Buffy's Rants

[Caleb]

is it just me or do you think that all of buffy's inspiring talks kill the seson...
apart from the last one of course with the whole choice to become slayers.

mainly the one where they kick buffy out of her own house...

[Bangelxx]

haha, interesting point of view but I actually really enjoyed Buffy's "inspiring" speeches. maybe its just me though...

[Blondie Bear]

I think Buffy was trying to provide the Potentials with something she didn't have--an inside scoop from a Slayer who had been in the field for years. And, yes, she went on a little long sometimes, but she was really trying to be a leader and be a role model for these girls, and doing it the best way she knew how.

[LorneyTunes]

Buffy does tell them the truth she turns into miss i can't make it all better with a hug but they needed the truth kickin her outta her house is like them stabbin a big knife in her back , like we don't need ya now even tho you have saved the world many times not to mention our lifes bye .

But on the other had girls to get hurt and xander becomes a pirate so yes they where a bit upset and to be honest season 5 going to season 6 more depressing than season 7 you know shes gonna wins buffy shes died twice x

[Bluebird]

I understand why she was saying it, but as a viewer you feel like she's repeating herself. But I love how the writers acknowledged Buffy's speeches with Andrew turning the camera away when he was getting bored.

[white avenger]

The Slayer is supposed to be an assault trooper, not a general (the Watchers, I think, specifically trained them that way, even Giles, though not to as great an extreme). Buffy was completely out of her depth in commanding the Potentials and her friends. I think that she fell back on her speech giving as a sort of way to assure herself that she was, indeed, in charge (if she had been more confident in her ability to lead, she would have kicked everyone else out of HER house in Season 7, not let them kick her out, but that is a discussion for another time and place.). As a result, her rhetoric came off a bit on the heavy handed side. She could have gotten her points across just as well with fewer words. I think that the writers were trying to get that point across, but were too subtle with it for most people to notice.

[Cangel]

Though I more or less liked her speeches (most of them were pretty moving, or was that just me?), on some level they also annoyed the hell out of me. I know Buffy was under a lot of pressure with everything going on, having to lead the potentials etc., but in those speeches she just got so arrogant from time to time. Maybe it's just me, but I think with all these potentials around Buffy just got the feeling of superiority (probably also over her friends), which she expressed with all her speeches. SO as moving as they might've been, they also always held this disturbing element, which ruined them, and with that part of the season.

[Lindsey McDonald]

I liked Buffy's arrogance. She's always had a inferiority complex about her superiority complex, so it was good to see her get over it and realise that she is superior, she has to be superior, and she has no time not to be superior. She was panicking, underprepared, and frightened; a hell of a lot more human than she's felt since she died. It made sense for her to act the way that she did. The only thing I didn't like was the bit where she was kicked out, but that's cause that was just bad writing. It came out of nowhere, was waaaay to convenient, and was never resolved properly. Apart from that, I liked the speeches. They showed how important it was for them to be ready, whilst hilighting just how futile their efforts were.

[white avenger]

Possibly she was also using her speeches, which, if you listen to them carefully are much longer on rhetoric than content, the way Giles probably uses polishing his glasses: as a way of stalling for time while he gathers his thoughts. (that sounded a lot clearer when I was thinking it than it does now that I've written it.)

As for Fray's leadership abilities, I never said that Slayers couldn't BE good leaders, just that the Watchers didn't seem to encourage that skill in their girls. Remember, Fray had almost no contact with the Watchers, so any natural leadership qualities she might have (and she obviously did) weren't quelled.

[caitaintdead]

I really enjoyed Buffy speeches. I enjoy any good speeches. It was really nice seeing how much Buffy had grown as a person to be able to talk with that kind of... intellect? I'm sure there's a better word for what I mean, but I can't think of it. When you look back at The Puppet Show and see her fear of public talking and then look at how well she can speak in front of people that she doesn't even know that well, it's pretty good.

