In the fourth episode of the first season of Buffy, a teacher of Buffy’s actually encourages her to succeed, and then mysteriously disappears. And then what. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I hope that it goes without saying that I enjoy doing Mark Watches because it allows me to criticize a show while still actually liking it. But it’s something that’s sort of unheard for other people, and they equate criticism with a dislike of the content itself. (Fandoms, get your shit together. The two are not mutually exclusive at all.) I’m glad that “Teacher’s Pet” comes after “Witch” because it provides me with a chance to bring up this very concept.
So, straight up, I didn’t really like this episode, and I’ll get into the two main reasons in more detail in a bit. But I think most of us can look at things we love–books, television, music, etc–and find something we didn’t like in it. That’s fine, and the problem comes when people doubt our loyalty to something or start rambling about being a “real” fan of something, and then I roll my eyes so hard it causes an earthquake. Because no thank you and take your ridiculous, inaccurate, and unnecessary opinions elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean people can dislike something for the wrong reasons, or base that opinion on a misunderstanding or getting factual information wrong. I can’t tell you how many people I had to correct regarding the events of the series finale of LOST. I don’t care if you hate it; just don’t make shit up that wasn’t even there. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. When I watched “Teacher’s Pet,” I enjoyed a few moments of the episode, but the vast majority of it simply bored me. It wasn’t awful or terrible or anything. (Meaning it was not “Fear Her.” I will never stop finding opportunities to bring up that episode. I refuse to let go of that grudge, okay?) But….well, I suppose I should get into this.
First of all, let me get to what I liked: Dr. Gregory. The last three episodes have all featured someone inferring that Buffy will be a failure because of her past. lol all of u go away. How is that supposed to help her? Instead, Dr. Gregory tells her to ignore Principal Flutie and anyone else who insists on telling her that her past is all that narrates her present. It’s honestly this huge moment for Buffy, and I totally get why she’s emotional after Cordelia discovers his dead body in the cafeteria.
Secondly, Angel. Like, I have never really found David Boreanaz attractive personally, and what the hell happened to me? He puts on that smoldering look and I’m like DUDE DUDE DON’T DO THAT AROUND ME. I mean, I don’t want to marry him or anything, but he can give me that look any time he wants.
Thirdly, Willow’s adorable desire not to see Xander’s decapitated head made me shriek internally. SHIPPING THEM RIGHT NOW because seriously that was so obvious to me. She likes him, doesn’t he? I hope I read that scene right, or else I’ve just embarrassed myself in front of the whole Buffy fandom. (DON’T SPOIL ME.)
Fourthly…yeah, I don’t think I can get that far. I genuinely didn’t like pretty much other than this. Some of it rests on the fact that I’m bored by the trope of using sexual and attractive women as bait to show what evil people they are. Granted, this was only one woman and the other women in the episode did not demonstrate the same behavior at all. But it’s so common to have a woman use her sexuality specifically for the purpose of murder. (Well, I guess this episode also deals with reproduction, but isn’t that reproduction acquired through means of rape? Awesome.) The whole time, Ms. French exists to be stared at. She feeds into it, and the whole time, all I could think was GOD I AM SO BORED.
Thankfully, a lot the behavior here is followed by shrugs, laughs, and eye rolls from Buffy and Willow, who can’t understand why everyone is falling for this. It’s a neat way to have the show provide a negative analysis to how the various young men react to Ms. French, but I don’t know that it’s necessarily enough.
However, there’s a bigger reason that this all failed to have any interest for me. I don’t want this to come off as if I’m blaming Buffy for this problem, or to establish this idea that the show is this horrible because of this, or that it applies to everything that comes after. I’m only four episodes in and I acknowledge that. It’s more like…this episode just inspired a specific thought in me that I wanted to discuss at length, and this seemed like a good enough space to do so.
It wasn’t something that popped up immediately, but around the halfway mark, I realized why this was boring me so much: I’m not straight. Watching a bunch of boys hound after an attractive woman just felt so common and uninteresting to me because it’s all I ever seen in movies and television anyway.
