TV

Well, you’ve only got about a half hour left to celebrate, but today is the tenth anniversary of the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is one of those shows that inspires a devoted cult following, eagerly awaiting a comic book that will explain what happened after the series went off the air. TV.com is celebrating with an article celebrating the ‘Buffyversary,’ and my favorite part of the article is this:

In part, Buffy was a joke. Every horror movie used to have that petite, cute blond girl who would (for no readily apparent reason) go wandering, alone, into a dark alley, deserted house, or spooky graveyard. The blond would then, of course, be killed. Well, Joss being a feminist at heart, he thought it would be hilarious if the big, hulking monster came up behind the little blond girl and then the cute little cheerleader turned around and kicked its otherworldly butt. And thus the seed was sown.
The idea of the pretty girl who can take on the big, ugly monsters struck a wonderful metaphoric chord. She was a perfect symbol of any of us who have ever had to face obstacles that seemed overwhelming. The Slayer was every woman who ever fought for equality, every scrawny geek who ever stood up to a schoolyard bully, every individual who ever fought city hall, every flop of a movie that ever got made into a successful TV series. She was everyone who was outcast, different, special, or downtrodden, and she demonstrated that all of us could still stand up and fight the good fight, no matter how hopeless it may seem from the outside.

It’s a good read, if for no other reason to read the word ’slayerbrate’ in a sentence.

Image via My Tribute to the Fabulous Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar