April 15 2011
"I'd Very Still": Anthropology of a Lapsed Fan.
A fantastic article about the old-school Buffy fandom.
This thread has been closed for new comments.
You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.
The author have one thing right, Buffy definitely damaged my ability to watch tv. Now I've come to want actual quality in the storytelling. I also found it in Babylon 5, which by coincidence (?) was made more or less the same time and under mainly the same conditions as Buffy by Joe Straczynski, crews from the shows even played football. And even though it is great entertainment I'd say that Doctor Who does not meet that high standard.
Satai (with Punsch) | April 15, 02:30 CET
Saje | April 15, 02:57 CET
redeem147 | April 15, 03:14 CET
Dana5140 | April 15, 03:40 CET
That and it's nice to have a readily accessible place where people don't think you're a nutter for discussing in obsessive detail a TV show that's been off the air for nearly 8 years ;). I.e. to connect with (in some respects at least) like-minded people.
Saje | April 15, 04:07 CET
I have to agree that those of you who were around during the show's original run must have had an extremely different experience than those of us who caught up after it was over. Same goes for other terrific shows like Angel or Babylon 5. I do think that there are advantages to watching Buffy for the first time ever in a week and a half to two weeks on DVD as I did (excluding one Ep.), but at the same time, so much must have been missed out on in anticipation and excitement, and having the chance to share it with other people. Nice to read about it, especially when it's written so well.
Risch22 | April 15, 04:23 CET
treenie | April 15, 04:29 CET
Xane | April 15, 06:14 CET
missmuffet | April 15, 06:24 CET
My own journey through Buffy fandom really began when I moved to a part of the world that didn't broadcast Buffy at all. I hadn't ever been very organized about recording episodes, and managed to record over them all without realizing (the only one I have left is the prom Slayer Fest episode, at the tale end of a tape, discovered by accident, much later), so suddenly I really was in a Buffy-less world.
I rummaged around online, kind of baffled at the fanaticism of those who'd set up some secretive way to download episodes (illegally, one assumes). I wasn't up to the challenge of those technical complexities, so the ethical issues were kind of moot.
At some point I made a friend online who was perfectly happy to make tapes of both Buffy and Angel (by then on the air) for me, and mail them, for no more than the cost of the tapes and postage. Beyond that, I never did engage much in online fandom, I was much more interested in the episodes themselves. This was back in the olden days before it was common for shows to be released on dvd as quickly as they do now, so missing episodes was really traumatic. I did spend a lot of effort printing labels for my VHS tapes, though. Some one of the fonts on our computer at the time was nicely evocative, and fit nicely on the labels.
A few years later, our cable company decided to make a stab at joining the modern world, and Buffy returned to my own tv, sometime impossibly late on Saturdays I think. They eventually made room for the actual network, so I was a bit less sleep deprived, but they didn't make room for any of the newer Trek shows, so I never did find out how DS9 or Voyager ended but there was Whedon, and it was good.
Scraggles | April 15, 07:38 CET
One thing is sure - I miss all those wonderful people - Life goes on but my Buffy Board memories are a happy stream.
nmcil | April 15, 08:02 CET
buffywrestling | April 15, 09:17 CET
fivebyfivefaith | April 15, 09:53 CET
BringItOn5x5 | April 15, 10:15 CET
I've been a rabid fan of shows three times. Well, correction, or maybe not a correction. I was absolutely rabid over Buffy/Angel. I then was absolutely rabid over Battlestar Galactica. And right now, this very moment, I'm very close to being, for the first time,a shipper (which I say both with great shock and considerable dismay), being absolutely fascinating and delighted by a romantic pairing on a show that I actually hate: Dan and Blair on Gossip Girl. I find myself utterly obsessed at their weird, strange, brilliantly written (on an otherwise appallingly written show) friendship/romance. But that is TV for you: sucks you in just when you don't expect it. I am, btw, considering doing my own editing of Season Four of GG, one in which I cut out all the many parts I loathe deep in my bones, and leave the 20% that gives me great joy.
Njal | April 15, 10:24 CET
“I’d still if you’d still.”
“I’d still. I’d very still.”
—Willow and Oz, “Phases” (2.15)
It's not "I'd be very still," just "I'd very still."
Anyway! Lovely essay. I didn't do any of these specific Buffy related things because I didn't watch Buffy until 5 or so years ago.
My fandom when I was a teenager was actually with the book series The Dragonriders of Pern (such a geek) and I spent an inordinate amount of time on text-based RPGs writing about/pretending to be a character in Anne McCaffrey's world. Still, most of those points apply to me. We grew up and we had lots more things to worry about and do, and real life got in the way. I actually had a huge falling out with a person I had considered one of my best friends (internet or no) and then I lost touch with lots of them. Some people kept and still keep their own personal Livejournal. I actually still keep in touch on a weekly basis with a few of them, and Facebook is a wonderful thing for that.
Fandoms are amazing, and I wish that I had the time I had in high school to bond with those kind of people. I don't know if any Pern-based MUD/MUSH/MOO's are active (really, truly active like they were) anymore. I know that people have tried and failed to create them just because no one can really participate anymore. But I do think that all of us benefited tremendously from that time of our lives.
VeryVeryCrowded | April 15, 10:54 CET
As I have gotten older and much busier I will go months without thinking about Buffy and then something will hit me and remind me of the show. All of a sudden I will find myself back here or on the phone with my sister (just like when we were younger) discussing the finer points on some analogy in Buffy and how it so still to this day relates to our lives.
jabby | April 15, 11:34 CET
"I'd very still" has been the title and (within article) quote since I first saw this link (at around 10 a.m. this, well, a.m.). Correcting that which is correct is non-trivial ;).
Saje | April 15, 17:25 CET
redeem147 | April 15, 18:38 CET
Njal | April 15, 20:06 CET
Simon | April 15, 22:21 CET
(unless you're being hi-larious - bit hungover, radar wonky)
Saje | April 16, 00:44 CET
I've found that statement true. Everytime I've watched BtVS, I've always catch something a little different than I did before. Now, the show didn't changed a bit, but the way I was perceiving it did. And, I've always found that amazing, how this show can cover just a wide area of perception. This show has just continued to keep me fascinated all these years.
Then again, maybe I just see Sarah and Aly as eye candy! :)
Madhatter | April 16, 01:08 CET
AMCsoldier | April 16, 07:35 CET
DaddyCatALSO | April 16, 11:38 CET
Until I started reading here for years before I became a posting member, I never really felt a part of the flow of fandom. I can't really, with ease, take part in group events. A few people at a time work better with me, so I may never do groups again, no matter how much I enjoyed the Browncoat cruise. It also made me feel like an outsider because I didn't know any of the people who had banded together for years, and that includes people who post here. Writing has always been an outlet for me, so I find it works better in terms of shared fandom. I think each person's experience is valid. Whether you still partake of it, only a little bit here and there, not at all anymore, or only in your memories, you are a fan for life. At least IMHO.
Tonya J | April 16, 12:28 CET
This brings back some happy memories of the Buffy Cross and Stake spoiler board at Voy Forums - have just googled and they're still there!! Am off for a night of nostalgia.
lone fashionable wolf | April 17, 13:43 CET