Sing
Along with Buffy
On
May 20, 2003, the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
aired on now defunct UPN, ending a seven-year, 144-episode run. Since
then, dozens of Buffy action figures, numerous series of trading
cards and a collection of books, including such titles as Sex and
the Slayer (Wesylan University Press, 2005) and What Would
Buffy Do: the Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide (Jossey-Bass, 2004),
have been released.
The Buffy
juggernaut does not stop with such traditional off-shoots, as the Buffy
Sing-A-Long, involving screenings of the 2001 critically-acclaimed
musical episode, “Once More With Feeling,” clearly demonstrates.
The event has packed the house in places like Austin, Texas, and New
York City, and on September 23, 2006, it made its way to the CLO Late
Night Cabaret in Pittsburgh. With a 261-seat capacity, extra chairs
had to be brought in to accommodate the overflowing crowd.
All of
which begs the question: why, three years after the show went off the
air, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer still so popular? The best
science fiction often acts as an allegory for modern society and thus
resonates with its audience. Buffy, especially in its early
years, served as a metaphor for the horrors of high school. Students
who were ignored by other students became literally invisible. The attractive
teacher who seduced male students was literally a man-eating praying
mantis. And in the series turning point, when Buffy sleeps with vampire
Angel, the dream boy turns into an actual monster. Although wrapped
in the supernatural, these narrative arcs contain contemporary coming-of-age
commentaries that viewers can relate.
Lauren
Gilbert, for instance, was just starting high school when Buffy
the Vampire Slayer began, and stumbled upon the pilot the night
of March 10, 1997. “It touched a part of my life,” she said
after the Pittsburgh Sing-A-Long. “Anyone in this theater
or in this city can relate to Buffy. We all went through the
things she went through. We’ve all been outcasts at times. We’ve
all fallen in love with the wrong person. Buffy showed us that
we aren’t alone.”
The outcasts,
the unaccepted and the socially alienated ultimately always feel alone,
and thus tend to gravitate to fictional outcasts likewise not accepted
by their respective peers. Fox Mulder of The X-Files, for instance,
was a brilliant profiler and master of deductive reasoning (albeit by
thinking outside-the-box), but was still an outcast in the FBI because
of his belief in aliens and government conspiracies. Buffy Summers has
the same allure, because although popular before her calling as a slayer,
she eventually became an outsider when her supernatural abilities made
her different.
But Buffy
reaches beyond the outcasts and sci-fi geeks of society. Academics,
intellectuals and simply fans of great storytelling are also among its
greatest enthusiasts. This was evident in Pittsburgh as well, as attendees
blurted out answers like “the writing” or “great characters”
when asked what attracted them to the series. Much of that credit goes
to the show’s creator, Joss Whedon, who although not a household
name along the likes of Aaron Sorkin or David E. Kelly, has influenced
contemporary television as much as anyone. By utilizing self-contained
season-long story arcs, Whedon proved that television could offer twenty-two
hours (the number of episodes in a full season) to tell its narrative.
The characters he created were fully fleshed out, easy to identify with,
and played to perfection by actors and actresses seemingly made for
the roles. Buffy was a drama, but it could also be funnier
than any comedy on television. It was an amalgamation of numerous genres,
expertly blended, all adding to its broad appeal.
And not
just for fans of science fiction. Even Shonda Rhimes, the creator of
Grey’s Anatomy, cites Whedon and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer as influences. “I realized a lot of the really good
character development is happening on TV,” she told the New
York Times (“Grey’s Anatomy Creator Finds
Success in Surgery,” Lola Ogunnaike, 28 September 2006) before
specifically singling out Buffy. “The language was great,
the world was great, and you completely invested in those characters.
I’m still not over its cancellation.” The crowd that packed
the Cabaret at Theater Square in Pittsburgh certainly acted like they
weren’t over the show’s demise yet, either. Although the
actual singing-a-long started off a little slowly, it didn’t take
much time until everyone in the place was belting out the lyrics.
Aja Jones,
the organizer and host of the night, said numerous attendees approached
her afterwards, saying how much they had enjoyed the event. It was such
a success, that Jones immediately announced plans to hold another one.
Amazingly, the concept of the Buffy Sing-A-Long seems to have
sprouted organically; this isn’t a case of someone from FOX or
Mutant Enemy, the two production companies involved with show, marketing
it to venues. According to Jones, cities and theaters are instead taking
the lead in getting licensing rights and then doing it on their own.
The Coolidge
Corner Theater in Brookline, Massachusetts, seems to have held the first
Sing-A-Long on October 22, 2004. The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin,
Texas, followed two months later, and then Vancouver added its name
to this list in 2005. In a two-week span this past September, New York
City and Pittsburgh also joined the fray. Because these Buffy Sing-A-Longs
are fan-driven, without any formal “standard” structure,
each location is free to tailor the event to suit its city and space.
