Time for a Buffy Rewatch
It’s fall. So, I’ve been asking and thinking about what t traditions I want to indulge in as the days grow shorter and temperatures drop. This weekend the weather was in the 80s. TBH, we’re probably in for more warm days before autumn begins in full swing. But still, each day I wake up at 6am to darker skies. Soon it’ll the perfect season for mulled cider or wine, a thick blanket, and something cozy. What’s cozier than rewatching, reading, listening to your favorites.
Of course, the classic rewatches are a must this time of year: Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Gilmore Girls. Not only did these shows have cool but quirky female characters, but they also spoke to who I was or wanted to be as a teenager. Re Gilmore Girls: the smart overachiever who was still charming and likeable while remaining an outsider. Re Buffy: badass outsider who could be popular if she wanted.
Recently, my mom asked that I pull together a list of resources I used during high school. Someone she knows is also in a predominately white high school and needs help putting words to the emotions and experiences that happen for Black girls in these spaces. The list will mostly consist of the organizations and programs that gave me words like “microagressions,” “tokenize,” or “othered” and put me in a room with like-minded individuals who I could befriend.
However, I’ve been inspired to also think of the media and art that helped me imagine different versions of myself where I was still an outsider but that fact could be something that made me feel special and valued versus insecure. So many of the teen dramas I identified took those awkward teen years seriously. Sometimes for better or for worse, Degrassi, One Tree Hill, and Secret Life of the American Teenager abused shootings as a storyline. But, they some seriously dealt with issues as teens had them.
What I learned from teen dramas:
· Friend betrayals hurt more than romantic breakups
· Frenemies sometimes push you harder than your friends
· Don’t end the semester or school year on bad terms
Most of all something I take with me from teen dramas is grace and forgiveness for how your past self got through high school. It’s more important that you get through high school. Hopefully you make it with somewhat of a personality and maybe a friend or two. Soon that part of yourself will only be someone you think about when it’s time for a seasonal rewatch of your favorite comfort show.
The version of myself in high school that was trying to figure herself out in a PWI did the best she could and tried to find ways to make it somewhat bearable. Unfortunately, you end up doing the same thing over and over again with different institutions.