4. Gender Roles
Much like movies such as
Alien that came before it, simply by having a female protagonist in a lead action role,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was challenging the supposed ideals of gender roles. When
Alien was released, Ripleys inclusion was heralded for challenging gender roles, particularly in the science fiction, action and horror genres, and gave worldwide recognition to Weaver. It remains her most famous role to date - much like that of Sarah Michelle Gellar's role as Buffy. Buffy was the major physical threat in a team of good guys that, at different points in the show, had included the likes of Rupert Giles, Xander Harris, Spike, Angel, Riley Finn, Oz, Andrew Wells and Principal Robin Wood - which completely flipped the notion of men being physically superior on its head. Characters like Glory, Darla and Drusilla echoed this reverse notion, while guys like Xander, Andrew Wells and numerous guys who Buffy was briefly romantically linked with often found themselves as the male alternate of the typical 'damsel in distress', being saved by Buffy when the bad guys attacked. However, at the same time, it also played
into the stereotypical gender roles. Buffy, whilst being a bad-ass vampire slayer with powers beyond human comprehension, is the blonde, popular high-school cheerleader who faces all of the bog-standard challenges associated with a girl of her age and social standing - love, friendship, morality, loss and the academic issues associated with a normal school, college and working life. In that sense, I guess the entire point was that we shouldn't take people of either gender at face value. There's no reason why a girl, for example, can't be both effeminate and 'normal' but also be able to kick some serious ass. Okay, that's undoubtedly simplifying the point in a major way, but you still get it.