Fandom Snowflake: Day Six

[brigdh]

Fandom Snowflake! Other people are doing it too! So could you!

Day Six: In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.

I have to go with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. BtVS and I go way back- I actually saw the original (not great) movie in theaters– and I started watching the show with the very first episode that aired. Looking back, it's not a perfect series by any means (the racial representation, the seventh season; a lot of people have problems with the final episode, though I personally don't), but it's still very important to me, and I'm so glad that I watched it when I did. BtVS was also my first internet fandom; I remember searching for Buffy shortly after we got internet in my house (not googling- this was back in the days before google was everyone's default search engine) and being very intrigued by the message boards that I found, and this fanfiction thing that people wrote.

It's endlessly navel-gazing-y to wonder about these sorts of things– would I be who I am if I wasn't who I am? Who can even answer that?– but I do wonder sometimes about how much watching Buffy when I did influenced who I grew up to be. I'm just about three years younger than the character of Buffy, so she was older enough that she was someone to look up to, but not so old that her life was utterly different from mine (other than the vampires). When I was in college, I never was afraid to walk by myself after dark, and in fact often walked other people (including guys) home from parties. Would I have done that without a show with a tiny girl as the monster hunter? I have never felt particularly restricted or defined by being a woman, and though I'm sure most of the credit for that goes to where and when I happened to be born and raised and my family, having Buffy as my favorite show as a teenage girl didn't hurt. I've never been particularly afraid to go where I want or do what I want, alone or with others. Maybe I would have been like this regardless of what I happened to watch on TV. But this was a show about facing horror and not backing down, about the strength in everyone, particularly the least likely, about self-confidence, about finding and making families, about the core of strength that's left even when everything exterior is taken away. And even though I don't much participate in the BtVS fandom these days, I will love it forever for that.

Comments

[shifty-gardener.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of this! Except I watched Buffy all in one go in middle school, so it's possible it had less of an impact on me (although I did love it). My family started watching The X-Files when I was in the second grade, so sometimes I wonder if I'd be the same person if I hadn't watched Scully being deeply unimpressed with anyone who underestimated her for being female.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I've never got as much into X Files as most people I know; I saw a few episodes here and there, but have never watched it systematically. I really should go back and do that!

[shifty-gardener.livejournal.com]

If you're someone that likes cohesive plot and emotional arcs, I, uh, really wouldn't recommend it. It's kind of all over the place and takes itself VERY seriously, probably to balance out how ridiculous Mulder is (except for Bad Blood and Jose Chung's from Outer Space, which you should watch even if you don't get around to the rest of the show). If you're fine with all of that, though, then yes! It's amazing! And all on Netflix!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ha, I actually remember liking the Monster of the Week episodes more than the ones with the overarching government conspiracy plot, so that might work out to my benefit. And I will keep your warning about which seasons not to watch in mind!

[cloudsinvenice]

You know, I think Buffy's one of my fannish regrets, by which I mean "fandoms I woulda/coulda/shoulda been into at the time". That said, it did help to get me into vampire fandom more generally - I was on Xanga in 2002, and there was a lot of discussion by friends of the show at the time, so I fell into it then. Likewise, I was seeing stuff about the Vampire Chronicles, which became the home fandom that I always go back to. My friend and I (she did do the BtvS fandom thing back in the day) still mean to marathon the entire thing someday - at this point I've seen seasons 1, 6 and 7, and know the broad strokes in between, but it seems like the middle season are the best, from what people say...

I love the idea of the show having emboldened you to move through the world fearlessly, no matter how much that was on its own or as part of the tapestry of life in general.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

It's funny- I'm not actually that into vampires as a concept. I mean, I don't dislike them, but something just having vampires in it isn't enough for me to care. But because I was SO into BtVS, and for such a long time, a lot of people assume I'll watch anything with vampires. Which... there are people like that! And there's nothing with that. I just don't happen to be one of them. :D

(Yes, the middle seasons are great! 2 and 5 are my personal favorites, though I know a lot of people argue for 3 having been the best.)

[hamsterwoman]

This is such a lovely post!

I actually just finally watched most of Buffy in 2012-13, after hearing all the love for it in fannish circles but putting it off due to being indifferent/averse to vampires. And I still find the vampires boring! But the cast dynamics are so great, I inhaled the first 5 seasons and only stopped where I did in season 6 because the next episode is "Seeing Red" and I think I might want to live in a world where that didn't happen, at least for a while longer (plus I hear s7 is not as good? or at least not as well liked?).

I remember searching for Buffy shortly after we got internet in my house (not googling- this was back in the days before google was everyone's default search engine)

Heh, I was totally looking up my fandoms-of-the-type (LotR, Xena, Babylon 5) on Alta Vista as soon as I learned what a search engine was :P

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm not actually that into vampires myself- I don't mind them, but they don't make me seek something out- but I really do love BtVS. (Though Seeing Red might be a good place to stop. I do love the very last episode of the series, but most of Season 7 is fairly forgettable.)

on Alta Vista as soon as I learned what a search engine was

Ha. I remember when I first started to use Google, and showed it to my friends as this cool obscure new search engine that worked so much better. It made me feel very in-the-know!