Obsessively Opposed To The Typical

Buffy was supposed to be that girl that got killed, because that’s what popular culture told you happened to girls. They get killed and some guy gets to seek revenge and her death is ultimately a story about that guy’s power. When Buffy walks down that alley in the first episode, that scene is direct confrontation of this narrative. She doesn’t die; she knocks Angel on his ass, puts her boot in his chest, and demands that he stops stalking her. This isn’t his story. This is her story. And you’re going to respect that she’s the driving force in it.

You want some evidence about how revolutionary this is? 14 years after this scene airs, we have the exact same scenario in one of the most popular and most widely-read book series published this century, except that the heroine doesn’t protect herself or call out her stalker for his creepy behavior; she offers up her throat to him.

The show doesn’t stop with Buffy. It’s one thing to have one empowered, active character. Plenty of shows do that. Especially in the post-Buffy, post-Xena, post-girl power world. Most of them don’t have two, much less an entire roster of well fleshed-out female characters. Willow, of course, becomes the show’s breakout star, and she has a rocky start in the first season. “I Robot,” the first of the Willow-centric episodes, is a weak bit of storytelling, but it has its moments, like Willow catching on to and refusing to be snowed by her internet boyfriend’s suspicious behavior. Cordelia floats around discovering bodies and screaming, but she’s kickass when it comes to it, driving a car through a school to get her not-friends to safety. Jenny Calender has her worldview shaken by demon attacks, takes some time to adjust, and comes back to join the fight.

Over and over again, we just see women on screen. They’re everywhere. They aren’t just relegated to the hot girlfriend roles — they’re computer geeks, working mothers, invisible assassins, slayers, teachers, and prom queens. They pass the Bedschel test, over and over again — in itself, this is not “proof” that the show is feminist, but ask yourself, what’s the last TV show you can name that does this? Every week?