Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born

I grew up watching Buffy. It premiered when I was in fifth grade. I didn't watch right from the beginning, but I did catch up with reruns that summer so that beginning with season 2, I was a devoted watcher. Every week I tuned in, and the next day at school I'd dissect the episode with my friends. It was there for me through middle school and high school, and it's been there for me ever since, whenever I needed it. I can't tell you how many times I've rewatched the series in it's entirety, or my favorite episodes in particular. I can quote nearly all of it, have come up with head canons to fill in all the plot holes, can determine which season a still is from based on Buffy's hair style, and will still happily spend hours dissecting the minutiae with anyone willing.

I learned a lot from Buffy. One of the most important things Buffy taught me is that the world is not simply divided into black and white, good and evil. As the series progresses, Buffy learns that it's not as simple as human good, demon bad. The world is complicated and so is everyone in it, and all you can do is keep trying. That lesson is what has allowed me to continue to love Buffy as the years go by. Even as my perspective of Xander changes, or more information about the horrific conditions on set come out. Even as Whedon rose as a god among fans and then was revealed as mortal after all, I've continued to love this series that has always meant so much to me.

Evan Katz Ross's book helped remind me of these lessons. He interviewed a lot of the cast and crew, and was in the middle of writing this book when the latest allegations against Whedon came out, necessarily changing the course of the book.

There were some glaring omissions from the book. I would have loved to hear from Alyson Hannigan, Eliza Dushku, and David Boreanaz, though I can understand their reticence to go on the record right now. But even without them, Ross is able to shade in a complicated picture of this series that remains so important and groundbreaking. The cracks are starting to show, and I can no longer claim this series is perfect, the way I would have argued back in high school. That doesn't mean I love it any less.

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