Parental Guidance Suggested

Thus far in Buffy, we have seen adults/authority figures portrayed in a less than flattering light. Either the adults in Buffy's life are completely clueless idiots (Principal Flutie), secretly sinister (Principle Snyder, the Praying Mantis teacher), or they are powerless in the face of evil or danger. The four episodes that we watched for Thursday (2/19) focused on the latter group, though there were a few sinister sneaks thrown in for good measure.

In "What's My Line? Part Two," Giles is portrayed (as he is so often is) as a slightly bumbling, well-intentioned advisor. He may have book smarts, but he is seen (at least by the kids) as someone who is more about thought than action. When Kendra reminds Buffy to return to her watcher for "orders," Buffy is insulted. She informs Kendra that she "doesn't take orders." Though Giles is technically an authority figure in Buffy's life, obviously, she feels that when it comes to a crisis, she should trust her own judgement. Giles may come up with clever plans, but ultimately, it is the kids who implement them. Willy, on the other hand, appears incompetent at first only to become a somewhat spineless bad guy.

Giles' role of kindly father figure contines in "Surprise" and "Innocence." Though he does hours and hours of research on the Judge, it is Buffy and Xander who come up with and implement the plan to steal a weapon and destroy the Judge. Jenny Calendar is sent to protect the curse on Angel that keeps him good. She is conflicted when she must weigh her ancestral traditions against her relationships with Giles and Buffy. In the end, she fails to protect Angel or Buffy.

Buffy's mother, however, seems the most clueless adult so far in the series. She ignores her daughter's bizarre behavior and unexplainable circumstances at every turn almost as if she is under a spell. She is frustrated with Buffy, and in "Becoming" her lack of faith in her daughter comes to the fore. She may have defended Buffy with an axe in "School Hard" and declared her to be a self-reliant young woman, but those days are over.

I am curious about Whedon's motivation for portraying adults in this manner. It could, of course, simply be a matter of appealing to a young viewer. Every teenager thinks their parents are idiots at some point. In Sunnydale, the parents really are. It could also be a device to emphasize Buffy's isolation and loneliness because of her Slayer calling. Buffy is 17 and is moving quickly toward adulthood/womanhood. If we are following the pattern of the female hero, the time is approaching for her to break away from home/mother/adult guidance and move toward independence. Perhaps Whedon is showing how Buffy's circumstances are forcing her to grow up too quickly.

The adults' blindness to the mayhem and danger that surround them could also be a metaphor. Children and teenagers generally have a very strong sense of personal justice. They are outraged by people and situations that adults just accept as being part of life. Parents remind their teenage children that "life isn't fair." Sometimes as adults, though, we become blind to the evils and injustice that surround us on a daily basis. We accept bad circumstances because "that's just the way things are." Perhaps Whedon is pointing to the power of youth to recognize wrongs in our society and to bring them to light.