This was my costume for Halloween this year: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The hair is all wrong, but short of buying a wig it was the best I could do.
Until a few months ago I knew almost nothing about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But after being told by several different people that I was missing out on something great, I decided to find out what they were talking about. Since I love Joss Whedon's other work, it seemed like a pretty good idea. So over the summer I set myself the goal of watching the whole series. That's 7 seasons, for a total of 144 episodes, each about 42 minutes long. Since the Simmons library has the whole series it was no trouble getting my hands on them, and the lack of homework gave me the time I needed to plow through and immerse myself in the awesomeness that is Buffy (And the awesomeness of Spike, but that could be a whole different post).
A while back I drafted half of an essay detailing why Buffy is such a good show, but in the end it all boils down to great, believable characters. Sure, most of them have superpowers or drink blood, but their personalities and their choices are real. That's what's so great about fantasy and science fiction--the writers have to work harder at making things real. In order for a reader or viewer to believe the fantastic events that happen, we have to believe in the characters, we have to see them react the way a normal person would. In real life dramas writers can get away with making ridiculous characters, in fact, they almost have to in order to make everyday happenings seem exciting. But the fantasy writer pairs the fantastic with the mundane, grounding the demons in realistic human experience.
That's part of what makes Buffy so cool--she feels real. She's just a teenage girl trying to fit in at school and have fun with her friends, and the Hellmouth keeps getting in her way. And as Faith once put it, at least she's a hot chick with superpowers. What more could I aspire to be for a night?
-Kim
