Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show (Smart Pop series)

by Gilene Yeffeth

  SPIKE: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin’s Day speech, was it?

  GILES: We few, we happy few . . .

  SPIKE: . . . we band of buggered.

  And this speech from Spike’s first appearance in “School Hard” (2-3):

  SPIKE: You’re that Anointed guy. I read about you. You’ve got Slayer problems. That’s a bad piece of luck. Do you know what I find works real good with Slayers? Killing them. A lot faster than nancy-boy there. Yeah, I did a couple Slayers in my time. I don’t like to brag. Who am I kidding? I love to brag! Yeah. He’s the big noise in these parts. Anointed, and all that. Me and Dru, we’re movin’ in. Now. Any of you want to test who’s got the biggest wrinklies ’round here . . . step on up. I’ll do your Slayer for you. But you keep your flunkies from tryin’ anything behind my back. Deal?

  “Buggered,” “wrinklies,” and “nancy-boy” are all exceedingly vulgar. Not that the censors have noticed, or at least cared. Even Harmony, in “Fool for Love” (5-7) has had more of a clue:

  HARMONY: How are you going to kill her? Think. The second you even point that thing at her you’re gonna be all . . . (Spike imitation) “Aaah!” and then you’ll get bitch-slapped up and down Main Street unless she’s had enough and just stakes you.

  SPIKE: This is different. Move.

  HARMONY: No! And then you’ll come back to me and stomp around and swear a bunch of weird English curses.

  SPIKE (losing patience): Harm . . .

  HARMONY: What is a “bollock,” anyway?

  Of course, what is vulgar there is simply weird here. However, in other countries, editorial control from networks and censorship boards is responsible for the deletion of segments, scenes or even entire episodes, depending on the local laws and the whims of the censors. In the UK, this problem is compounded by the fact that, so far as the BBC is concerned, science fiction and fantasy shows are children’s fare. As such, they are thus given the “teatime” slot, before the eight- and nine-o’clock prime-time viewing hours. However, as the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) in the UK ruled against Buffy, in one of many instances, “In relation to the sex scene, it considered that it had exceeded acceptable boundaries for broadcast at a time when young children could be watching.” Shows are therefore edited to be “appropriate for children,” with the sex and violence toned down or removed entirely.

  This has predictably led to outcries from fans, later showings (yet after prime time), subscriptions to the pay network Sky One (which gets Buffy and Angel only three months after the US), and of course brisk sales and rentals of uncensored videos and DVDs (though local ratings make it so that no one under eighteen may purchase copies of Angel).

  Of course, corporate decision-makers and ratings boards are not the only censors on the block. There are also government censors, and, worse yet, government propaganda agencies. In season four, Buffy becomes romantically involved with Riley and is drawn into the government-sponsored agenda of The Initiative. During the same season, Buffy’s network at the time, The WB, got into bed with the ONDCP, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

  As reported by Daniel Forbes of Salon Magazine (salon.com) in his article “Prime-time Propaganda,” the ONDCP came to an agreement with the various television networks (including The WB, Buffy’s network at the time) such that the government would waive its rights to various slots of advertising time. They had bought these for anti-drug and -alcohol messages a few years before, during a depressed television market, as part of a congressionally mandated two-for-one sale—which now had the networks less than pleased, since season four was in the middle of the dot.com boom and advertising rates were at an alltime high. In exchange for the government waiving its rights to these highly lucrative advertising slots, the ONDCP wanted the networks to incorporate anti-drug and -alcohol messages into their shows. The networks agreed, The WB even printing a press release bragging about this, though in many cases did not inform the writers or producers of why the network brass were requesting such stories, or that the scripts were being vetted at the White House.

  Early on in season four, viewers were treated to “Beer Bad” (4-5), arguably one of the lesser episodes of the season, featuring enchanted beer that makes frat boys (and Buffy) turn into Neanderthals, but a hilarious parody when watched as what happens when an independent-minded crew of writers are ordered to write anti-drug and -alcohol propaganda. In particular, this exchange:

  XANDER: Well, I cut her off before the others so I don’t think she had as much to drink.

  GILES: I can’t believe you served Buffy that beer.

