#002
My mother and I have watched and rewatched all of BtVS over three times. We’ve rewatched S1 - 5 much more often than that, but sometimes we stop after the fifth season and “rewind” (so-to-speak ;)) because the sixth is super heavy for me to digest and is hard when I hit the lows. We hopped on the Buffy train rather late. I grew up in the 90s-00s, but it was sort of by chance that I fell in love with it. Somehow we had gotten the first and second season at some big box store I guess–years ago–but we didn’t start watching it until we carted both seasons cross-country twice to where we are now. I was 19 when we started it. My experience with Buffy has honestly been beyond therapeutic. I have a lot of trauma in my past and was robbed of a lot of my power in my childhood and adolescence. Through Buffy (and a lot of therapy, but very much also Buffy), I have thrived and found power within myself. To me, Buffy is more than a story; more than characters; more than fiction. It’s about finding the power in our darkness and shining our light. It’s about being at peace with ourselves and embracing the inherent qualities we all have to find our equilibrium, whatever that may be. As someone with PTSD and a mood disorder, this is incredibly important.
I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but I am among the people that Buffy has saved. The development she went through was, in many ways, similar to what I went through (and am in some ways still going through), and many things struck us in the same way. We sometimes coped in similar ways and had similar thoughts and feelings. I know Buffy is not a real person, (and honestly she’s far from my favorite character), but she rescued me. Buffy makes me feel like I’m not alone. - @avitalcourse
