Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Without question, the answer is Buffy the Vampire Slayer!! Forever and always my favourite show.
I think what best describes why I love Buffy is the love letter I wrote to the show over 4 years ago:
Dear Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
I didn’t fall in love with you immediately. Sure, I’d seen you around, and adored your cuteness (especially Willow & Oz). My friends had told me that you’re cool, with a kick ass heroine and queer-positive. I’d seen your sensitive side when you made me cry in the season 5 finale and season 6 premiere. But it wasn’t love ... yet.
I remember exactly when I fell in love, and the circumstances surrounding it. My family had been dealing with my beloved grandma’s rapidly deteriorating Alzheimer's. My mother and I had just done the heart-breaking task of admitting my grandma into a long-term care facility. I was on the train returning to Toronto after visiting my grandma, reading an Entertainment Weekly when I first really noticed you.
Entertainment Weekly raved about this musical episode you were doing. I was intrigued and eager for distraction. So that Tuesday at 8pm, I settled in front of the television. Mid-way through the first song, I realized this could be more than a fun distracting one-night stand. This is brilliant!! I thought. During the next song I debated finding a tape to record the episode, but didn’t. I wasn’t missing a second of the episode!
At the next commercial break, the phone rang. Dare I risk interruption? I wondered. My curiosity got the better of me, so I answered. ARE YOU WATCHING THIS? My friend Miguel - who’d been trying to hook us up for years - excitedly asked me. OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!! I replied. (Trust me: we really were speaking in caps.) We then quickly hung up to watch the rest of one of the best BtVS episodes ever.
The next episode of yours that I watched was “Smashed” (6:9) and that confirmed for me you were the one for me. I’ve later discovered that this was a divisive time for your fans, but I was impressed by your daring, especially your provocative sexuality. As with any new love, I only saw your good side. I started taping whatever episodes that aired and ended up seeing “The Body” (5:16), “Hush” (4:10), “Surprise” (2:13), “Innocence” (2:14), and “Fool for Love” (5:7) – I definitely tasted the best of you first!!
The next couple of months were our honeymoon period. We spent all our time together. I recall devouring every one of your episodes in about a month’s time thanks to tapes from Space (Canada’s SciFi channel) supplied by a friend. Ah, the nostalgia of a time before tv on dvd!! Sure watching you was a distraction from my grandma, and from my grandpa’s sudden illness, but you were more than that. I was drawn into this complexly drawn world with characters that I genuinely cared about. You aren’t just a television show; you are storytelling at its finest!
I sobbed along with Buffy when Angel lost his soul, and again when she had to kill the re-souled Angel. I was impressed by Willow’s growing strength and Xander’s gradual maturity. I loved evil Spike, drunken heart-broken Spike, chipped Spike and in-love-with-Buffy Spike. Cordelia and Anya’s very different frankness entertained me. Giles’ fatherly affection for Buffy made my heart melt. … I was hooked.
After my discovery of you, I found out that most of my friends were also admirers. In fact, two others were won over by you at the same time as me. Since they approved of our relationship, we’d all watch you together. One of my favourite memories is my living room erupting in applause and cheers at Giles’ return at the end of “Two to Go” (6:21).
That was the neatest thing about watching you when the episodes were new, the Buffy parties. After new episodes we’d dissect, debate, swoon, cry (okay, that would mostly be me) and/or just bask in the fabulousness of the show. A few of us would also watch Angel together, which we were converted to when Wes talked to a giant hamburger (“Loyalty” 3:15), but that’s another love letter!!
Watching you has always been about more than just the show, there’s always been that community of fans who love you too. My friends and I still get together for parties to watch our favourite episodes. Even now, we can dissect and debate about episodes or points of canon. Just the other day, I came across a Buffy/Angel vs Buffy/Spike debate on livejournal, almost three years after you ended, that’s awesome!
Just today, I awoke to a message from my friend Amy, who's a professional singer, who told me that she’d just listened to this beautiful recording which had made her burst into tears. She said “It’s like how I feel after a really good Buffy episode. You know what I mean.” Oh yes, I think every fan of you knows exactly how she feels!
I think the reason I love you the most, is that you’ll never really be over or finished. I can watch any of your episodes (yes, even the worst ones) and be captivated by how awesome you are. And I’m not the only one, there’s so many other fans who are also still in love with you!! I know that I’ll never get bored of you, or look at my BtVS dvd collection with embarrassment years from now.
You see, you may have started off as a distraction and something to help me through a really rough year, but you’ve stayed with me. To paraphrase Xander, you’re not the rebound guy, you’re the one that comes along once in a lifetime. (5:11)
Since this is a love letter, I must quote Spike to conclude my emotional ramblings: “You’re the one, Buffy.” (7:20)
Love always,
Rebecca
Tomorrow I will talk about: A show I hate
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