Buffy The Vampire Slayer- Season 1 Episode 3

IMDb-- TV Show-- Season 1 Promo Shot

Starting with the analyzation of the past few episodes, one can assume that this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will be just like the others in regards to the overall theme, mood, and tone of the show in general. By now, we know that Buffy knows she has "supernatural powers" but viewers can easily pick up on the fact that she does not want them-- One can consider this to be normal, because of the simple fact that she is still young despite her powers and she wants to be like others, which brings us to one of the main focuses of the episode. In Buffy's attempt to become normal, we see that she joins the cheer leading team-- because what screams teenage girl louder than being a cheerleader?

Despite Buffy's attempts to run from her "gift", the viewer and Buffy quickly learn that she is not escaping her powers anytime soon, when she discovers the cheerleaders are a target, and that witches are involved. The tone of this episode seems to be a lot more brighter, than the first two episodes this season. We see what life is like on the "flip-side" for Buffy-- we get an understanding for the life she is trying hard to keep the only, life she lives. 

Although Buffy wants nothing to do with her powers, we gain introduction to the new idea of witchcraft in the show-- which as we Dracula fans know-- that this change is completely new. Having watched beyond this episode, I know for sure that this idea of "witchcraft" does become important later on down the line. Beyond the obvious signs and portrayals of the new ideas being introduced to the show, we gain a lot, and I mean a lot of gender discussion. As previously discussed, Buffy joins the Cheer leading team to escape the reality of her powers by joining the cheer leading team. We see a lot of information of the relationship between Amy and her mother, and Buffy and her mother. Seeing these relationships, it can be quickly inferred that they are polar opposites, being that Buffy's mother wants her to join yearbook club, like her, and Buffy totally disregards her wishes. While Amy's mother is basically treating Amy like a ventriloquist dummy doll and in a way living and controlling the way she conducts herself and her extra curricular activities.

Buffy vs. Amy's Mother

In this clip, we see Amy and Buffy both dresses in the traditional "provocative" cheer leading tight clothing, but we also see the other side of them-- the utilization of their powers. Then we shift, and see Amy's mother and how she sees her daughter actually, we see that no matter what Amy is doing to, in a manner of speaking, "Please" her mother, she is still not satisfied with her efforts. To me this shows the traditional mother daughter relationship where daughters have a mentality to please their mothers in their actions and decisions-- shining more light on the focus of female power versus female POWERS. Going further in depth tho, female POWER can be anything from child birth, to the intelligence of a woman's mind, a woman's intuition etc. But female POWERS is what Buffy has, she can defeat supernatural beings, she possess abnormal force, etc. Buffy has so much more than yearbook club on her list of potential, but she chooses to lead a normal life. Knowing that Buffy ultimately decides to be a vampire slayer, this also shows the idea that women are "indecisive", and may not always know how make the right decisions-- hence the idea of the vampire slayer having watchers. If these young, teenage girls can defeat vampires, why is it that they need an man watching them. If they possess these powers within their selves, what is the use. In this way, I feel that is shows a level of male superiority, over females. 

We all have seen cheerleaders before, and some of the revealing outfits they wear, and even during production of this show, we see times haven't changed and tight clothing, and fit and trim bodies are definitely all the rave in "cheer land". In multiple scenes, we see where the creator of the show is giving "typical female teen vibes", by showing the girls screeching, jumping in the air, laughing, wearing revealing clothing, and having a pack and bully mentality.

In analyzing this idea of Buffy being on the cheer leading team, I think that this shows the two things Buffy does, and that are big in her life right now, and it all introduces the idea that maybe, just maybe, that Buffy is struggling with who she wants and thinks she wants to be-- a fashionable, fit, intelligent, strong teenager-- and what she is destined to be-- a fierce, relentless, strong, and unstoppable vampire slayer. Still considering the key idea that this adaptation is based on a male dominant, 19th century, novel, we can see that Buffy-- back then-- wouldn't have been the ideal candidate for being a vampire slayer. So, in conclusion, this overall episode shows the battle between Buffy's wants and Buffy's reality, and the idea that she cannot run from it, leaving the viewer anxious to see if she eventually comes to terms with the powers and accepts them.