Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Difference between revisions
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_vampire_slayer English Wikipedia entry for Buffy the Vampire Slayer] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_vampire_slayer English Wikipedia entry for Buffy the Vampire Slayer] | ||
*[http://www.slayage.tv Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies] | *[http://www.slayage.tv Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies] | ||
[[category:TV Series]] [[category:Buffy]] | |||
Revision as of 09:22, 22 June 2006
The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered as a mid-season replacement on the American television station The WB in 1997. The show's creator, Joss Whedon, had previously scripted a major studio movie with the same premise: a single teenage female is unwittingly chosen by supernatural forces to become "The Slayer" and battle vampires and other demonic creatures. She finds that she's become incredibly strong. She has a duty. But she doesn't have to like it.
Whedon described his original inspiration for Buffy in this way:
- It was pretty much the blond girl in the alley in the horror movie who keeps getting killed ... I felt bad for her, but she was always much more interesting to me than the other women. She was fun, she had sex, she was vivacious. But then she would get punished for it. Literally, I just had that image, that scene, in my mind, like the trailer for a movie. What if the girl goes into that dark alley. And the monster follows her. And she destroys him. [1]
Whedon's script for the original movie was altered against his wishes, and the movie did not do well financially. However, he was able to make a deal with 20th Century Fox to produce a television show, which premiered on March 10, 1997 and went on to become one of the signature shows of The WB. The show was a unique blend of horror, humor, contemporary high school drama, long-running complex story lines, and strong characterization. It also featured an unusual number of strong female roles, including Buffy Summers (the Slayer), Willow Rosenberg (her friend, a witch), Cordelia Chase (reluctant rich-girl ally), Jenny Calendar (technophile and gypsy with a revenge mission), Drusilla (insane lover of the vampire Spike), Faith (another Slayer, "activated" when the Slayer Kendra was killed), Anya (the Vengeance Demon-turned-human), Tara (Willow's Wiccan lover), and Buffy's magically created sister Dawn.