Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2.6

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Halloween 2.6

Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast
The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created in 1997. This show has a female main character named Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. In the series Buffy is a vampire slayer and is a very strong women. Each episode she is confronted with personal problems and an attack from a vampire. She's able to concur these problems by the end of the show with the help of her friends and with her powers. Sometimes Buffy's friends go through the personal conflict and learn how to over come the problem. Every situation is resolved by the time the vampire is killed. The show is surrounded by girl empowerment and does not have much toxic-masculinity. In season two episode six it is Halloween and the characters dress up in costumes to walk kids around the neighborhood to get candy. Someone casts a spell and everyone changes into what they dressed up as. Buffy dresses up as her crushes "dream girl" from the 18th century. Her best friend, Willow, was encouraged by Buffy to dress a little slutty but Willow chose to dress as a ghost. Buffy's best guy friend, Xander, dresses up as a soldier. Their chose of costume plays a huge factor in the plot of the episode.

Willow and Buffy in their costumes
Willow was addressed with the first problem. It is unlike Willow to show herself off and didn't like her skimpy Halloween costume. She put her ghost costume over it. She wanted to cover up and be hidden from everyone. When the switch was made to when they all turned into their costumes, Willow was turned into a ghost but she looked just like herself in her reveling costume. Toward the
end of the episode when they return to their normal bodies, Willow wakes up with her ghost costume back on and takes it off immediately. She tries to cover herself up but them realizes that is not what she wants. This shows confidence and girl power. Willow learns to accept her appearance and is ready to show herself off. Watching her character development throughout the episode can be truly inspiring to women who struggle to find self love.

When Buffy is turned into the women from the 18th century she acts if men are suppose to save her. She basically turns into a completely opposite person. She usually is the one saving herself or her friends but now she is standoffish and is afraid of every one. Buffy says things like she isn't suppose to help because she is there to look pretty and wait for a nice man to save her, typical Buffy would never say that. 18th century Buffy runs from problems while present Buffy would take control of destroy the problem. There was also an instance where Buffy runs into a man and he tries to take advantage of her. Buffy seems helpless in this scene because the man was much stronger than her. Her friend come to her rescue and scares away the man. Buffy is later threatened by a vampire and she is unable to fight her own fight and her friends Xander and Willow help her. The scene also shows how Willows confidence was boosted. The spell was revoked and everyone returned to their normal selves and Buffy finished her job of killing the vampire.

Over all the episode portrays a lot of girl power and self love. With Willow it is apparent that she is struggling with her self image and learns to embrace her body by the end of the episode. Also, when Buffy is acting like the 18th century girl, as a viewer, you are disappointed in the way she she is speaking about herself and seemed closed minded to helping herself when problems arise.

Comments

  1. Lainey MastMarch 6, 2020 at 7:39 AM

    I found your blog post very insightful! The contrast between Buffy's typical behavior and the behavior and attitudes of woman from the 18th century brings up important considerations about how far we as a society have progressed in terms of gender equality and women's empowerment, so I really enjoyed your discussion of that aspect of the episode.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JourneeMarch 10, 2020 at 10:37 AM

    I really enjoyed reading your blog and I liked your choice of topic. You did a good job of identifying the shift in each character in this episode.

    ReplyDelete

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