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Post by Beck on Jul 19, 2006 19:28:53 GMT 10
Time to dissect the character of Buffy Summers. Personally she is one of my favourite characters, but I do know a lot of people who dislike her. And she has her flaws. She's bossy. She's a bitch sometimes. She gives long winded speeches. Etc. But the thing I want to debate now, which was brought up in an argument with someone months ago and I just remembered it - Is Buffy ultimately selfish? I was agaisnt this viewpoint. Come on, she saved the world! A lot! (Yeah I pinched that off her gravestone ) She complained about her duty as the slayer a lot in the early years, but she was always willing to give up her own life for the sake of saving others. She proved it countless times, In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, she sacrifices her date to go save Giles. In Prophecy Girl she is willing to face the master to stop the hellmouth opening even though she has heard the prophecy say she will die. And this is when she is 16 years old. Over the next years she saved the world several times, and gave up her own life once more to save Dawn's and prevent the apocolypse. Not the actions of a selfish person. Sure she whined about it. But she still put others above her own life. Did she have a supieriority complex? Possibly. But she wasn't selfish.
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Post by buffymanic on Jul 19, 2006 23:18:07 GMT 10
Buffy was absolutely not selfish and I don;t really see how that argument could be made. like you said Buffy made countless sacrafices, she had several chances to quite being the Slayer when Kendra and Faith came along but she never took it!
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Post by Glenn on Jul 20, 2006 3:19:33 GMT 10
Most of this hate towards Buffy comes in season 7 because of the way she tried to kill Anya and her coldness towards the potentials and her wreckless decision making. Me on the other hand will defend Buffy to the death. Just ask some other members who i have had very heated debates about Buffy with.
I think its fair to say that she does have a superiority complex, and like she says she feels bad for feeling that way. What did the vamp say in season 7? Something about an inferiority complex because of her superiority complex lol.
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Post by buffymanic on Jul 26, 2006 17:35:46 GMT 10
This can't be all everybody has to say on Buffy!!
Does anybody agree that she was selfish? can anybody think of a particular time she was selfish?
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Post by Glenn on Aug 7, 2006 22:22:45 GMT 10
Well not sure about selfish but i was watching the episode "Gone" last night and she really got on my nerves. She got turned invisible and then just turned into a real bitca. Though i wouldn't want Buffy being stripped of Buffy's guardianship, if i was that care worker and saw what i saw i would have my doubts about her stability also. Buffy goes to that womans place of work and tries to make her insane! And even possibly costs her job. Also she strips a hat off some girls head and starts to criticize her for wearing it. Now after 3 years of having Cordelia constantly criticizing you and your friends attire you think she wouldn't be so bitchy, not to mention possibly putting the girl into therapy for the rest of her life. I was glad Dawn finally snapped at Buffy and let her know that she was acting foolishly.
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Post by James on Aug 11, 2006 10:59:08 GMT 10
I dont like buffy. I not call her selfish, but she was a bitch. And she whine whine whine about everything. she not want to be the slayer then in helpless when she has chance to have normal life she bitch about it more. she not listen to her friends at all in season 7, acts like she saved the world alone all them times and is the leader and boss of everyone when she should know it the teamwork that always got them to win.
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Post by Nico on Aug 11, 2006 16:27:22 GMT 10
I think bitchyness is human Nature... I have criticised people for what they ware and they have done the same to me..its called being female! . As for her being cold to the potentials, wasn't that a good thing in the end?. She wanted to keep a clear head, She saw her self as the guardian of all these lives, everyone around her told her she is responsible for all of these girls lives..Maybe she was afraid of getting close to them...and losing them. Although granted in season two she told Kendra her emotions are total assets. Her friends definetly helped her along the road, and I dont think she ever forgot that. being dragged from heaven by your friends into a world that you now didnt belong to, i think gives anyone the right to be a littlle bitchy.
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Post by Kana on Aug 12, 2006 1:05:32 GMT 10
I found Buffy a little self righteous at times and a little self involved as well. Before you get at me this is a trait she had by her own admission, but it's hardly a crime.
It's not surprising she feels (to a degree, not a large one) that the world revolves around her; she had elements of Cordelia at the beginning and as I've read somewhere. It's one thing to think you are the centre of the universe, it's another thing to have this confirmed by an ancient prophecy!!!!
She does have a superiority complex but she gained insight into that and grew. Also she used to consider her instincts and emotions an asset but as she grew she developed a clear headedness and sometimes sterness which is sometimes necessary in war. I'll be the first to admit she failed at times but overall she never stopped fighting and although she questioned herself, she rarely doubted the mission, she kept trying.