The Alamo in Austin, which has held seven sing-a-longs so far, screens
a “warm-up” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
beforehand. New York City had a Buffy-oke contest and offered
fans the opportunity to act out scenes from the series, while Pittsburgh
had a trivia contest showdown between two lucky fans of the show.
Still, these events
do overlap in their planning. “Goody bags” are given out,
containing everything from plastic fangs to kazoos to bubble blowers
to packets of mustard. Fliers are available so the audience knows what
to use when: the bubbles are for Willow and Tara’s “Under
Your Spell,” while everyone is asked to hum on the kazoo during
“Something to Sing About.” Attendees are also encouraged
to dance in the aisles during “I’ll Never Tell,” as
well as stand, hold hands and sway for “Where Do We Go From Here?”
(Vancouver even passed out underwear for people to throw during “The
Parking Ticket” song, which contains the line, “Hey, I’m
not wearing underwear.”)
In Pittsburgh,
arguably the most popular group activity was shouting “Shut up,
Dawn” any time Buffy’s little sister entered the scene.
Loud applause also followed every musical number, as well as any time
fan-favorites Spike and dancing demon Sweet were on the screen. As for
New York City, an audience member posted afterwards on the Whedonesque.com
fan site, “The sing-a-long worked particularly well, I think,
in songs that involved multiple characters—the audience usually
spontaneously divided itself into roles, and there was a lot back-and-forth”.
If all this audience participation sounds vaguely familiar, you are
correct. In fact, the IFC Center in NYC even billed the Buffy Sing-A-Long
as being “in the tradition of Rocky Horror.”
Could we
then be witnessing the birth of Rocky Horror: The Next Generation?
After all, those with common interests have always sought ways to bond
as a community. That is one of the reasons why the Internet, with its
multiple chat rooms and message boards and web sites geared towards
specific segments of society, has become a cultural staple. But having
the chance to physically congregate with fellow like-minded individuals
is still the core of our human experience. It just needs a strong enough
attraction, and “Once More With Feeling” could indeed become
that kind of vehicle.
In late
2003, for instance, Channel Four in England offered the opportunity
to vote for the “100 Greatest Musicals” via their website.
While the Rocky Horror Show finished number seven on that list,
the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn’t
far behind, coming in at number thirteen. The Alamo Theater in Austin’s
website, meanwhile, proclaims, “Sure, HBO’s got all those
shows that get the critics talking and help to teach us all new curse
words, but the musical episode of Buffy is the only piece of
episodic television we’ve seen that holds up to repeat viewing
after repeat viewing after repeat viewing.”
Attendance
is another strong indication there’s something beginning to brew
in this sliver of underground culture. Not only is the Buffy Sing-A-Long
now a regular event in Austin, not only is Pittsburgh leaning towards
the same level of consistent audience commitment, but even New York
City, which had back-to-back showings on a Friday and Saturday night,
is likewise considering a return engagement. As Pittsburgh-attendee
John Reoli pointed out, however, the Rocky Horror Picture Show
is a self-contained story. One can view the show without having any
previous knowledge. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on the other
hand, is ultimately about the relationships of the characters, making
it harder for novices to jump into “Once More With Feeling,”
the series 107th episode, and understand the dynamics of the show.
Buffy’s return
from the grave, Willow’s persistent dabbling in magic against
the wishes of lover Tara, Xander’s engagement with ex-demon Anya
and Spike’s unrequited love for Buffy could all be lost on someone
experiencing the show for the first time. But not only are the characters’
relationships with their on-screen counterparts important, so is an
understanding of the fans’ relationship, for better or worse,
with the characters. Shouting “shut up Dawn,” for example,
would be wasted on newcomers not aware of how the character became annoying
and whiney during season six. Enthusiastic applause and cheers of “Spike!”
could likewise prove confusing without knowing the popularity of the
blonde-haired, leather-coat-clad vampire.
Buffy
is the rare series that is more than just a television show, however,
but a bonafide pop culture phenomenon that could indeed attract neophytes
wanting to get in on the experience. There aren’t many series
like that, and none have produced anything even remotely close to “Once
More With Feeling.” “If Star Trek had done a musical
episode, we would all be here on a Friday night,” remarked Elizabeth
Cromwell. Her friend Reoli agreed. “If The X-Files had
done a musical episode we would be here, but they never did. There is
nothing else,” Cromwell continued. “The kind of shows that
hit to this level are few. Rocky Horror was first. Maybe this
Buffy is second.”
As for
how far the Buffy Sing-A-Long can go, the jury is still out.
As Reoli remarked, they are still doing Rocky Horror thirty
years later. “Maybe we’ll see in thirty years,” he
said in terms of whether the Rocky Horror/Buffy comparison
is legitimate. Who knows? Considering how Buffy the Vampire Slayer
still resonates in the pop culture consciousness, the Sing-A-Long
could indeed still be going strong.
(This article
orginally was published in PopMatters.)
December
1, 2006
