A teenage girl kicking vampire butt was regarded as an oddity when Buffy first aired – but these days it is a cult favourite, with a nuanced message about resilience
“Nobody is likely to take this oddball camp exercise seriously …” the New York Times wrote of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s first season back in 1997, 25 long years ago. This attitude to the horror-comedy-romance-drama, about a teenage girl who is destined to save the world from the forces of darkness, was not uncommon 25 years ago. Most early critics tended to treat Buffy like either an oddity or a joke; Variety deemed it “an uneasy cross between The X-Files and Clueless”. But the show’s poppy, slangy, valley-girl dialogue soon became indicative of everything from low-brow trash to moral bankruptcy; US conservatives used Buffy as moral panic fodder, for apparently depicting witchcraft, occultism and satanism.
These days, Buffy is widely regarded as iconic, a cult favourite that has become a darling of streaming services. Its legacy is now confirmed, having spawned egregious “paranormal high school” type shows, inspired a snappier kind of teen speech (“If the apocalypse comes, beep me!”) and slang terms still used today. (“Wigging out” or “What’s the sitch?”) There’s even a much-anticipated reboot coming, rumoured for release this year.
