Buffy

[lilia2000]

Willow: Wait! 'Images of Pop Culture.' This is good. They watch movies, TV shows, even commercials.
Buffy: For credit?
Willow: Heh. Isn't college cool?
Buffy: How'd I miss that one?


So here's the deal. This semester I took a class called "Studies in Pop Culture" in the end it didn't turn out nearly as fun as I had hoped, but it is allowing me to write a paper on Buffy. So yays!

This is what I need, my paper is entitled "The Pop 'Cult'ure of Buffy" and I'm looking to fill 7 pages with the awesomeness that is Buffy. I'm looking for fan related stories about your experience wit Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Did it change your life?
Why do you love it so much?
Have any good fan relate experiences?
Did you meet your best friend because of Buffy?
What expereinces have you shared with others because of Buffy?
Are you a vidder? A fan fic writer? What do those things mean for you?
Is Buffy your escape? Why?
How did you start watching Buffy? From day one episode one? Or later?
Any interesting debates sparked out of Buffy?

Do you see what I'm asking? I have some of my own information I can put into this essay of course. So I'm not looking for any essay from you... just some experiences/stories whatever that can show what Buffy means to you. And that it still is its own subculture today.

(this is a public post so if you think you know some people with good stories, please feel free to share!)

Comments

[truexena.livejournal.com]

Did it change your life? Not so much, but it was always fun to watch on Tuesday night. ;)

Why do you love it so much? I loved the character of Willow, with Faith as a close second. Willow was the reason I'd tune in week after week. She was so powerful, yet very vulnerable. She wasn't the "Slayer", but the Slayer couldn't have stayed alive as long as she did without Willow's help, they couldn't have picked a better actress to play Willow than Alyson. Faith was just bad-assed. The 'rebel without a cause' type person I tend to gravitate towards in characters I like. She was just fun to watch, and Eliza played her well.

Have any good fan relate experiences? Well, lets see. I once saved Buffy from the "Gaming Track". Being as I used to never sleep during Dragon*Con, I'd roam the halls looking for things to do, and saw the standee in the Gaming Track in my wanderings. I'd been 'camping out' in the Buffy Track during their 'all night sushi pajama party' where episodes of Buffy & Angel would play all night. I tended to pass out before a full episode could complete, but it never bothered me, since I was only there because they where the closest Track room open near the "Xena Track" room. I'd learned from the Buffy Track Director that the standee was missing, so I let her know where I'd last seen Buffy, and she was retrieved. There where reports that the Buffy standee had been riding the elevators for most of the night before ending up in the Gaming Track room. Even though I didn't stay awake long enough to watch a full episode of Buffy during that 'camp out', I was back the next year with enough knowledge about Buffy the Vampire Slayer to 'Stump the Geek' in a Buffy Trivia Contest. ;) (I also become part of the Track's official staff, a year or two later)

Did you meet your best friend because of Buffy? I met a LOT of friends because of Buffy, and I still hang out with most of them at Dragon*Con every year. Even though the show is over, we still celebrate the Buffy Verse and the friendships we've created through watching the show.

What expereinces have you shared with others because of Buffy? As mentioned above, I've met a lot of Buffy fans at Dragon*Con, and we continue to hang out together even though the show is no longer on the air.

Are you a vidder? A fan fic writer? What do those things mean for you? I have done a few vids in my time. Actually, I've done at LEAST 12 Buffy vids, where I've only done 4 Xena ones. (you can currently find my Buffy vids here (http://www.geocities.com/xena2011/xenamusicvideos.html)) I don't consider myself a fanfic writer, but I did co-write one Buffy fic with an online friend of mine (also a Buffy fan, and an actual writer) called "Reflections in Raindrops". It's a Willow & Tara fic, but I think it's well written and we worked really hard on it. I'm very proud of the finished product. (you can read it here (http://www.truexena.com/Buffy/buffyfic.htm))

Is Buffy your escape? Why? Sure it is, but then all TV Shows, Movies, Books, and Comics are a form of escape from the real world. Its the 'allowed' form of letting go of your baggage for an hour or two and just letting something else fill your head. Yes Buffy is an escape, but then everything else I read and watch is an escape as well. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so, as long as I can still understand that it is not REAL, and that these people are just characters thought up by someone else, and they are living UNreal lives just to give me some entertainment.

(continued in another comment, apparently I run off at the keyboard)

[truexena.livejournal.com]

(continued from above)

How did you start watching Buffy? From day one episode one? Or later? Much later than day 1 episode 1. LOL I actually started watching Buffy Season 6 episode 1. Willow standing ontop of that Tomb being all "Willow Witch" was just AWESOME Sauce! I had to see what the rest of the series was like. I did everything in my power to get caught up, and did so before Season 6 was at an end. The funny thing is, I'd had some oneline friends (Xena fans), who kept telling me that I should watch Buffy and I kept telling them it wasn't my thing. Those friends where the ones that convinced me to at least TRY it, so we watched the S6 premiere together (chatting online, while watching our TV's). So I have all those Xena/Buffy fans to thank for my Buffy Fandom love.

Any interesting debates sparked out of Buffy? Oh lets see if I can remember any debates sparked from Buffy. How about the "Spuffy" debate? Should Buffy be with Spike? Is he good for her, is he bad for her? How about the "Magic Bullet" debate? Could that bullet from Warren's gun really have killed Tara? Did something 'magical' twist the bullet onto that path? How about the "Willow Dating" debate? How soon is 'too soon' for Willow to date again after Tara's death? The list is endless. If it's on the show, it's totally debatable.

I hope this helped you in some way. I'm sure most of it is just drivel and probably the same stuff anyone else would tell you. Geesh, I've never had to actually SHORTEN any of my comments!

[lilia2000.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for all the detail! I really appreciate it. :-) The more I have to go on, the better! I love the story about Buffy riding up and down in the elevator! Such a Con story. :-D