In the 21st century, homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted by wider society, however, some prejudices are still held against people who are gay. Due to these prejudices some young people still find it difficult to come to terms with their sexuality, and even harder to tell their friends or family if they are homosexual. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a large and varied audience. People of many ages and from many different backgrounds watch it, and it is well-known for it’s large following. As well as this, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a prime-time show in 16 countries around the world and therefore has to model it’s storylines in such a way as to please everybody. When producer, Joss Whedon, introduced a lesbian relationship into the show, he didn’t know what kind of impression it would have on the ratings.
The character, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), in high school, was a geeky computer-whiz who always got high grades and often taught classes to get extra credit. She quickly became best friends with Buffy Summers and Xander Harris – soon to become the ‘Scooby Gang’ – a group revolving around Buffy’s slaying. When Willow and Buffy started college, Willow got involved in Wicca magic and later split up with her boyfriend, Oz, who she truly loved. He left town and as Buffy was starting to spend more time with her boyfriend and Xander with his girlfriend, Anya, Willow was left feeling more alone. She started to go to a Wicca group where she met Tara Maclay (Amber Benson), a shy, practising Wiccan. The pair soon found a strong friendship and much speculation was formed by the audience over Willow’s sexuality.
In the episode “New Moon Rising” (Season 4, episode 19), it is confirmed that Willow and Tara are actually in a lesbian relationship. Oz comes back to Sunnydale and Willow is forced to choose between him and Tara, and she chooses Tara. In this episode, Willow admits her feelings to Buffy, who is shocked at first, but decides that she is happy for her. The relationship progressed throughout Season 5, although we never see Willow and Tara kiss or do anything sexual. Although Buffy is regularly shown having sex with her boyfriend, it seemed that the show was unable to show anything sexual between Willow and Tara. Instead, magic was used as a metaphor for lesbian sex and the focus was placed on the loving nature of their relationship. After increasingly practising ‘magic’, Willow became addicted to it, symbolising that she had in fact developed nymphomania, an obsession with sex – thus implying that lesbian sex is corrupt and addictive, which makes it wrong.
After placing several spells on her friends, Tara gave her one last chance and said that if she could go without magic for one week, they might stay together. However, Willow put a memory-loss spell on Tara and Buffy to make them forget any pain they had suffered, and Tara split up with her. This caused Willow to start using magic more, and she became an addict, almost killing Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn, After increasingly practising ‘magic’, Willow became addicted to it, symbolising that she had in fact developed nymphomania, an obsession with sex – thus implying that lesbian sex is corrupt and addictive, which makes it wrong. in the process. As she realises that’s why Tara left her, she decides to stop doing spells in order to save herself and win Tara back. After half a season, Willow and Tara get back together in “Seeing Red” (Season 6, episode 19). However their happiness is short-lived as Tara is shot dead in their bedroom at the end of this episode. This then causes Willow to turn to dark magic. She turns evil, her hair, eyes and clothes turn black and she sets out on a mission to destroy the world, only to be stopped by her best friend, Xander.
Joss Whedon was somewhat limited in what would and would not be allowed to be shown in Willow and Tara’s relationship by FOX and UPN. This was to limit complaints from the viewers, which shows that some people would be offended by homosexual characters being shown on primetime television, even if Whedon was willing to show more. I will look at these limitations in more detail throughout the analysis of the episode, “Seeing Red”.
Between 1892 and 1969, sexual expression of homosexuals was criminalized by laws that rendered gay men particularly vulnerable to be labelled as “dangerous sexual offenders”. Also, up until 1974, homosexuality was considered to be a psychiatric disorder by the American Psychological Association, and lesbians and gay men were subjected to conversion therapies, including electroshock treatment. It was generally frowned upon, and in some places, a consenting male could be arrested for having homosexual sex with another consenting male, even in the privacy of his own home.
