Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show (Smart Pop series) (30 page)

    
B
UFFY
: Remember: the ritual starts, we all die. And I’ll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.

    
S
PIKE
: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin’s Day speech, was it?

    
G
ILES
: We few, we happy few . . .

    
S
PIKE
: . . . we band of buggered.

And this speech from Spike’s first appearance in “School Hard” (2-3):

    
S
PIKE
: You’re that Anointed guy. I read about you. You’ve got Slayer problems. That’s a bad piece of luck. Do you know what I find works real good with Slayers? Killing them. A lot faster than nancy-boy there. Yeah, I did a couple Slayers in my time. I don’t like to brag. Who am I kidding? I love to brag! Yeah. He’s the big noise in these parts. Anointed, and all that. Me and Dru, we’re movin’ in. Now. Any of you want to test who’s got the biggest wrinklies ’round here . . . step on up. I’ll do your Slayer for you. But you keep your flunkies from tryin’ anything behind my back. Deal?

“Buggered,” “wrinklies,” and “nancy-boy” are all exceedingly vulgar. Not that the censors have noticed, or at least cared. Even Harmony, in “Fool for Love” (5-7) has had more of a clue:

    
H
ARMONY
: How are you going to kill her? Think. The second you even point that thing at her you’re gonna be all . . . (Spike imitation) “Aaah!” and then you’ll get bitch-slapped up and down Main Street unless she’s had enough and just stakes you.

    
S
PIKE
: This is different. Move.

    
H
ARMONY
: No! And then you’ll come back to me and stomp around and swear a bunch of weird English curses.

    
S
PIKE
(losing patience): Harm . . .

    
H
ARMONY
: What is a “bollock,” anyway?

Of course, what is vulgar there is simply weird here. However, in other countries, editorial control from networks and censorship boards is responsible for the deletion of segments, scenes or even entire episodes, depending on the local laws and the whims of the censors. In the UK, this problem is compounded by the fact that, so far as the BBC is concerned, science fiction and fantasy shows are children’s fare. As such, they are thus given the “teatime” slot, before the eight- and nine-o’clock prime-time viewing hours. However, as the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) in the UK ruled against
Buffy
, in one of many instances, “In relation to the sex scene, it considered that it had exceeded acceptable boundaries for broadcast at a time when young children could be watching.” Shows are therefore edited to be “appropriate for children,” with the sex and violence toned down or removed entirely.

This has predictably led to outcries from fans, later showings (yet after prime time), subscriptions to the pay network Sky One (which gets
Buffy
and
Angel
only three months after the US), and of course brisk sales and rentals of uncensored videos and DVDs (though local ratings make it so that no one under eighteen may purchase copies of
Angel
).

Of course, corporate decision-makers and ratings boards are not the only censors on the block. There are also government censors, and, worse yet, government propaganda agencies. In season four, Buffy becomes romantically involved with Riley and is drawn into the government-sponsored agenda of The Initiative. During the same season,
Buffy
’s network at the time, The WB, got into bed with the ONDCP, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

As reported by Daniel Forbes of
Salon
Magazine (
salon.com
) in his article “Prime-time Propaganda,” the ONDCP came to an agreement with the various television networks (including The WB,
Buffy
’s network at the time) such that the government would waive its rights to various slots of advertising time. They had bought these for anti-drug
and -alcohol messages a few years before, during a depressed television market, as part of a congressionally mandated two-for-one sale—which now had the networks less than pleased, since season four was in the middle of the
dot.com
boom and advertising rates were at an alltime high. In exchange for the government waiving its rights to these highly lucrative advertising slots, the ONDCP wanted the networks to incorporate anti-drug and -alcohol messages into their shows. The networks agreed, The WB even printing a press release bragging about this, though in many cases did not inform the writers or producers of why the network brass were requesting such stories, or that the scripts were being vetted at the White House.

Early on in season four, viewers were treated to “Beer Bad” (4-5), arguably one of the lesser episodes of the season, featuring enchanted beer that makes frat boys (and Buffy) turn into Neanderthals, but a hilarious parody when watched as what happens when an independent-minded crew of writers are ordered to write anti-drug and -alcohol propaganda. In particular, this exchange:

    
X
ANDER
: Well, I cut her off before the others so I don’t think she had as much to drink.

    
G
ILES
: I can’t believe you served Buffy that beer.

    
X
ANDER
: I didn’t know it was evil.

    
G
ILES
: But you knew it was beer.

    
X
ANDER
: Well, excuse me, Mr. “I Spent the Sixties in an Electric Kool-Aid Funky Satan Groove.”

    
G
ILES
: It was the early seventies and you should know better.

