Diversity/ Need vs Desire

I’d rather stray away from the issue of feminism in this post, and instead discuss the issues of diversity that Michele Byers brings up in her article “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Next Generation of Television”. Apparently Buffy has been criticized by some for having little racial or class diversity. While I certainly am not in support of a media controlled only by white, upper- and middle-class Americans, I do believe the lack of diversity is necessary to emphasize one of the main points of the show: that outward appearances do not necessarily reflect the true inner workings of a character. Everyone will agree that Buffy appears to be the epitome of the California Beach girl: she’s beautiful, blond, and not counted among the more academically formidable. Furthermore, for possessing these same character traits, she fits the stereotype of a Hollywood superstar. But Buffy, as we all well know, is no typical California girl. She’s a superhero. It is necessary for all of the characters to appear as part of the beautiful, privileged, and yes, white stereotypes in order for this idea that all people are layered to shine through to full effect. I think the show does an excellent job of making every character unique and multi-dimensional, so I truly believe a lack of diversity can be excused.

Now on to some observations from “Inca Mummy Girl”. One aspect of Ampata’s demonic character I found intriguing is that Ampata, unlike many other Buffy villains who fall under the category of incubus/succubus, must continue to feed on others to survive. Kathy, our demon friend from “Living Conditions”, implies that she will only have to suck out one soul, namely Buffy’s, in order to forever after be considered a human. We also see later in the series, when certain vampires become unable to feed on humans for whatever reason, that they can live, if uncomfortably, on pigs blood from butchers. These demons do not need to feed on the life force of humans, but they choose to anyway. It seems possible that this is the reason Ampata inspires more sympathy for the average viewer. She has no choice but to go on sucking the life force from whoever is closest, no matter how much she may want to stop. We all wish Ampata could get what she wants and just live the life of a normal girl, but because we see from the start that this is not possible, we sympathize with her. Some might argue that when at the end of the episode Ampata tries to bargain with Xander, saying “Just this one and we can be together” that this implies Ampata would eventually be able to stop feeding and live a normal life, but it seems more likely this was a trick to get Xander to let her live.

This is perhaps why some of us also feel sympathy for Carmilla. She seems to want a normal life with Laura as a companion more than she wants to drink Laura’s blood (she does indulge but leaves Laura alive, much like how Ampata begins to suck Xander’s life force but decides he means too much to her). Carmilla continues to feed on the villagers while she spends her time with Laura, which would indicate that her thirst for blood comes from a place of need rather than desire. Maybe it is this notion of need overcoming desire that makes us sympathetic for certain demons and not others. Whether Dracula fits into this thesis still remains to be seen.