The Children’s Hour (1961) is based on the novel by Lillian Hellman. It tells the story of two friends, Karen Wright (Audrey Hepburn) and Martha Dobie (Shirley MacLaine) who join forces to set up the Wright-Dobie School for Girls. The school runs successfully for a while and Karen believes she will soon be able to marry Joe Cardin. However, Karen has to discipline Mary Tilford, a student who always wants her own way and, worse, is a congenital liar. Upset at being told off by Karen, Mary complains to her grandmother Mrs. Tilford. To strengthen her complaint, Mary repeats part of a conversation that she overheard - but barely understood - a conversation in which Martha’s Aunt Lily accused Martha of having an unnatural relationship with Karen. Mrs. Tilford is horrified and spreads the word to the parents of the other girls, who are disgusted. The pupils are immediately taken out of school, much to the surprise of Karen, Martha and Joe. They finally approach Mrs. Tilford and question her about what is going on. She reveals that Mary had spied on her teachers and found them kissing. This leads Karen and Martha to sue Mrs. Tilford, but they lose the case due to lack of evidence, specifically the testimony of Martha's aunt, Lily Mortar. After they close the school Karen and Martha try to regain a normal life, but it is impossible. While sitting around and chatting, Martha reveals her secret: although she never acted on her feelings, she has always been attracted to Karen, beyond friendship. This is too much for Martha and she goes to her room where she commits suicide by shooting herself.
Although this film would be seen as relatively tame now, at the time it was released it was considered to be extremely controversial. In Wyler’s original version of The Children’s Hour, made in 1936, the lesbian theme was completely suppressed. This second version however, let the subject of lesbianism out of the closet. Although clearly set in the 1960s, the film still retains many of the 1930s’ attitudes towards lesbianism, thus creating a film that hovers somewhere in the middle.
I am now going to analyze “Seeing Red” (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Season 6, episode 19) and the way in which it presents the Willow/Tara relationship. The episode opens with Willow and Tara in bed, the morning after the night the reconciled. In the first few lines we can already see that a metaphor is being used.
Willow: I forgot how good this could feel. Us. Together. Without the magic
Tara: There was plenty of magic, Will.
In this sense, magic is clearly being used as a metaphor for sex, something that Joss Whedon has cleverly managed to do throughout Willow and Tara’s relationship. Due to restrictions from FOX and UPN, Whedon had to be careful as to how much he could show in the girls’ relationship. This first scene of the episode is also the first scene that we ever see a more sexual side to Willow and Tara’s relationship than has ever been shown before in the whole two years they have been together. However, we still only see them lying in bed together and sharing a kiss, whereas we often see explicit sex scenes between the straight characters on the show (for example, Buffy and Spike).
After Willow and Tara have talked about Buffy and who they might not have heard her come in as they were “kinda busy” – again not mentioning sex – Willow goes to find Buffy, but instead runs into Dawn, Buffy’s younger sister, who’s delighted that the girls are back together. The next scene involving Willow and Tara is when they go downstairs to join Buffy and Dawn to talk about how to stop the latest problem in Sunnydale, the evil trio. Before long they’re kissing again and it seem that maybe the show is going to be more open about the lesbian relationship. Although the frame cuts to Buffy and Dawn’s response o the kiss for some of the duration, it does actually show the majority of it. The following dialogue was cut from the script:
Buffy: We’re just jealous. True love.
Dawn: Marriage.
Buffy: Baby carriage.
Dawn: (eyeing Willow & Tara) How does that one work exactly?
This will most likely have been cut due to the show running over time. However there could be a reason that this dialogue in particular was cut. Even in today’s society, same-sex couples having children is often frowned upon. As this could be a reference to the possibility of Willow and Tara wanting children in the future, Whedon may have felt that this was perhaps a little too audacious for the show, especially after suddenly becoming so open in the depiction of the first long-term lesbian relationship on primetime television.
Not long later, Willow and Tara are shown in bed again. Willow is working on her laptop, laid sideways over Tara, both naked and under the covers. They talk about the trio’s ‘evil scheme’ and Willow insists that she doesn’t want to get out of bed.
Willow: Would that involve getting up?
Tara: Eventually.
Willow: Then I’m coming out firmly against it!
Tara: What about the trio’s evil scheme?
Willow: I’m kinda busy working on my own.
