The Concept Of Sharing Power In Buffy The Vampire Slayer

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Recommended: Representation of women in television

In 1997, a new series featuring a female lead aired, it was called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This show became popular instantly and to this day it still remains popular, if not more. This series was named by TV Guide critics as “one of the fifty greatest TV shows of all time”, because of its feminist portrayals (Heinecken, 91). Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created by Joss Whedon due to the fact that he felt bad for women in horror films, he felt like their depictions were almost always sexist. Whedon quoted that the show he has created depicts, “the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it.”, which is important to show to women of newer generations (South, 35). What made Buffy so special was that there was finally a female character that was at …show more content…

Whedon said that he wanted to create a show that would portray women having power and sharing it. While we have Buffy with power, there is not much power being shared within the series. In “What’s My Line? Part 1”, we are introduced to another female character, Kendra, who claims she is the new slayer. Buffy is confused and does not want her around, it appears as if she feels threatened by Kendra’s arrival.In this episode we see Kendra’s quest for legitimacy, to be accepted as the first generation slayer, but is denied because of the threat she poses to Buffy’s identity as the slayer (Wilcox, 90). Throughout most of the episode she insists that Kendra leaves and makes no real effort in getting to know her. Near the end of the second part of the episode, Kendra decides to help Buffy save her vampire boyfriend, in this sequence we see the two slayers working together to save Angel and stop the evil characters. Despite Kendra helping Buffy and her friends, she is still sent away at the end because her staying would still threaten Buffy’s position as the main slayer (What’s My Line? Part

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