Of course, I’ve been able to find plenty of things to relate to or identify with in depictions of straight relationships in the past. Just because I’m gay does not mean all of my relationships, sexual or not, have absolutely nothing in common with anything ever made or created anywhere. Being gay doesn’t make me special, but it does mean that there are large parts of my experience that will have no similarity to what straight people go through. I think nothing represents that better than the fact that most, if not all, of the men in this episode can openly hit on Ms. French without repercussion or being publicly shamed. And maybe that’s not something that you ever thought about! But like…unless I’m in the Castro or West Hollywood or Boystown or I get the look (omg all y’all queers can we have a discussion in the comments about the look it is my favorite thing ever), I really can’t just approach someone I find attractive. Part of that is sheer numbers: the vast majority of people I will meet are straight, and I have a 0% chance with them in any context. But part of it comes from fear, and the young men in this episode don’t have it. So I’m sitting there, watching them all volunteer to help Ms. French, and I have nothing to feel towards it aside from disinterest.
And look, I am not saying that Buffy is oppressing me or anything GOOD LORD THAT WOULD BE RIDICULOUS. But this episode is so…straight? And I can’t help but see it in almost every scene, since the writing isn’t particularly subtle. This is all about men and their sexual drive; all of it is brought out by Ms. French herself.
It’s also related to why I thought all the talk of virginity at the end of the episode was a little odd. I’m glad it was brought up, first of all, and I’m glad the characters discussed it. But everyone discusses it in this weird, virtuous way? As if they’d have made a terrible mistake if they weren’t virgins. I think the choice should be left up to the person involved, and everyone shouldn’t be shamed one way or another. But, again, me being a big ol’ gay gay who gays, virginity has a much, much, much different meaning for me. I couldn’t lose my virginity when I wanted to growing up, and, like marriage, for a long time I simply assumed it would never happen. I know that might be a strange thing to read because it’s so pervasive and common. So I don’t think Buffy necessarily gets things wrong, so to speak, but I wanted to offer up a different perspective on the concept. Those two things–virginity and marriage–were among many ideas that seemed impossible as a closeted gay kid in a violently homophobic community. I don’t know that I would want Buffy to acknowledge that; it would honestly be really distracting to appear here at all. This is more for all of you, just to give you an idea how someone whose sexuality differs from the norm can see small, seemingly inconsequential things, and then be inspired to have such thoughts. It doesn’t make you a bad person for not thinking of such things; it’s just the way society places weight on one thing over another.
Okay, enough of me gaying up the Internet! I didn’t like this episode, but it is far from being a show-ruiner. My excitement and anticipation for this show is still pretty high regardless. GIMME MORE, WHEDON.
Not a spoiler, but if you don't want your image of Giles ruined….ignore this.
Giles is awesome because Anthony Stewart Head is awsome…and has some great legs…
[youtube Lilv4d9Z7o8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lilv4d9Z7o8 youtube]
How have i never seen this video?
i was watching Buffy, my daughter was watching New Moon. I'm cooler… so I WIN!!!
Don't ever feel bad for not liking this episode, Mark. I'm a huge fan of Buffy and I really dislike this episode. There are a few good minor things about it: Flutie's speech, Dr Gregory (Buffy finally has a supportive authority figure in school!), and while Xander was being an idiot, it was necessary to make fun of and make him realize the idiocy of his ideas about masculinity.
But the main plot is so annoying, I didn't like the stereotypical behavior of the boys, Ms French couldn't be smarmier if she tried and everyone should've realized something was wrong with her, the Predatory female sexuality trope (she just wants to mate?) was just weird, and I hated the mocking of boys for being virgins. Generally the show does really well to avoid or subvert gender stereotypes, but that was a real fail, Though I guess one could justify it by the characters being teenagers who aren't all that enlightened and are still a slave to gender stereotyping.
Lrf lrf! V ybir Fcvxr uneq pber, naq ybir Natry nf jryy (ivbyngvat frireny snaqbz ehyrf va gur cebprff). V nqzvg V ybir Natry zber ba uvf bja fubj guna favssvat nebhaq Ohssl. Ohg tbbq ybeq, FCVXR VF TBVAT GB JNYX BA GUR FPRAR FJVATVAT N ONQNFF PBNG FBBA THHHHU
Actually watching the movie technically wouldn't help so much. Reading Joss Whedon's script in comic form is much easier on the brain drain, but of course that's really a matter of opinion.
Xanders creepy dream, buffy would never act like that
Awwwh biology teacher your awesome!
Ok creeper you can stop being one any time now!
Wow smooth line Xander — not.
