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Buffy Lives: An Angian Examination of Buffy Watchers
[Click on the link above to see this paper's placement in the SCBtVS Program.]
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Buffy the
Vampire Slayer (BtVS) has
been in the press, prompting acclaim, criticism, and controversy since its
inception in 1997, but the question remains, why BtVS? Why do the
fans watch? In 1985, Ien Ang, in her book Watching Dallas, asked
this same question about the show Dallas. To answer the question
Ang asked fans why they watched Dallas, then analyzed their
responses in relation to the psychological reasons why people watch
television.
This author attempted a study using Ang’s as a model. A question was posted on the messages boards of several major Buffy websites asking fans why they watch. Over one hundred responses were analyzed. In examining the responses, there seemed to be a few common themes that kept coming up as to why people say they watch BtVS: interest in vampires, the appeal of the characters, its realism, fantasy and escape, and its unpredictableness. |