  XANDER: I didn’t know it was evil.

  GILES: But you knew it was beer.

  XANDER: Well, excuse me, Mr. “I Spent the Sixties in an Electric Kool-Aid Funky Satan Groove.”

  GILES: It was the early seventies and you should know better.

  Fortunately, the ONDCP’s “Prime-time Propaganda” program has ended (for the moment) and they’ve gone back to the more traditional anti-drug messages in regular advertising slots. Then again, the dot.com boom is over, so there isn’t as much incentive to free up advertising space either.

  Of course, agencies of the United States government, real or fictitious, aren’t the only groups who believe in social engineering through the manipulation of television. There are many others, most of them formed by well-meaning private citizens with an axe to grind.

  In “Gingerbread” (3-11), Joyce forms MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult) in order to protect the children of Sunnydale from the dangers posed by witches and witchcraft (even if she has to burn Buffy and Willow at the stake to do it). In reality, the Parents Television Council (parentstv.org) lists Buffy at #1 on its “Worst” list of programs unacceptable for children and family viewing, mostly because of sex and violence, but also citing concerns about the occult. Their specific criticisms:

  Offensive language has included uses of ‘bitch,’ ‘bastard,’ ‘hell,’ ‘damn,’ ‘ass,’ and ‘piss.’ Violence on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not only frequent, but also very graphic. In past seasons, episodes included vampires being aroused by biting their victims, Buffy being stabbed, and Dawn’s wrists being slit. In the 2001 season finale, Buffy committed suicide, jumping to her death to save the world. The 2001–2002 season premiere showed her decayed corpse regenerated and resurrected through witchcraft.

  Strangely, the sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was listed as #3 on their “Best” list, despite the occult theme and Salem occasionally trying to take over the world. However, unlike MOO, the PTC goes about burning the shows it doesn’t like in a more figurative sense, organizing letter-writing campaigns and petition drives to bombard the networks, producers, and advertisers, as well as the FCC. This sort of pressure from the PTC—and earlier groups in the same mold, such as the Moral Majority—has resulted in the death of a number of television shows, including the occult-themed Friday the 13th: The Series and the landmark comedy Soap, which not only made occasional forays into the occult, but was among the first shows to deal with gay issues.

  Critics and self-proclaimed morality police wield much power, but sometimes the most vehement would-be censors are the fans themselves. Like Cordelia’s cruel clique, the Cordettes, as quick to turn on Cordy as praise her, the fans of Buffy and Angel praise things one day and decry them the next. As reported on E! Online’s “Watch with Wanda” grill, gossip and gripe, May 3, 2002, at the end of the article “Buffy Creator Joss Whedon Talks Climaxes, Criticism and Angel’s Fate:”

  Q.Buffy and Angel fans seem to be more critical than ever this season. Does that affect you?

  A.It always affects me. At the same time, I need to give them what they need, not what they want. They need to have their hearts broken. They need to see change. They hated Oz, and then they hated that he left. These things are inevitable. If people are freaking out, I’m good. If people are going, “Hmmm . . . well, that was fine,” I’m fucked.

  Fan response to Oz was at first negative, th
en positive as Joss wrote an episode to endear him to the viewers. A similar situation occurred with Tara, the episode “Family” (5-6) exploring her character (and increasing her likeability), but the most freaking out by the fans has been over the issue of Willow’s sexuality, which, after protests from fans who did not wish Willow to be gay, elicited this response from Joss on the bronze posting board:

  I realize that this has shocked a lot of people, and I’ve made a mistake by trying to shove this lifestyle—which is embraced by, maybe, at most, 10 percent of Americans—down people’s throats. So I’m going to take it back, and from now on, Willow will no longer be a Jew.

  This response drew high marks from gay fans (and others enjoying good sarcasm), but not forever. Gay issues continue to be a concern on Buffy, and not just with MOO and the PTC. For example, in a strange parallel to the scene in “Hush” (4-10) where we first meet Tara, and Willow must contend with the politics of the campus Wiccan group—which preaches blessing and empowerment while at the same time using ridicule and scorn to silence criticism and divergent views—in reality, similar tactics are used by the Kittenboard (kittenboard.com), a Willow/Tara lesbian-relationship-focused fan and activism board.