In this dialogue Willow is clearly talking about having sex with Tara. However, the following sequence, where Willow grins seductively and ducks her head under the covers, followed by Tara laughing and then ‘gasping in pleasure’ was cut from the episode. With this left in the script, it is unlikely that FOX and/or UPN would let the episode be screened on primetime television as it may offend some of the audience. However, it is still acceptable to show graphic sex scenes between Buffy & Spike, and previously, between Buffy & Riley. In the scene that was screened on television, the last thing we see is Tara smiling as Willow disappears off screen, and then we quickly cut to a different scene.
In one of the final scenes of the episode, Willow and Tara are just finishing getting dressed clearly after having sex again. When Willow points out that they are wearing clothes – something unusual for them in this episode – Tara tells her that she better not get used to them. They share yet another kiss and then it cuts to the scene of Buffy and Xander making up in the garden. As they share a hug, Warren, one member of the evil trio, comes into the garden and fires a gun five times; hitting Buffy once in the chest while another stray bullet hits Tara.
Tara: Your shirt (Tara falls to the floor)
Willow: Tara?
Willow: (Cradling Tara) Tara, baby? Baby, come on, get up! Tara?!
Tara dies in her lover’s arms only minutes after having lesbian sex. This connotes that lesbian sex is a sin and must be punished, which is further anchored by the fact that Tara is shot in her and Willow’s bedroom, next to the bed. As Tara dies in Willow’s arms, Willow’s eyes turn black, as they did when she used to get high on magic, except this time they have red in them too. The following few episodes focus on Willow as she turns evil, denoted by her black eyes, hair and clothes, as well as the black veins on her face. She goes seeking vengeance as she hunts Warren down and skins him alive, then after trying to kill Buffy, sets out to end the world. The season comes to a close as Xander stops her from destroying the world and she breaks down in tears of pain fear over what she has done.
Overall, the representation of Willow and Tara throughout their relationship is that it is built purely on love and a deep connection that they have through ‘magic’. Although we know they have a sexual relationship, it is not shown up until this episode, which emphasizes their friendship within the relationship. The fact that Buffy the Vampire Slayer often showed explicit scenes of sexual content between the heterosexual characters, and regularly depicted violence without holding back, but couldn’t show the lesbian characters in scenes of a sexual nature – and instead had to use metaphors - shows that even today, TV shows are limited in what they can show on primetime TV by broadcasters and television networks. This is due to the audience reaction. If an audience is offended in some way or doesn’t like what is being screened (as may be true in this case), ratings will drop, therefore TV networks simply won’t show it. Willow and Tara’s relationship has always been a pretty realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship, and in comparison to some of the others in the show (Buffy with vampire Spike, and Xander with ex-demon Anya) – and with exclusion of Tara’s death and Willow’s vengeance-hunt – it was a fairly ‘normal’ relationship.
In The Children’s Hour, lesbianism is clearly portrayed as evil and a sin, as the lives of the two women accused of being lesbians are devastated by the revelation. It ruins their work and personal lives, and the fact that the children attending their school are taken out, clearly shows society’s prejudice against homosexuality at that time. It was a very risqué subject at the time, even if it isn’t so much now. Therefore, although this was a realistic representation of lesbians at the time, it wouldn’t be today.
In conclusion, it is clear that the Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliché is present in Willow and Tara’s relationship. Joss Whedon stated that he had not killed Tara off because she was gay, but that she was simply used a plot device for Willow to become evil. Therefore, Tara was simply introduced into the show with the intention of her being killed and the intention of Willow becoming evil. This reinforces the Dead/Evil Cliché in that all lesbians and lesbian relationships are doomed to end with one partner dying and/or her lover going crazy. Surely then, this must also show that prejudices about homosexuals still remain in today’s society, and that although it is more accepted than in the past, it is still not completely acceptable to be homosexual or in a homosexual relationship.
Word Count = 3018
Bibliography
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 6, Episode 19 – “Seeing Red” (FOX 2002, Director: Michael Gershman)
The Children’s Hour (MGM 1961, Director: William Wyler)
The Celluloid Closet (Telling Pictures 1995, Director: Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/context/
