Posted in: CW, Hulu, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy, buffy the vampire slayer

Buffy Star Thinks Joss Whedon "Overidentified" with Xander in Early Ep

During The Bitch Is Back! podcast, Charisma Carpenter tackled Buffy the Vampire Slayer S01E04: "Teacher's Pet," an episode she's NOT a fan of.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the latest episode of Charisma Carpenter's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel first-watch podcast, The Bitch Is Back! (check it out), you definitely should because it looks back at the fourth episode of the first season of BTVS, "Teacher's Pet" (directed by Bruce Seth Green and written by David Greenwalt). Spoiler? Carpenter is not a fan of this episode, and makes some excellent points to back up her argument, noting how series creator Joss Whedon "had overidentified with Xander," that the episode was an early example of Xander's (Nicholas Brendon) microaggressions against Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) for his one-sided obsession with the slayer, and how the hour played into the tired, sexist tropes that teen boys will do anything for sex and that sexually-empowered women are something to fear.

"People, I did not love this episode. I was hard-pressed to find things to bring up that I felt were relevant without harping on the fact that it's very boy-oriented and I feel like it centers the lust of a teenage boy too much, and I don't know, I think maybe that's why I didn't respond to it," Carpenter shared about the fourth episode of the series. During the March 1997 episode, the mysterious Miss French (Musetta Vander) takes over the MIA Dr. Gregory's (William Monaghan) class – and proves herself an instant hit with the male students. Before we know it, a headless body is being found by Cordelia (Carpenter), Angel (David Boreanaz) starts offering Buffy creepy warnings, and Xander comes close to learning firsthand why being a She-Mantis' baby daddy is definitely not a good thing.

"I think the key takeaway of the episode is that young boys have issues," Carpenter offered. "Just, you know, we all have issues. I don't mean to be mean to boys, but it just seems like it's – here's the thing. I think the creator [Joss Whedon] had overidentified with Xander or had actually spoken out loud to audience members on some platform or another within the "Converse" or what have you," Carpenter added, before being briefly interrupted by her pup digging. "So I feel like it's not a secret that Joss is supposed to be Xander, right? And I think it's honest to talk about the way young boys are very sexually aroused all the time. So I think it's kind of honest to talk about it, but I don't love an episode that centers it."

The entire podcast episode is definitely worth a listen, with Carpenter making some strong and valid points that really shine through after a rewatch. In particular, I appreciated the conversation about Xander acting and seeing himself as some kind of virtuous ally while offering up steady waves of toxic microaggressions in response to his obsessive, one-sided fixation on being Buffy's hero. I also appreciated how Carpenter related a personal story involving her dance instructor to the dynamic between Buffy and Dr. Gregory. In addition, our host made it clear to viewers/listeners that dealing with issues that boys and young men confront is a vital topic to address, but that "Teacher's Pet" wasn't the way to go.

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