[Lauryn Summers]

When you think back on the past seasons of "Buffy", you'll never come across those long speeches until season 7. In that, it kind of made the character of Buffy go into a different tangent, like the writers were trying to create this "new side" of her. What I'm trying to say, is I think those long speeches were out-of-character for her. The first couple were fine, but as the season went on and the doom-saying grew more intense, we heard more and more speeches and lectures out of Buffy, which really isn't her character. I understand that she had the Potentials to train, but the Slayer is, or should be, a single unit, not all of those people combined. I know she was trying to lead everyone, and in that sense the writers did well with the speeches being kind of long-winded...Buffy didn't really know what to say because she had never really needed to rally the troops like that before.

[Aethra]

It's been a while since I've seen Buffy and heard the speeches, I would argue that it was a part of her character. Buffy changed a lot in the time leading up to season seven. Joyce died, and she found that she was on her own. She had to care for Dawn and get a job outside of her slaying duties in order to support her. In addition to this, Buffy had always been a leader, and I think these new aspects of her character manifested in the speeches. With all the potentials to worry about, she probably wanted to quell their fears by letting them know that she had survived the same dangers that were facing them for years.

The speeches themselves, however, can get tedious. As far as I remember, they were mostly motivating and eloquent, but perhaps a bit too frequent. I did love, though, as Bluebird pointed out, that the writers acknowledged this, and had Andrew point out what many of the viewers were probably feeling in Storyteller.

[bufsum]

I think that the writers were trying to get that point across, but were too subtle with it for most people to notice.

I think that this point was emphasized when W/B/X all shared one another's thoughts to come up with a plan. This broke through everyone else, though the clutter, and just focused on the core three.

Buffy (as already mentioned) used these speeches to assert her power, and thus alienated herself from her recruits. The first 5 seasons display Buffy's recognition that she needs to work with the group. Above all, the family comes first ...sounded a little more mafia than I meant it too... it always did. When Buffy lost that ability to rely on her family in the sixth season she obviously became unsure of herself, and used her rousing speeches to inspire her troops, which did no one much good.

It wasn't until Buffy turned to the "group mentality" that she came up with a solution.

I think the audience certainly got more out of them than the group did. ;)

[scarybunny97]

I really liked the first few speeches she made--especially the one she gives to the group after she's been thrashed by the uber-vamp and they're downstairs musing on whether or not they may all just be good and screwed this time. I don't recall the words exactly, but it was something about being "beyond tired, beyond scared . . . " but how if the The First wanted a war, they'd give it one.

But then came the next speech. And the next. And the next. And with each iteration they kinda lost their shine. Like when a song you initially enjoy gets totally overkilled on the radio. Thank gods TPTB know when to make fun of themselves, because Andrew leaving the room in "Storyteller" when Buffy revs up another speech . . . that was good comedy. So to me the speeches started out moving, then got tiresome, then became funny because of how the writers handled her new oration-fixation.

[Violette]

I enjoyed some of Buffy's inspiring speeches, although I miss her bouncy and live character that she possessed in seasons 1-4. After season 5, things just got a lot darker and Buffy seemed to lose that humour & became more serious, especially in seasons 6 and 7.

[LadyLavinia]

The Slayer is supposed to be an assault trooper, not a general (the Watchers, I think, specifically trained them that way, even Giles, though not to as great an extreme). Buffy was completely out of her depth in commanding the Potentials and her friends.


I don't see why a Slayer cannot be a leader. Or else Giles would not have insisted that Buffy lead the Potentials in the first place.

If anything, a Slayer should have been taught to be a leader, researcher, or anything that would help her in her . . . vocation. I see no reason why she should be limited to being nothing more than a killer.

[Dlou444]

It's one of my MAIN complaints for season 7. That and that I felt so "rushed" like I never got to even meet most of the potentials and, yet, I was supposed to be cheering for them. It was a hard season for me.
Spike gave me the happys though!

[Tru Mackney]

I actually enjoy Buffy's speeches. Sometimes when I watch season 7 on DVD, I'll rewind it just so I can listen to the speech again...and again...and again...I have no life...

When Buffy gives her speeches, I feel inspired, validated, and strong. I know that's a little dorky, but it's true.