BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
[Written for Facing the Challenge at twice the length the required. The edited version they published can be found here]
Vampires: the early years
The legend of the vampire goes much further back than Dracula, but it was Bram Stoker's novel of that name (1897) that set the vampire formula we know and love today. Vampires are undead; intolerant of daylight; susceptible to garlic, crucifixes and holy water; able to shift shape, usually to a bat or a wolf; cast no reflection (raising the interesting question — who brushes their hair? And how are female vampires always so immaculately made up?); unable to enter a private home without an invitation; and of course the key feature — sharp canine teeth and a taste for human blood.
Vampires in films, books and on TV have played with the formula ever since, occasionally adding to or tinkering with it. Anne Rice's series of novels, starting with Interview with the Vampire, took vampires out of their Transylvanian castles and made them apparently ordinary men and women, but immortal and with a taste for blood. The TV series Ultraviolet (1998) took a strictly scientific approach to vampires, offering scientific reasons for their garlic intolerance, blood fetish, invisibility to mirrors (or indeed any kind of recording device; vampires could not use telephones, for example) and so on. Terry Pratchett's novel Carpe Jugulum (1998) delightfully spoofs the entire genre, featuring a vampire Count who is convinced that the traditional vampire wards are just primitive superstition, and who loves to flash religious symbols at his children or sprinkle them with garlic just to build up immunity. Garlic, he points out, is just a member of the onion family. 'Are we allergic to shallots?'
And in 1992, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) was born. It was a not very successful film before becoming a highly successful TV show that has now run to six seasons, with a seventh in production. But before discussing this particular topic, it would be helpful to look back at the basic vampire legend from a Christian perspective.
Vampires: the Christian perspective
Dracula, and many vampires since, have been averse to the crucifix, holy water, communion wafers and anything else consecrated. Already this will raise the hackles of some Christians who would point out that there is nothing inherently sacred in any of these — they are just symbols of a living faith. The film Fright Night (1985) actually had a vampire played by Chris Sarandon that could just laugh at a crucifix waved in its face, but who cringed back at a crucifix wielded by someone with faith —a rare example of a vampire film showing that kind of awareness. With this exception, the vampire aversion to religious items is generally a purely mechanical process and God does not necessarily apply. Besides, waving a cross at a vampire is often the only identifiable Christian trait in the lives of the human characters in these stories.
Thus, Christianity does traditionally have a key role in the vampire legend, even if it is in a form that your local church might not recognise.
The whole notion of vampirism, however, is unchristian in that it deals with damnation. If a vampire bites you, and converts you, then you are a vampire and you are damned, with or without your cooperation in the process. Lucy Westenra, an innocent victim of Bram Stoker's Dracula, is an ideal young Victorian lady — virginal, devout and upright. Yet Dracula converts her and, as vampire-hunter Van Helsing stresses on several occasions, she must be destroyed as a vampire because otherwise Heaven will be forever denied to her — she will tread the paths of Hell for all eternity. THe Christian position is that the Devil has no hold on anyone who has turned to Christ: it must follow that even if vampires existed, a Christian could not be made into one.
There are two responses to this. Firstly, several vampire stories (including BtVS) hold that a vampire is no longer the original human. The soul leaves the body at the moment of death, to whatever destination, and a demon moves in. The original victim is dead but not necessarily damned. All that is left in our world is a reanimated corpse possessed by a demon — evil by anyone's standards.
Secondly, Dracula is only overtly a tale of supernatural adventure — it is also a somewhat po-faced Victorian morality tale on the subject of venereal disease. The scenes in which Dracula feasts on his victims, are quite erotic even by today's standards; they were very heavy stuff when first written. The spread of vampirism in the novel exactly matches the spread of gonorrhoea or syphilis, and unlike the fictitious vampirism this is a topic that can strike innocents who don't know what they are doing. Stoker can't be blamed for what happened to the vampire myth after he wrote his morality tale, but by treating Dracula as analogy there is a clear Christian message in it.
