Buffy Beams
Speaking of paganism and witchery and all that feminine messy mighty magic mojo, this study was just released on the AP wires:
“Hollywood actress Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hit show “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” has been blamed for 50,000 women abandoning traditional Western religion to study paganism.
According to the recent British study published in “Women and Religion in the West,” young women have taken an increased interest in practicing witchcraft after Gellar’s hit went mainstream.
The study’s author Dr. Kristin Aune says, “Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularized by the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” In short, women are abandoning the church.”
August 28th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Aha! The Buffyverse rules! (If I have any religion, it might be what someone once called “worshipping at the altar of Joss Whedon.”)
On a serious note, why do they blame a tv show for pulling young women away from “mainstream” Christianity? Have they considered the possibility that “mainstream” Christianity invalidated them enough to push them out?
August 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Here, here, Gidget!
I think this is hilarious.
The whole blaming something “other” instead of taking responsibility themselves reminds me of what the Church frequently does, in my experience and opinion. Personally, I think the Church (note: not all Christians by far, but the entity itself as a whole) is trenched in an unhealthy, desperate Victim state.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’d like to see all the math that ties Buffy in particular to this phenomenon… and again they act like this is a bad thing! What is so bad about women finally finding a spirituality that adresses their needs and concerns, and their sacredness as Women?
Of all the Divine faces i’ve seen, the female one is most appealing to me. Goddess gives me an experience of deity that looks like me and functions like me. She reminds me that women are not a cosmic afterthought.
Not that i’ve forgotten about the Red Lady’s main Man, her partner, masculine deity, don’t get me wrong.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I will never understand the idea of blaming a social trend on a TV show. Yes, it showed female empowerment and witchcraft, but is it a negative thing? Perhaps Christianity will get its act together and move out of the 1500s.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Perhaps it isn’t the show that makes them want to change. Perhaps it simply sparks their inner Witch, allowing them to express their desire to learn their own past life ways!!!