Slayer Slang

My name is Marianne and I am a Buffy'oholic.

Every Tuesday, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was still on the air, my friends and I would hold "Buffy Night" at our respective houses. A night of wine, snacks, and the best darn show on television. There were even house rules: no talking until commercials, for example. (Though "ooohs" when Spike took off his shirt had special dispensation.) It was a lot of fun and I definitely miss it.

Now that I'm writing a vampire book, I've given myself permission to delve back into that world, re-watching the old episodes on DVD. And I'm once again reminded of just how brilliant the Buffy universe was. A lot of tv shows, when you go back to the first season, seem dated and cheesy. Buffy really stands the test of time. And the show's writing is so amazing--I'd give almost anything for just a pinkie-full of Joss Whedon's creativite genius. I mean the guy had the guts to create a whole hour of television that was nearly 100 percent silent. And then of course there was the famous musical episode, "Once more with feeling." I remember even I, devoted fan that I am, couldn't believe that a musical Buffy could ever work. It just couldn't be anything but cheesy. And yet it wasn't. In fact, it turned out to be one of the best episodes ever.

I'm also reading a book called "Slayer Slang" which is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer lexicon and talks about how the dialogue in the show has affected pop culture. It's written by a linguist and contains a glossary of all the memorable Buffy phrases from each season. It's so interesting, especially reading it as a chick lit/young adult writer and thinking about the power an author has when writing dialogue in her books. Buffy speak is English, and yet not English. (Or "UnEnglish" as she'd probably say.)

I know I should sum all this up with some Jerry Springer final thought type wisdom on what it all means and what Buffy has taught me about life and writing, but I'm not feeling so philosophical at the moment. So I'll leave you with something far more juicy. :-) http://www.allaboutspike.com/

Yours in Buffness,
Marianne