Buffy / not Buffy

This week Sarah Michelle Gellar's new television show, The Ringer, previewed on the CW. In general I choose not to watch CW shows - I like to think of myself as too mature for all that ridiculous fluff - but I just couldn't ignore a show that stars Buffy, my friend.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon's beloved tv series, and not that disastrous movie) began when I was in grade 10, and I got hooked right away. Buffy, herself, was in grade 10, so throughout the years I began dating when she began dating, graduated when she graduated, started university when she started university, and saved the world from an apocalypse when she saved the world from an apocalypse. (That last part may just have been in my head...)  But Buffy was meant to be a metaphor for anything and everything that can and does happen to young people growing up in our world today. No matter how realistic, I have never connected with a character as much as I did with Buffy.

Although Sarah Michelle Gellar has aged and changed appropriately over the last eight years (crazy to realize that Buffy ended eight years ago!), she is still Buffy to me. I know how she walks and talks. I know how her hair moves, what her fingers look like, and how jeans look on her compared to slacks. There are 144 episodes of Buffy that I have seen at least four times each. I know her well.

Thus, the opening segment to The Ringer was incredibly exciting - I got to see my friend Buffy again! - but also incredibly jarring. This wasn't Buffy. This wasn't how Buffy was supposed to think, react, or act in this situation. Buffy is strong. Buffy faces struggles head on. Although Buffy may be afraid, she does not show fear in the face of danger. Buffy is my hero. The differences I see in Bridget (her new character) immediately feel like flaws, rather than just different characteristics. While Buffy was sometimes broken as well, it was not the kind of brokenness I saw in Bridget. That brokenness broke me a bit.

I think I'll give The Ringer a chance. Actually, I don't think I really have an option, since there's no way I could ignore Sarah Michelle Gellar if she's on my tv once a week. I just hope that as I get to know Bridget better, I won't forget Buffy, and all she was for me.