  To be allowed to enter the Kittenboard inner forum, “The Kitty and Buffy Season 7,” one must fit the following criteria:

  2. They must have never have said a bad word about the kittenboard or kittens in general anywhere.

  To join in the regular discussions on the Kittenboard, one simply has to subscribe to the following doctrine (from the Kittenboard FAQ):

  19. Is Willow gay or bi? or Will Willow date boys again?

  She’s gay. Everyone, writers, actors and the show has said she is gay. Don’t ask the question or post a thread about it. The answer to the second question? She’s gay, no boys in the future for her, that would mean Oz as well.

  Mention of anything outside this accepted doctrine results in the deletion of one’s post. The discussion and thoughts of the group are strictly controlled by the moderator, which has resulted in members defecting, rather like Willow and Tara did from the campus Wiccans, to create the more moderate “Plan C” (pub78.ezboard.com/bplanckittiens) and “Blood of the Banned” (pub78.ezboard.com/bwillowandtarastuff) boards.

  As explained in the “Blood of the Banned” FAQ:

  Why the “Blood of the Banned”???

  It all became with a joke made at the Plan C. And it has nothing to do with Willow and Tara.

  Mods of the Plan C and I have been banned from a third board, who call themselves the “only W/T board.”

  We’ve made some jokes about it and I decided to rename the board “Blood of the Banned.” Then Paul and I decided that Plan C and our board will be sister sites. So here we are.

  No people, you’re not the only Willow and Tara board. We’re here too.

  Ange.

  Contrast these tactics with the following exchange by the Wiccan group in “Hush” (4-10):

  WICCA 1: We come together, daughters of Gaia, sisters to the moon. We walk with the darkness, the wolf at our side, through the waterfall of power to the blackest heart of eternity. I think we should have a bake sale.

  WICCA 2: I don’t know

  WICCA 1: You guys like a bake sale right? I mean we need money for the dance recital and you know I do an empowering lemon bundt.

  WICCA 2: The most important thing is the Gaian newsletter. We need to get the message of blessing out to the sisters. Also who left their scented candles dripping all over my women-power shrine?

  WILLOW: Well, this is good. I mean, this is all fun ya know, but there’s also other stuff that we might show an interest in, as a Wicca group.

  WICCA 1 (hesitantly): Like what?

  WILLOW: Well, there’s the wacky notion of spells. You know, conjuring, transmutation . . .

  WICCA 2 (giggling): Oh yeah, then we could all get on our broomsticks and fly around on our broomsticks.

  WICCA 1: You know, certain stereotypes are not very empowering.

  TARA: I think that . . .

  WICCA 2: One person’s energy can suck the power from an entire circle. No offense.

  TARA: Well, maybe we could, uh . . .

  WICCA 2: Yeah, Tara. Guys . . . quiet. Do you have a suggestion?

  Tara just shakes her head and looks down, but then she looks at Willow.

  WICCA 2: Okay, let’s talk about the theme for the bacchanal.

  The certain stereotype that the Kittenboard feels is not very empowering is generally referred to as “The Myth of the Dead Lesbian,” or “The Lesbian Cliché” for short, which basically boils down to the following motif: One lesbian dies; the other becomes evil. Or, as explained in the Kittenboard’s Lesbian Cliché FAQ:

  2) What specifically is the “Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliché”?

  That all lesbians and, specifically lesbian couples, can never find happiness and always meet tragic ends. One of the most repeated scenarios is that one lesbian dies horribly and her lover goes crazy, killing others or herself. (Sound familiar?)

  The parallels to Tara’s death and Willow’s subsequent murderous rampage at the end of season six are obvious, and more elaborate descriptions of this motif and essays examining it can be found at the Kittenboard, along with listings of prior instances in literature and film. Discussions can also be found, though, of course, overly divergent opinions will be deleted by the moderator.

  For a private group, this is standard, and, to a certain degree, expected. Those who do not agree with a group’s policies are free to go off and form their own groups, as with Willow and Tara leaving the campus Wicca group, and Plan C and Blood of the Banned splintering off from the Kittenboard.