Fortunately, the ONDCP’s “Prime-time Propaganda” program has ended (for the moment) and they’ve gone back to the more traditional anti-drug messages in regular advertising slots. Then again, the
dot.com
boom is over, so there isn’t as much incentive to free up advertising space either.

Of course, agencies of the United States government, real or fictitious, aren’t the only groups who believe in social engineering through the manipulation of television. There are many others, most of them formed by well-meaning private citizens with an axe to grind.

In “Gingerbread” (3-11), Joyce forms MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult) in order to protect the children of Sunnydale from the dangers posed by witches and witchcraft (even if she has to burn Buffy and Willow at the stake to do it). In reality, the Parents Television Council (
parentstv.org
) lists
Buffy
at #1 on its “Worst” list of programs unacceptable
for children and family viewing, mostly because of sex and violence, but also citing concerns about the occult. Their specific criticisms:

Strangely, the sitcom
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
was listed as #3 on their “Best” list, despite the occult theme and Salem occasionally trying to take over the world. However, unlike MOO, the PTC goes about burning the shows it doesn’t like in a more figurative sense, organizing letter-writing campaigns and petition drives to bombard the networks, producers, and advertisers, as well as the FCC. This sort of pressure from the PTC—and earlier groups in the same mold, such as the Moral Majority—has resulted in the death of a number of television shows, including the occult-themed
Friday the 13th: The Series
and the landmark comedy
Soap
, which not only made occasional forays into the occult, but was among the first shows to deal with gay issues.

Critics and self-proclaimed morality police wield much power, but sometimes the most vehement would-be censors are the fans themselves. Like Cordelia’s cruel clique, the Cordettes, as quick to turn on Cordy as praise her, the fans of
Buffy
and
Angel
praise things one day and decry them the next. As reported on
E! Online
’s “Watch with Wanda” grill, gossip and gripe, May 3, 2002, at the end of the article “Buffy Creator Joss Whedon Talks Climaxes, Criticism and Angel’s Fate:”

    
Q.
   
Buffy
and
Angel
fans seem to be more critical than ever this season. Does that affect you?

    
A.
   
It always affects me. At the same time, I need to give them what they need, not what they want. They need to have their hearts broken. They need to see change. They hated Oz, and then they hated that he left. These things are inevitable. If people are freaking out, I’m good. If people are going, “Hmmm . . . well, that was fine,” I’m fucked.

Fan response to Oz was at first negative, then positive as Joss wrote an episode to endear him to the viewers. A similar situation occurred with Tara, the episode “Family” (5-6) exploring her character (and increasing her likeability), but the most freaking out by the fans has been over the issue of Willow’s sexuality, which, after protests from fans who did not wish Willow to be gay, elicited this response from Joss on the bronze posting board:

This response drew high marks from gay fans (and others enjoying good sarcasm), but not forever. Gay issues continue to be a concern on
Buffy
, and not just with MOO and the PTC. For example, in a strange parallel to the scene in “Hush” (4-10) where we first meet Tara, and Willow must contend with the politics of the campus Wiccan group—which preaches blessing and empowerment while at the same time using ridicule and scorn to silence criticism and divergent views—in reality, similar tactics are used by the Kittenboard (
kittenboard.com
), a Willow/Tara lesbian-relationship-focused fan and activism board.

To be allowed to enter the Kittenboard inner forum, “The Kitty and Buffy Season 7,” one must fit the following criteria:

To join in the regular discussions on the Kittenboard, one simply has to subscribe to the following doctrine (from the Kittenboard FAQ):

Mention of anything outside this accepted doctrine results in the deletion of one’s post. The discussion and thoughts of the group are
strictly controlled by the moderator, which has resulted in members defecting, rather like Willow and Tara did from the campus Wiccans, to create the more moderate “Plan C” (
pub78.ezboard.com/bplanckittiens
) and “Blood of the Banned” (
pub78.ezboard.com/bwillowandtarastuff
) boards.

As explained in the “Blood of the Banned” FAQ:

Contrast these tactics with the following exchange by the Wiccan group in “Hush” (4-10):

    
W
ICCA
1: We come together, daughters of Gaia, sisters to the moon. We walk with the darkness, the wolf at our side, through the waterfall of power to the blackest heart of eternity. I think we should have a bake sale.

    
W
ICCA
2: I don’t know

    
W
ICCA
1: You guys like a bake sale right? I mean we need money for the dance recital and you know I do an empowering lemon bundt.

    
W
ICCA
2: The most important thing is the Gaian newsletter. We need to get the message of blessing out to the sisters. Also who left their scented candles dripping all over my women-power shrine?

    
W
ILLOW
: Well, this is good. I mean, this is all fun ya know, but there’s also other stuff that we might show an interest in, as a Wicca group.