Your so SEXY OMG!!!!
hahaha xander why so green?
Be moar sarcastic buffy <3
Why you so useless xander?
They wear faux velet shits lolol
Blaine i hope you get chomped
Bit touchy arent you lady.
Isnt that skirt really short for a teacher?
Buffy & Willow for life @ witty sarcastic comments!
Giles "here drink this"
Buffy "no thank you" -buffy drinks the water-
Moar Angel please!
You fibber Buffy. Giles should have known better.
Great creepy park
My mom has a coat like that
Wahoo vampire!
Police why you so useless?
Lady you are some kind of monster!
Miss French has bedazzled every male on campus. Weird
Mr. Flutie your annoying.
"we're senestive to weird touching"
Cordy your so shallow lol
YOU ARE WILDLY INAPPRIATE MISS FRENCH
Xander your so silly and blind she just wants your sperm
Ew thats gross
"its the shoulder pads."
"these cuddleys should be brushing after every meal"
Lol right xander your green skin and doucheness is showing
Martini are you joking me?
"you mean like in the same room?"
Awh Xander your so naieve
"your hands are so, theyre really serrated"
& now your stuck in a cage
Awh willow your so cute!
Lol blaine your a virgin you liar!
Loving Xanders rings
The innie minnie mo ahahahah
The incect replletant lol
So now your a nice guy Blaine
Ahahaha Willow your amazing 🙂
OMG OMG ITS ANGEL! YUMMMMM
SHES WEARING HIS JACKET 😀
yeah, this episode is… decidedly not awesome on basically all the levels you stated above. (this is why your blog is my favorite thing, because whenever i find a need to defend my point of view to someone else, all i have to do is be like, LOOK RIGHT HERE and all my work is done for me.)
things:
a) ~*~the look~*~ is my absolute favorite. i worked at a corporate teashop for a short time that was basically the queerest of queer. like, every employee was gay. i got ~*~the look~*~ when i was interviewed, and then every gay in the store would give customers ~*~the look~*~ the second they'd walk in and we'd KNOW.
b) LOVE dr. gregory and what his reaction tells us about buffy's character. like, she really is so afraid of failure and disappointment. it adds a new level when you think about it with the knowledge that her destiny is something that… if she fails at, she basically fails the world.
c) i completely know what you're saying with the whole "this episode is so straight" thing. as a gay lady, i get like that with shit like sex and the city. i will literally just never understand it. it interests me not at all. and not because the acting isn't good or like, the ladies aren't hot or whatever. just because that much of a plot about hetero sex isn't enough to hold my interest. i never know whether to feel oppressed, like you said, or just like, come to terms with the fact that in this world there is going to be media for straight people, i suppose. i mean, it would definitely help if 99.9% of the media wasn't about straight people. but i have problems getting legitimately angry with sex and the city for their lack of queer content because it did as a show do other important things like give women over 30 the allowance to be open about their sexuality. i don't know. intended audience makes everything so murky.
Mmm hm. I get pretty eye-rolly around the horny teenage boys collapse into puddles of nonsense around attractive women trope myself. It's just so… done. And boring. It feels very much like "durr durr durr men are so single-minded and sex renders them into mindless animals" and that bothers me on multiple levels. One: men are not mindless animals. Two: perpetuating the stereotype that they are adds to the social stigma that it is both expected and acceptable behavior. So, a guy may feel pressured into this macho man "hurr I like boobs" personality even if that's not really who he is, OR men who DO think that's an acceptable way to act are receiving reinforcement that it's cool.
And then of course we get the conflicting OMG MALE VIRGINITY IS SO UNCOOL and OMG VIRGINITY IS SO WONDERFUL AND MAKES YOU A GOOD PERSON stuff and yeah. Boooooo. Every series has its duds.
One bad thing about Buffy is that it's pretty…idk what to call it…white-straight-cisperson-centric? It's more progressive than most of the stuff that was out at the time, but it still falls short of being all inclusive about 60%-80% of the time. I am looking forward to your commentary on that particular element of the show as you continue to watch. As a white woman who's straight and cisgendered, I am pretty limited to seeing things through that particular lens. It will be enlightening to see one of my favorite shows through a completely different lens.
Yeah.. I found it to be quite forgettable. I didn't like it.
And I've never been a big fan of David Boreanaz, I find his acting to be poor and in real life he sounds like he's a real jackass.