So, should Christians enjoy vampire stories? There are some who regard anything supernatural outside the Bible as occult tampering, and to be avoided. Others would say that everyone knows vampires simply do not exist; is it a sin to imagine that they do, and can be beaten by approximately Christian methods? As has already been mentioned, Christianity does have power in the vampire worldview — it might not be the Christianity you get in your church on Sundays, but if vampires are dispatched it is by recognisably Christian-derived means. There is no necessary link between vampires and more real-world occult practices — witchcraft, ouija boards etc. — hence there is no reason to suppose that the one will lead to the latter. Individual vampire stories might feature such items and should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, but they are not a strong enough reason to condemn the genre out of hand.
The best advice to take on the subject is Paul's exhortation (1 Corinthians 8:1-13; see also Romans 14:20-23) about eating meat sacrificed to idols — which, in Paul's day, was most meat in the market. There is nothing necessarily wrong with it, idols have no power in themselves, but if the practice damages the faith of other Christians, give it up. In other words, use your best judgement and think of others' needs before your own wants.
Enter the Slayer
And so to Buffy ...
Producer Joss Whedon's idea was simple. In clichéd vampire films, the undead traditionally prey on young, blonde women. Why not have a young, blonde woman who is able to fight back? The very title, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is meant to raise a smile. In every generation, the Buffy legend has it, one young woman is born who is gifted with unusual strength and reflexes, and an especial ability to stake vampires. In this generation, that young woman is a bubble-headed Californian High School cheerleader.
The original film of BtVS, starring Kristy Swanson, was not a success, but it did well enough to get Whedon recognised in Hollywood and to let him float the idea for a TV series. The first season of BtVS followed directly on from the film: our heroine, now played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, is forced to leave her old school after burning part of it down (the fact that it was full of vampires at the time cut little ice with the authorities) and moves to a new town. Despite her initial determination to steer clear of anything sensitive to ultraviolet, she soon finds that trouble comes to her. Aided by a group of friends and her Watcher, the paternal Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head, the Gold Blend man), Buffy fights evil every week.
Up to this point, BtVS followed more or less the traditional vampire story. The problem is, a weekly TV series in which the heroine fights and slays vampires would soon become rather dull. And so, other elements were added. Every season has seen Buffy fighting a variety of supernatural evils, with in particular a series of skirmishes that culminate in a big show down with that season's particular enemy, or 'Big Bad'.
Hellmouths and demons
Buffy's new home town of Sunnydale, we learnt early in episode 1, is situated right on top of a Hellmouth, an opening straight into Hell. This acts as a magnet for all manner of evil supernatural creatures — vampires, werewolves, demons, warlocks, witches, the lot. Sufficient variety to keep Buffy challenged each week, and sufficient to make Christians very uneasy.
First, the Hellmouth itself. 'Hell' in BtVS is a very nebulous concept. It is clearly somewhere where 'bad' people go and 'bad' things happen to them, but Buffy, equally clearly, has no especial fear of ending up there herself, despite having slept with every boyfriend she has had. (She is not alone in this — as of the end of the season 3 there wasn't a single virgin left among the lead characters.) There is apparently a Hell, but certainly no Heaven, and exactly what constitutes 'bad' is really a matter of consensus among the characters (n.b. this was written before cetain revelations in Season 6). There is no notion of original sin.
Crucifixes have power against vampires in the BtVS universe, but this is never explained, since God himself doesn't get a look in. (The Big Bad of season 5, Glory, was a goddess so we can assume a plurality of deities ... whose godlike attributes really must be questioned, as they can be beaten up by a teenage girl.) Buffy's best friend Willow is the daughter of a fairly strict Jew, though we have never seen him on screen — but by and large there is no active, organised religion of any kind. Buffy's season 4 boyfriend, Riley, was a regular church goer as well as Buffy's regular bedtime partner, so his depth of commitment might not be as deep as it could be.
Sunnydale is crawling with demons — indeed, as we learn in season 3, it was founded 100 years ago by its demonic Mayor as a place where demons could feast on humans.
