What Makes Buffy Special?

[midwesternwatcher]

Buffy has super powers, which are balanced by her super problems.

Other than that, is there anything remarkable about her, or is she an ordinary person?

I'd like to hear some views.

[Inappropriate Starches]

I think she's a regular person, however sometimes I think she's remarkable. It's sort of like the speech that Xander has in Potential about Dawn. She's not superpowered or 'special' like a lot of the others but she's still extraordinary.

I think Buffy is like that. She is just a normal girl who likes music and shopping and spending time with her friends, but she also has these superpowers and saves the world a lot. It's mentioned a few times that people get the impression that Buffy doesn't just fight because she's the slayer, and if she wasn't anymore she probably still would and then she would be like Dawn.

Long story short, she's superpowered, she's normal, she's flawed, and that makes her a great character. A superhero who isn't about being a superhero but a woman and a good person. Not to mention occationally funny and charming.

[Tea - Total]

Buffy, the warrior of the people. Eougth said.

[Just Willow]

I definetely think that they made Buffy seem a lot more special than she really was, especially in season seven. She got kinbda full of herself adn bothered me. She's the Slayer. So what? So is Faith? But Buffy gets all the special treatment, which I think is sort of stupid.

[drusillacakes]

I think Buffy was considered special because she was the first slayer to do things her way. She didn't take crap from people, and as far as I know, the only slayer to fall in love with not one but two vampires. She also reached major milestones by having longevity in her career and escaping death on several occasions. However, this was due in part to her support system. Other slayers didn't have the luxury of having friends and family, and if Xander and Angel didn't show up after the Master killed her, she would've been just another dead slayer in that eternal battle between good and evil. So I think her friends and family are what makes her so special.

[tkts]

What I like about Buffy's portrayal in the series as opposed to the movie -- in addition to the fact that Sarah Michelle Gellar is a much better actress than Kristy Swanson -- is that the series makes it clear she's not just some ditzy Valley Girl who happens to have superpowers.

We see Dr. Gregory recognizing her intellect in Season 1 when he tells her "you have a first-rate mind and you can think on your feet." In "Helpless," when she's deprived of the physical powers that being the slayer gives her, she defeats Kralik with strategy. (That's one reason why, although "Helpless" isn't my favorite episode to watch, I'm glad it's there because of what it does for the series as a whole.) And even from the way she talks, you can tell that she's quick-witted and good with words.

Would she be the same person if she weren't the slayer? In some ways yes, in some ways no. She'd still be compassionate and loyal, but being thrust into the role of slayer probably awakened a lot of abilities that she might not have tapped otherwise.

As for what makes her special compared to past slayers, the answer that emerges from the series seems to be that she's the slayer who breaks all the rules. She draws strength from her friends and family and shares her power with them. ("A slayer with family and friends? That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure.") She forges unlikely alliances, refuses to stay inside the box that's been constructed for her, and ultimately rejects the "one girl in all the world" scenario and puts into motion a plan that has the effect of ending the old-style slayer line of succession forever.

[Silver]

I always thought that she was a girl who had all these powers but was just an ordinary girl on the inside trying to get out. She always had time for friends and even those who were not so kind to her (with the exception of the evil lot of course).

[Skytteflickan88]

Buffy is the perfect girl next door.

She smiles at you and chit chats when you meet at the street while taking out garbage, she saves the world and your life from time to time and she's very hot.

Seriously tough, in short, I think she was a ordinary girl who became extraordinary because of extraordinary circumstances that she adapted to very well. If she had grown up to be a normal person, maybe she would still be a nice girl (hopefully the bitca cheerleadersness that I think I remember her having in The Origin comics would have gone away), and maybe still be described as "one hell of a woman" and a great friend, but I wonder if people would have seen her as extraordinary.

[Eric]

Apr 22, 2010 23:49:44 GMT -5 midwesternwatcher said:

Buffy has super powers, which are balanced by her super problems.

Other than that, is there anything remarkable about her, or is she an ordinary person?

I'd like to hear some views.

It's because she goes through high school, growing up, and other experiences we all go through in life while defeating evil monsters and such that are metaphors for the said experiences.

[buffyfan21]

There are many reasons why Buffy (the character and the show) is special. By all outward appearances Buffy is just a normal girl, someone we can all relate to in one way or another. Dig a little deeper, however, and you will discover that she is also a hero; someone who risks her life on a daily basis for the sake and safety of humanity, and unselfishly puts the needs of others before her own. She puts her life on the line constantly, knowing that each day could be her last; and yet she never asks for a single thing in return. This is what makes Buffy admirable and special to me.

Will add more later when I am not so tired.

[midwesternwatcher]

I guess I asked a good question! I'm gratified by all the replies.

I'm not sure how to put this -- Buffy has to be an "everywoman," she has to have a high identification factor, we all must recognize ourselves in her. If she's extraordinary, then it's an ordinary way, in a way that any plain person can be. That's why I felt it was right, in Season 4, that she was kicked out of the first college class she attended, and nearly kicked out of another one, and also right, in Season 6, that she was fired from each of her first two jobs on her first day and winds up working in fast food. None of this diminishes the love and admiration I feel for her.

[tkts]

I think a strong underlying theme in BtVS is that ordinary people can be extraordinary if we find the abilities that are within us and learn how to develop and use them.

Like I said earlier, Buffy isn't just a Valley Girl with superpowers. She's a quick thinker with great problem-solving ability and a brilliant tactical mind. But if she weren't the slayer, would she have awakened those abilities? Maybe, maybe not.

Willow is an extraordinarily powerful witch, but would she ever have discovered that if she hadn't met Buffy? Probably not. Would she have blossomed from the painfully shy, awkward sophomore into the confident woman she eventually becomes? Maybe, but not necessarily to the same extent.

Xander, right up until the beginning of Season 5, is in a situation that a lot of people would find painfully familiar. He doesn't know what he wants to do, and he doesn't feel especially good at anything. It takes being split in two by the ferula gemina in "The Replacement" for him to realize what he could do if he approached his life with a little confidence, and for the rest of the series, we see him grow in ability and self-assurance.

For all three characters, something supernatural is the catalyst for awakening their natural abilities. The challenge BtVS poses to those of us who won't ever encounter such fantastical situations is to find and awaken our own untapped abilities.

And maybe thinking of our lives in terms of BtVS situations can help us meet that challenge. If you woke up with the superhuman strength and enhanced reflexes of a vampire slayer, what inherent (and possibly untapped) mental abilities would you call upon to help you? If you were split in half like Xander, what would your more confident half do differently from what you're doing now, and what would be the result?

[AngelFaith]

I agree with what other people have said, what seems to make Buffy special is her family and friends. She wouldn't be alive and would not have been able to defeat as many enemies without them.

However, I would like to offer another thought.

We think that Buffy is "special" and diferent and extraordinary because (aside from Kendra and Faith) her story is the only one we know. There have been thousands of Slayers before Buffy, dating back practically to the beginning of mankind, which we know nothing about. I think Lucy Hanover is the only other Slayer who is considered canon.

So, over all that time, with all these other Slayers, there were probably others who were just as strong, brave and self-sacrificing, who probably also had problems they had to deal with, who probably sacrificed themselves to save the world. There would have been other evils as big as the ones Buffy faced that other Slayers have taken care of.

And I know that Spike, Giles and half a dozen others comment on how different Buffy is, but Giles can not have read every Watcher diary ever written, so he couldn't know for sure that Buffy was the first Slayer who broke the rules or had friends to help.

Just something to ponder.