  However, just as the campus Wiccans wished to publish the “Gaian Newsletter” to get out the “message of blessing” to their sisters, the Kittenboard is also into advocacy. And one of the things they advocate, in a strange parallel to the conservative Christian Parents Television Council, is censorship.

  At the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention, a track of Buffy panels were created by author Seanan McGuire, who was also moderator for the panel The Dead Lesbian Myth—Buffy and the Death of Tara. During the course of the discussion, Seanan made the following statement:

  I ended up really liking Tara, to the point where I went over the course of a season, from . . . A magazine I write for I started an article with, “I think I should tell you right up front that I would like to see Tara boiled in applesauce and fed to hogs.” I went over the course of less than half a season from that viewpoint to sobbing hysterically on the couch, going, “Those bastards, those bastards, how dare they make me care . . .”

  This statement was then buzz-clipped in a panel report by Rally, the main Kittenboard member covering the convention, as:

  “Tara should be boiled in applesauce and fed to wild pigs.”— Seanan McGuire—Moderator of the Buffy and The Death of Tara Panel

  Though a lesbian herself, Seanan was also reported as a homophobe. This report elicited much shock and outrage from the membership of the Kittenboard, followed almost immediately by cries for PTC-style letter-writing campaigns and pressure on convention organizers to no longer invite any of the panelists to future conventions. For example, from the Kittenboard thread, World Science Fiction Convention W/T the cliché & the lie:

  Bob said, “I think copies need to be made and sent to a great many people . . .” Starting with EVERY SAN FRANCISCO and SAN JOSE PAPER AND TV STATION. Let the convention organizers hear from these towns and that homophobic conventions are not welcome. I want a retraction for the convention and an apology. Members of this board offered to be on this sham of a panel and were refused. Instead, they put little miss Anita Bryant jr. up there . . . as the MODERATOR!

  Thankfully, after a number of days, Rally transcribed her tapes of the panel discussion so that Seanan’s remarks could be read in context, though likely not before a number of letters had gone out.

  Of course, Seanan McGuire was in many ways t
aking the heat for the true focus of the Kittenboard’s ire, Joss Whedon, who has been receiving a huge amount of pressure for his decision to kill Tara. As he responded on the Bronze board:

  over the gay thing, revisited

  Posted by: Joss—May 22, 2002, 2:27 A.M.

  Thought I was out, but . . . had one more thing to add. I killed Tara. Some of you may have been hurt by that. It is very unlikely it was more painful to you than it was to me. I couldn’t even discuss it in story meetings without getting upset, physically. Which is why I knew it was the right thing to do. Because stories, as I have so often said, are not about what we WANT. And I knew some people would be angry with me for destroying the only gay couple on the show, but the idea that I COULDN’T kill Tara because she was gay is as offensive to me as the idea that I DID kill her because she was gay. Willow’s story was not about being gay. It was about weakness, addiction, loss . . .the way life hits you in the gut right when you think you’re back on your feet. The course of true love never did run smooth, not on my show. (only Dennis Franz has suffered more than my characters.) I love Amber and she knows it. Eventually, this story will end for all of them. Hers ended sooner.

  Or did it . . .?

  Yeah, it did.

  This was not accepted by the Kittens and has led to the writing of letters to writers and producers, a call for a boycott of episodes taking place after the death of Tara, and calls to not buy Buffy video tapes or DVDs. There’s even an interesting web site that takes this as a title, Sex, Lies & btw.: Don’t Buy Their Video Tapes! (www.puk.de/ivanova/toaster_neub.html) with links to the Kittenboard’s Lesbian Cliché FAQ and an interesting comparison of quotes from Joss and the other shows writers, many of them in response to the pressure they have been receiving, ranging from the sad—

  It’s the first time that we’ve gotten public outcry where I really can’t even read some of the letters, they hurt so much. It’s very indicative of how underrepresented gay people feel in the culture. Because the kinds of letters we’ve gotten have been so emotional and so personal and so deeply felt, you realize that every single instance of a positive portrayal of gay love on television means so much to people. (Marti Noxon, Advocate, July 2002)