Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Introducing people to the Buffyverse

"It's all about the Power..."

Back last year (autumn 2003) I found an ideal opportunity to introduce somebody to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Little did I know what I would unleash. Although my victim (sorry, pupil), George, had seen some episodes, he was unaware of what a full-blown addiction to this series would feel like. Between October 2003 and June 2004 he watched every single episode from the 144 produced for TV, pretty much in order (video rental stores get your act together - it really helps to have full series). Given that I knew and loved each and every one in far too much detail to be healthy, this provided me with an ideal situation wherein I could nurture another person's passion.

Of course, we had a reciprocal arrangement. Tracing the mythology arc of The X-files alien episodes and then (by Xmas 2003/4) going back to the start to fill in with the Monster-of-the-Week material, I got hooked myself on a series I had previously only dipped in and out of. Indeed for both of us the real thrill was often suddenly making sense of weird shifts in the plots or character development that had fuddled us when seeing an episode out of sync.

Anyway, I am now in the process of generating a new addict. My friend Christine became receipient of the handover tradition of video/DVD exchanges. I got S1 on DVD; she got my old video box set. It seemed like a fair trade-up!

Anyone else had experience of "inducting" someone into their obsessions (especially the Buffyverse)?

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