She is not my favourite character but like all characters, i would stand up for her if she is unfairly judged.
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Post by Nico on Feb 12, 2007 12:44:47 GMT 10
Well She was different, She had Friends, It was commented on alot "a slayer with family and friends" but nearing seasons 5/6/7 She began to turn into the typical slayer, not neccesarily a bad thing, but for buffy it was, "the slayer is always alone in the end" I think Buffy always felt alone, Just Like Kana said, She developed threw that.
In season 7 Dawn felt like buffy was ignoring her, which she was, for whatever reasons, Buffy didnt make the choice to pull away, It came Naturally, She didnt even see it coming. I always come back to her comment about if she had to choose again, she would let Dawn die, if it could save the world. It was like she was beginning to turn into the typical slayer.
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Post by Allan on Feb 12, 2007 13:11:50 GMT 10
And she has her flaws. She's bossy. She's a bitch sometimes. She gives long winded speeches. And right there, you've listed the reasons I love her. Unlike the lead characters in many other shows, she's three dimensional. Yes, she has her flaws, but she also has her good points too. Yep, she whined, and whined, and whined, and whined... But Buffy is a show about growing pains, and that's what she was experiencing. And I've never known a girl to go through her latter teen years and never whine. I'd definitely agree that she had a superiority complex. It evolved as part of her character throughout the show. While she was longing to be "normal", ironically, she began to think that she was better than everyone else about it. I think this somewhat lead to her treatment of the potentials... suddenly she's not "so" special.
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May 18, 2024 19:48:06 GMT 10
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2007 11:16:50 GMT 10
I agree. Her flaws made her more real, more human. I do agree that, when it was just her and the Scoobies, she didn't have to feel and act quite so superior. It was a small enough group to be "governed" more diplomatically--although there were times that Buffy, as the Slayer, would have probably had the final say in some decisions. However, in season 7, it bothered me only because she never really treated the Potentials as she had wanted to be treated as Slayer--like a normal girl. Yes, they needed someone to lead them and teach them and they weren't sure what to expect when, but I think she took their need for a leader too far.
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Post by Amber on Jul 12, 2007 1:58:28 GMT 10
I know that her flaws did make her more human, but she was selfish a lot of the time, and like Marie said, she acted way too superior. It was like just because she was randomly chosen to be well...the Chosen One, she gets special treatment. Well, it's just not fair. The Scoobies are fighting right along with her, and it seemed like she forgot that sometimes.
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Post by Bre on Jul 12, 2007 13:52:59 GMT 10
I agree her selfishness was annoying at times, but I think overall she was superior to the other scoobies. And I think the only reason she had that kind of attitude was because she knew she was supposed to be alone in the end and she just pushed them out of the way to make it easier for her.
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Post by buffymanic on Jul 12, 2007 19:42:23 GMT 10
hello! she is superior! she's the one with all the power, she's the one with all the responsibility and yes the scoobies are fighting right there with her but she still bears that responsibility that if it wasn't for her they wouldn't be in harms way. In my opinion Buffy has a right to feel superior and sometimes she doesn't express it in the right way, but lets face it she's not the most emotialally apt person in the world
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Post by Allan on Jul 12, 2007 22:28:50 GMT 10
Yeah, I think you've really hit it on the head with it comes down to how she expresses herself, Tash. And Bre is right, it's something she's supposed to do alone. To paraphrase her in The Yoko Factor, "there is no ancient prophecy about the Chosen One and her friends".
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Post by Shaun on Jul 12, 2007 22:57:02 GMT 10
I know that her flaws did make her more human, but she was selfish a lot of the time, and like Marie said, she acted way too superior. It was like just because she was randomly chosen to be well...the Chosen One, she gets special treatment. Well, it's just not fair. The Scoobies are fighting right along with her, and it seemed like she forgot that sometimes. She doesn't get special treatment by being the slayer. Look at Faith, she was never given any respect automatically. Buffy earned that, she saved their lives countless times, and the world. So I am not sure whats 'not fair' or when she got special treatment Buffy was no more selfish at times than any other character, and more often than not she was very selfless. She gave up her life to save the world, twice, and she put her life on the line every day to save others. She may have been chosen, but she also chose to continue on as a slayer when it would have been easier to choose the path Faith took. She's entitled to be a little selfish occasionally
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Post by Beck on Jul 13, 2007 10:26:14 GMT 10
Um yeah, I wouldn't call Buffy selfish. She did have a bit of a superiority complex, but like Tash said - she was superior in a lot of ways She was ultimately responsible for them being involved in the fight at all, and for the fate of the world.
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