Happy Fandom Friday! Each week, I highlight an aspect of the various fan communities that have sprung around mostly movies and TV shows, but sometimes books, games, or even just memes, if the level of dedication is awesome enough.
Yesterday we talked giving thanks over social networks; Mark O. Estes at Zap2it decided that this year, in addition to staples like family and friends, he would highlight the effect that Buffy the Vampire Slayer had on him in his adolescence. Like the people who developed parasocial relationships to television characters, Estes looked to the Scoobies for guidance during his formative years, decoding the metaphors for his own high school and college conflicts. I'll let the essay speak for itself:
Buffy dominated my teen years (I was 13 when it started) and careened over into the first semester of my college experience, indulging me the entire time on how to handle this crazy world we live in. Basically having a hand in "raising" me, BtVS, to some extent, helped expand my mind culturally, socially and philosophically in an environment where issues were seen in only black and white, with no room for any sort of probability in sight to offset the balance. In other words, I became aware that the world isn't as simple as a lot of my peers, elders, and surroundings wanted me to believe. There's a lot or 'gray' in a world where there is no clear cut place to label everything and BtVS asked us to just deal with it and move on. I found myself to agree whole-heartedly on this concept as I learned to grasp it.
Growing up as a black male in a small, southern town, BtVS tended to serve as my window to the 'outer world,' clearing the metaphorically murky path I was traveling on in my journey of growing up, trying to find my place in the world. The lessons the Scoobies learned, I applied to my own growing pains at the time, finding a sense of glee as the grotesquely masked themes clicked in my head where they remain to this day as I type this commentary. I still can't believe how much this show has played a part in my life since it premiered over ten years ago in March 1997, which I will forever be thankful for. And it only gets better with time... So, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am thankful of your existence and timeless contributions to your legion of fans across the world. Again, thank you for everything.
I'd like to give thanks for a writer who shows that fans aren't all socially awkward shut-ins, that it is completely OK--and in fact, even valuable--to draw lessons from the serialized nature of television.
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