And witchcraft. BtVS does all it can to present Wicca as a positive, harmless, empowering force (n.b. again, written before season 6). Willow began experimenting with simple spells as far back as season 2; by season 4 she was a full-blown witch in a lesbian relationship with fellow teen witch Tara. There is a strong occult presence in BtVS: whether or not it is technically witchcraft it is distinctly ritualistic, involving incantations, arcane symbols drawn on the floor, spell books etc.
So, why is BtVS so popular — among Christians as much as anywhere else?
Buffy: the pro's
As a TV programme, BtVS is very well made and well acted, with high production values and a consistently witty script. ('There are things I can just smell,' declares Buffy's unloveable Principal Snyder. 'It's like a sixth sense.' 'No, that's one of the normal five,' responds a puzzled Giles.) But that is not a good enough reason to enjoy a show that presents the occult in such favourable terms.
So try these.
In BtVS, there is never any doubt that evil is the fault of the evil doer. People are presented with choices, and they have to face the consequences of those actions. No one makes you do evil — you are held accountable for your actions. Buffy's lover Angel and her best friend Willow, at different times, have both been taken over by dark forces and have done terrible things. They have been redeemed, but have still had to atone for their sins.
Buffy has several times tried to give up being the Slayer, but has had to accept that if you are given especial abilities then it is your duty to use them to help others. There is no room for self-delusion in BtVS; anyone who tries is brought back to earth with a bang. In a season 5 episode one of the minor characters, Jonathan, a perpetual victim, made a pact with a demon in which reality changed and he became a superstar superhero in everyone's eyes — but it wasn't real (as Buffy realised when she began to wonder how he had starred in The Matrix without ever leaving town). The illusion was punctured and Jonathan had to face up to his real world — and, as a result, grow and mature. See Romans 5:3-4.
The most powerful episode of BtVS yet made was in season 5, when Buffy's mother Joyce dropped dead, the victim of a brain tumour. Apart from a brief tussle with a vampire in the closing minutes, the entire episode concerned Buffy, her sister Dawn (to whom Buffy is fiercely, protectively attached) and their friends coming to terms with the loss. There was no magical solution, no sudden cure, no easy way out of the pain. Joyce was dead, gone, and Buffy simply had to live with it. She faced her pain and she grew. In a later episode she almost called her mother back from the dead — before finally accepting that she had to let Joyce go.
This could still be seen as faint praise for a show that so prominently features demons and witches ...
Demons from outer space
The demons of BtVS are entirely physical and could as well be Star Trek aliens — human actors in latex masks. About the only demonic thing about them is their name. They walk, they eat, they wear clothes and they are generally susceptible to physical injuries. The Big Bad of season 4 was Adam, a composite 'demon' put together Frankenstein-like from a variety of body parts and powered by a nuclear motor. Something less demonic would be hard to imagine; in everything apart from the name, Adam was a science fictional cyborg with nothing remotely supernatural about him at all.
In short, let's face it, the demons of BtVS aren't demons at all — they are something else, existing only in the imagination of the scriptwriters, that happens to be called demons. If the scriptwriters had given them a different name then there would be very little occult about them at all, and without the d-word there would be nothing to raise the suspicions of Christians at all. These 'demons' are as fictitious as its vampires, and once again, Paul's argument can apply.
It has to be said that one of the most engaging characters in recent seasons has been Anya, a former vengeance demon now made into a mortal young woman (by the not especially occult method of having the amulet that was the source of her powers smashed). Having never lived as a human being, yet suddenly finding herself a human girl in her late teens, Anya is an innocent abroad. She understands nothing of the conventions of the society she lives in, and hence provides a viewpoint that can challenge all the little absurdities and logical errors that we can take for granted,
Which witch?
