Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Horror Genre

Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Horror Genre The horror genre has very set conventions and rules and horror films

have stuck to these but in Buffy the vampire slayer a new set of rules

are written. Joss Whedon has given the audience another dimension to

horror by subverting the genre, in doing this the effectiveness of the

program is increased.

In the first episode Buffy arrives in Sunnydale, straight away she is

under the male gaze but unconventionally the boy gets hurt looking at

Buffy. This continues through out the program with the roles reversed;

now the heroine is the hero. This is the bases that Buffy as a

character works and the fact that she is female complicates the genre.

Unlike most kids starting a new school, Buffy ignores the popular girl

who offers friendship but instead goes to the social outcast showing

that she can be independent. The popular girl Cordelia is shocked as

she is rejected and at Buffy's intellect to outsmart her in what

develops into a comic foil between the two.

At the school Buffy meets her watcher Giles, at first she doesn't know

that this is the case, but it soon becomes clear that she can't get

away from the responsibility that being a slayer requires. This is

significant as Buffy thought for a while that vampires had gone out of

her life, as this is not true the vampires are the return of the

repressed. Instead of moaning Buffy excepts that she is to carry on

slaying, this is her super ego telling her that it's the right thing

to do.

In the rest of season 1 Buffy makes new friends like Will...

... middle of paper ...

...to combine everyone's powers is made possible with

Willows witchcraft skills.

As Buffy fights Adam the others perform witchcraft to send her powers,

the plan works as once again the group succeeds against evil.

Throughout Buffy the vampire slayer Buffy and her mum have a very

strong relationship and whenever they are together, Buffy is safe. The

home is also used as a place that is safe, which complicates the

genre, because the home is usually a vulnerable place.

In Buffy the vampire slayer the genre is subverted by Buffy in many

ways through the use of the group dynamic, dreams, gender identity

being blurred and the physical appearance of the hero and heroine.

Joss Whedon has re-written his own genre, which is the reason for the

programs success, it gives a new dimension to the horror genre by

subverting it.