy season in which she would have no slayer powers but had to fight the Big Bad anyway, as in the Season 3 episode Helpless. I confess this idea has a powerful attraction for my imagination and sympathy.But would the fans buy it?
both fabulous.
One of my all time favorites. (And unlike some, I enjoy her when she is in bitch mode
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