The witchcraft and spellcasting of BtVS are another matter. These are distinctly supernatural. Spirits are invoked, powers are called upon. ('I licence thee, Hecate ...' says Willow at one point, making you wonder what kind of deity needs licensing to do anything.) If you believe in real demons — not actors in masks but spiritual powers in a state of self declared war against God and his people — then it follows that such words are playing with fire. Contrary to much popular belief among evangelicals, witchcraft is not Devil-worship as witches don't even believe in the Devil, thus making it hard to worship him; but this is not to say that he couldn't have a hand in it and wouldn't hesitate to use the supernatural openings that it creates.
Willow began to dabble with witchcraft out of curiosity, and though she generally uses her powers in the service of others, she is quite capable of indulging in it for purely selfish reasons, for because it's fun. A major story arc recently has been Willow's fall into darkness, driven by her own selfish desires and passions.
And yet, the magic of BtVS is a very mechanical form of magic. In the real world, when you turn on a light, you close a circuit that enables electrons to flow along a piece of metal and ultimately across a high resistance filament, thus making it glow. There is no especial skill involved; anyone can do it with a bit of practice. It is simply how the world is.
The same principal applies in a fictitious 'magical' system. Wave this wand, light that candle, say these words and you get the effect you desire. Anyone can do it. BtVS does not see witchcraft as necessarily evil — it is the wrong sort of witchcraft, or witchcraft done for the wrong reasons, that leads to trouble. In the fictitious BtVS, this too is simply how the world is.
This is not true in the real world, any more than the existence of vampires. Again, however, is it a sin to be perfectly aware of this but to imagine a world in which it is true? In the real world it is impossible to surpass the speed of light; is it a sin to imagine a world in which this is possible, otherwise known as science fiction? And is it a sin to set exciting and enjoyable adventures in such a world?
The big view
I have said that BtVS is a show with consequences. People make mistakes, and learn from them. People play with dark powers, and are burnt, and have to make amends. People have to take responsibility for their actions.
The problem is, very little of this happens all in one episode. For example, the story of Willow's journey to the dark side — to borrow a phrase from another popular cultural icon — took a couple of seasons to be told. Thus you might turn on any one episode of BtVS and see occult activity, or characters having sex, or general blood and violence. It is only by watching several episodes that the broad themes emerge, and these themes (as previously stated) are positive.
Joss Whedon flatters the intelligence of his viewers — he assumes that people will keep watching the show and will pick up on these themes. This view might be at odds with the reality of the attention span of the television-watching public, but he is not to blame for that, and neither is the show that he directs. If he wrote a novel, he would not be expected to tell the entire story in one chapter for the benefit of the short of attention. Why should each episode of BtVS neatly wrap everything up?
It has been claimed that pagan organisations can tell when a good episode of BtVS has been on — enquiries double or treble overnight. I have no way of verifying that. I can say that for every person whose interest in the occult is tweaked by BtVS, there are many more people whose interest is not. A 'con' argument would be that even one is too many; Christians should not watch BtVS at all, ever. A 'pro' argument would be that you can't cripple yourself by trying to second-guess what might happen — Whedon can reasonably assume that most people won't be led to the dark side by his show. Furthermore, Christians of all people should be most able to detect the fallacies in BtVS's fictitious version of the supernatural, and put up their feet and enjoy the show for its strengths.
Once again, consider the implications of Paul's argument. Christian freedom is tied to Christian responsibility. Sometimes Scripture is silent and we can only follow our consciences, guided by those subjects on which Scripture has something to say. It is not the case, as the world would have it, that 'my truth may be different from your truth'. It is the case that some are strong in their faith, some are weak; some can face certain situations without being led into sin, others cannot.
Be a Buffy fan, but be one with a clear conscience. Any nagging feeling at the back of the mind, any uneasy conscience, should not be fought against: if God is showing you that something is wrong for you, you should avoid it. Even if you feel you can handle something, but God is telling you not to, then pay attention: it is not given to us to question the choices he makes for us. You might simply be told to give something up as an exercise in faith and obedience. But at the same time, we should not look down on Christians who are able to exercise their freedom in areas where we cannot go.
