LESBO-VAMPIRE-HUNTER-WITCH IN LOVE WITH FEMME-DEMON  

A few days ago I walked into a bookstore. I asked the clerk at the counter for the autobiography of Johnny Cash and he answers: “Do you know the author?” Yes, life tends to get a bit confusing from time to time.

I blame it all on corporate culture, though. That sort of very defensive, smoothed down tv-series, comics and music, that is manufactured to the tastes of juveniles but never wants to offend adults, because a) adults give children the money they spend and b) those in charge of advertising budgets are also adults. But, from time to time, things manage to sneak into the well polished corporate culture products, that wouldn’t get in there, if product managers had enough time to check everything as thoroughly as they should. Michael Rushkov calls them media viruses and named Simpsons or Ren & Stimpy as examples. Just look at all those cartoons punks and anarchists usually use to illustrate their zines, singles, posters and batches, and you know ‘em (and the reason).

Lately, the only show me and my wife watch regularly on tv is “Buffy, the vampire slayer”. Yeah, I know, it’s stupid, everyone seems to dress in H&M-clothing, the music is pseudo-alternative-college-crap and, well, aren’t we grown out of monsters, yet? Firstly, there are shows that are way more stupid. Then, who of you has never bought H&M-clothes, who has never listened to music he knew, his / her cool scenester-friends would scorn at (and liked the music nevertheless) and, finally, nope, I ain’t grown out of monsters yet, and I am probably older than most of you.

I assume that you are all familiar with Buffy, the teenage martial-arts-expert and hunter of vampires and demons and her saga? No? Well, check it out on the internet, ‘cause I ain’t got time to wait up for you slow ones. So, Buffy has this friend from highschool-days, Willow. You remember, how she fell in love with that guitarist, who turned out to be a werewolf and who asconded to get control over the beast in him. Or that she is practising witchcraft in her sparetime?

Well, a few couple’a shows back, she met a girl, who is also a witch, and they became friends. At first just friends, and then it became really clear that there is more going on than just sisterly love. And just a few days ago she confided into Buffy, and all the viewers at home. And I thought to myself, well, how did that happen? Not that she is a lesbian, that’s dandy with me, but that in such a popular show, produced by a big network from the US (where oral sex is still prohibited in some states) a lesbian love story managed to sneak in.

Of course, as the protagonists got older, they had sex. Xander and his demon-girlfriend talk about it all the time and Buffy herself is somewhat nymphomanic with her new boyfriend (which became issue of a show not so long ago). But still, homosexuality, openly displayed as something very innocent and nice – and you can’t really describe Willow differently – that’s new and exciting.

I haven’t yet heard any protests of rightwing-organisations as years back, when Ellen made her coming-out in her tv-show. Or when that Teletubbie became a symbol of gay culture due to its handbag and color. By god, some christian fanatics have even found blasphemy in Disney’s Pocahontas where they saw a priest sexually aroused (cool down, it’s a knee, not a boner). But with Buffy - nothing yet.

And this show is very popular with kids that are just growing up, who’re experiencing puberty and have to cope with their flowering sexuality (do I sound like a tabloid-advisor yet?) so I think that is really good, ‘cause it helps them to see that being homosexual is not a bad thing, no sickness, nothing that you grow out of by your own will.

(Aside: You could exchange the word “homosexual” in the last sentence with “punk” and still have a valid statement there. Buffy used to feature music-acts that might be labeled as alternative and the title score is played by fun-punkers Nerf Herder. So that…)