Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Year 10 English

Term 1 – Representations of women –

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Episode 22 Season 7 ‘Chosen’

In analyzing the representation of women in a text, you should consider the following questions.

1.     What do/ does she look like? Pay particular attention to the question of whether she is considered beautiful/ physically attractive? Is she young?

·      She is pretty and young and physically attractive

2.     What qualities are valued in women in the text?

·      She is strong

·      She is beautiful

·      She is independent and can fend for herself

·      She is a leader

·      She is determined

3.     What aspects of the text challenge the traditional representation you identified in your fairy tale?

·      She is the main character yet she is not a damsel in distress

·      She is leading an army

·      She is independent and can say no to men

·      She is intelligent

4.     How is the message presented to us? Consider the positioning techniques discussed at the beginning of the term.(Character(Buffy in particular), costume, camera angles, dialogue etc)

·      The camera angle is a mid-shot to show her body build and her techniques of fighting

·      Her costume suggests that she actually fights instead of being in flowing princess gown

·      They are also taken from a high angle when she is talking to a bad guy as this makes her look small yet capable of fighting them

5.     How are men presented in this text? (Consider power, hero, villain etc)

·      Men are presented as weaker than Buffy and that she is the strong one in the relationship

·      They like Buffy but she is hard to get

·      They seem clingy that they always want to help her but she is perfectly capable by herself

6.     Who has power in this text? Why do they have power?

·      Buffy has the power in this text but also women do too

·      Buffy guides women to believe that they can defeat the vampires

·      Even though Buffy is in the weaker spot she is still determined to beat them

     7.     Consequences: Who is rewarded? How? Who is punished? How?

·      Buffy is kind of rewarded as she saves the world

·      Yet Buffy loses Spike so she is punished

·      Many people died so this is another punishment

·      Spike is rewarded as he found his soul

     8.   How are women represented in this episode?

·      Women are represented as strong individuals

·      They are represented as determined and intelligent

·      They are also independent and capable of looking after themselves

·      They aren’t head over heels for men