I don't think most Buffy fans want to force Joss to do a Buffy movie. What I think most fans are trying to get at is any Hollywood portrayal of Buffy that is done without watching the TV show will be done disrespectfully; thus, Buffy ceases to be a superhero and becomes nothing but a cheap joke. The reason most of us refused to see Buffy the TV series (even now loyal fans such as myself) was because of the corny movie about which nothing was to be taken seriously. Through Joss's TV show, we have come to know a heroine of endless strength...a cultural goddess who is as fragile as every human being yet stronger than any of us. And the fact that in Joss's TV show, she and her friends were so real that we miss them. The level of skill it takes to get people to miss characters that much is underestimated. Now, with Buffy we have a problem and the problem is its very reason for existence. The name, Buffy the vampire slayer. As Joss Whedon stated during the Buffy reunion at Paley Fest, "Yeah, you don’t put BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER on the WB thinking “I’m gettin’ Emmy’s.” 'Nuff said. But that is the main reason I do not feel comfortable with Buffy being rebirthed within Hollywood again as another B-movie let down. We don't want the world to remember her that way. A large chunk of the beauty of Buffy the television series is the metaphor that comes with giving absolute power to the most powerless in society. For the blond girl with a silly name to feel like she matters in this world...but far beyond just mattering...that she can save this world. That meant so much to me as a woman that no amount of letters to Whedon could express my gratitude. The idea of Buffy becoming cultural mythology mainstay does give me that warm fuzzy feeling but it's not the kind of thing that can be re-written by just anyone. If it is to be re-written, it should be re-written by someone who is educated and understand metaphor. I believe there are countless people out there who could write Buffy and do a bang-up job. But they MUST understand the key premise that Joss intended. Give that blond who is always being killed in the horror films a voice. Give EVERYDAY WOMEN a voice. That's what it's all about, and the first film perverted that in the worst way. Why not have a Mary the Vampire Slayer movie? It just wouldn't have the same punch as the intentionally cheesy b-movie name has for us and for a generation of young women. I don't trust Hollywood with my heroine unless they can prove they understand what the hell it's all about in the first place!
