Favorite female lead character: Buffy Summers (Day One)

Buffy Summers from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers

There’s something to be said about the privilege of seeing people like you reflected back in media. I’m a petite blonde woman from the West Coast. Buffy is a petite blonde woman from California. Buffy Summers is three years older than me. And oh yeah, she kicks evil vampire, demon, etc. ass. We’re both a little sassy.

I loved Buffy from the very first time I saw her on the TV show, holding Angel’s hand in a graveyard, all the way to the very end where she slayed Turok-Han with her scythe. I love Buffy.

(Yes, I know there are comic books. But Joss Whedon and I broke up big time, which I won’t get into here.)

I’ll never understand why people who didn’t like Buffy stayed to watch a show called Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Yes, Buffy’s extra special Slayer strength came from being able to save the day with her friends, which is part of what made her so revolutionary; but without Buffy, there is no show. Without Buffy, Willow and Xander would’ve been food / minions for the Master and Giles would’ve been depressed, 5 o’clock shadow Watcher guy. There was an entire episode about it.

Buffy is great. I love her in her too-short skirts in Season 1 and her eye-melting fast food uniform in Season 6. I love her when she quips a vampire to death or when she fell in love with one or when she knocked a house down having sex with another. I loved that she put weapons into her picnic basket of her Red Riding Hood costume because she didn’t trust Halloween.

But perhaps Jonathan said it best in the episode, The Prom:

We’re not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t noticed you. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s no secret that Sunnydale High isn’t really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here.

But, whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We’re proud to say that the Class of ’99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history.

And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class, offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this. It’s from all of us, and it has written here, ‘Buffy Summers, Class Protector.’

Watch the entire episode on Hulu or buy Buffy: the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Series (Seasons 1-7).

0 Replies to “Favorite female lead character: Buffy Summers (Day One)”

  1. I think I broke up w/ Joss over the ending of Dr. Horrible and the subsequently really terrible Dollhouse.

    But, oh, Buffy was indeed so good. That’s a great speech you quoted there.

    My favorite “quipping the vamps to death” is the bit where she taunted the vampire, “Oh god, my leg, my leg!” BEFORE actually hurting his leg. The Gift, Season 5.

    1. For me, it was Serenity and Astonishing: X-Men, and when I found out the ending of Dr. Horrible and read about Dollhouse, I was so glad.

      Buffy was wonderful. 😀

      Yes, that’s an awesome quip and scene.

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