20 Years of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

In 2017 Buffy The Vampire Slayer will be turning 20 years old. We want you to celebrate it with us by telling us your stories surrounding this TV show. From personal triumph from the show's influence or to simply enjoying it as entertainment. It doesn't matter when or where you joined the fandom, we want to know your experiences. 

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#007

New But True

This past December the Saturday before my last week of final exams I decided on a whim to watch the first episode of Buffy. At first I wasn’t sure why I kept watching but I started to love the characters. But it wasn’t until mid way through season 2 when Angel transformed that I realized how obsessed I had become. I soon got my cousin to join me on my Buffy adventure and we embarked on a couple months of binge watching. We video chatted at least once a week because we live in different states. We felt what Buffy felt and experienced what she experienced. Then on the last episode Buffy gave her cookie dough speech, and I realized something. Even though Buffy had a set calling she didn’t have everything figured out, in fact she still had a lot to figure out. Then as a recent college graduate I knew that it was okay that I didn’t have everything figured out. I’m cookie dough. I may be a new Buffy fan, but I will always be a Buffy fan, it has become my favorite show with my favorite character and Buffy will always stay with me. - @bethjune95

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#006

Once a Scooby, Always a Scooby

Buffy was the catalyst of female empowerment in my life. Even from a very young age (I’m 25) I identified more with male characters, and male-centric shows and movies, than stereotypical “girly” shows. She was one of the first people I related to because she was strong, sassy, independent, smart, and fallible, but maintained her sexuality. She came at an important time for me, middle school I struggled with finding my voice, and when my friends forced me to start watching, I was hooked.

Every time I re-watch the series, I learn something new. To be open to anything, you don’t know everything that’s out there or how it’s going to turn out, but there are people who care about you and people who will empower you to get through it, stuff, and life. - @braverstrongersmarter

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#005

I started watching Buffy one summer ago, just to check out how cool the show is. Then of course, I started to really relate to Buffy because of her suffering with depression and balancing out her work and her friends, it just really helped me out with my own problems. It’s honestly one of the only shows that he helped me cope with my depression and made me feel happier whenever I was watching it. I’m so glad this show exists. Happy 20 years Buffy!! - @tardismusic

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#004

I’ve noticed that a lot of people say Buffy is more than just a show. Exactly. Buffy brought me belonging and it helped me to accept myself. I first saw an episode of Buffy when I had just turned 13, summer 2004. There were reruns of season three on TV and I just happened to be by the telly. Loving Buffy became my teenage rebellion in a way as my parents just wouldn’t understand the brilliance of it: they only saw the monsters and fight scenes, not the beautifully crafted characters, the awesome script or how relatable it all was. Buffy gave me some kind of understanding of what it means to be a fan. 2003, online communities already existed and I was so happy to find people who loved the series as well. I would bother my friends at school about the last episode but they weren’t as interested so I mainly turned to the online forums. Finally at the university I’m surrounded by people who love the series as well, I still get giddy every time I find out a friend likes Buffy. The series taught me about strength, that one’s friends and family are the truest strength. I knew that if I needed anything, I could rely on my friends like Buffy relies on the scoobies. I saw their relationships as something look up to. There was a point in which I didn’t watch Buffy in years. I was in an abusive friendship if that’s a thing. She’d probably forbid me to watch Buffy, I don’t think she would have liked me loving a character so strong. It would have given me ideas and I might have realized sooner that her behavior was ugly. I did stand up eventually, accepted myself as I was and left the abuse behind. I consider it similar to Willow discovering her real power: leave the fear behind and embrace the real me. - @kaysathepanda 

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#003

When I was around 9 years old I had gotten the first season for Christmas. I had watched it but I was too bored with it. I was flipping through channels on the night that The Gift first aired. I had no clue about what was going on but I was hooked on the show from then on. The show means so much to me. It makes me so happy whenever I turn it on. Buffy is my hero.  - @a-friendly-krogan

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#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

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

#001

Buffy saved my mom's life

My mom died when I was 19, ten years after she and my other mom (it’s a whole big lesbian family) divorced. The divorce destroyed her. She basically never recovered: the last ten years of her life were pretty much a downward spiral of alcoholism, depression and generally just aggressively not taking care of herself.

The only thing that gave her joy was Buffy. I spent every other weekend at her house and we’d pretty much just watch Buffy over and over and over, and I fell in love with it too. She had a major crush on Willow. She figured out I was gay too because I blushed whenever Dawn came on screen (I know, I know, I was like 13, forgive me).

She didn’t have the emotional capacity to talk about her pain, but Buffy helped her cope with it. Once, I spied on her as she rewound the scene at the end of Tabula Rasa where Tara leaves WIllow, where Willow sits on the bathroom floor and cries while angsty Michelle Branch plays in the background. She watched that scene over and over. I think she would have died a lot sooner if she hadn’t had Buffy.

When she did pass away, the only thing I took from the house was the complete box set of DVDs. - @onlymeatballs

[twentyyearsofbuffy]

On March 10th Buffy The Vampire Slayer turns 20! 

To celebrate we want you to do a something a little different than making gifs and graphics. We want you to collectively tell us how the television show has influenced or changed your life. Whether you watched it back in 1997, or you are new to the show we want to know your experiences. For more information click on the FAQ.

FAQ | SUBMIT