Blog Post #5 : First Gay Character on Buffy

Since today's topic was largely focused on television characters that are a significant part of the LGBT community, I thought I would share my insight on the character from my all time favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that started it all; Willow Rosenberg. Although there had been other gay characters in movies and soap operas, Willow was the first gay character on a mainstream television show. This show already had a very strong LGBT following, as there were many parallels between coming out as gay and the character of Buffy 'coming out' as being a slayer to her friends and her mother. In the series' fourth season, Willow meets and falls in love with the character of Tara Maclay. Due to a very strict network, the 2 characters were not even allowed to share an onscreen kiss until a season and a half into their relationship. This is a pretty good example of how times have changed on prime time television.

What I absolutely love about the character of Willow coming out as gay is that it was not done for shock value and it was not made a big deal on the show. The best way to normalize something is to treat is to not treat it as though it is unusual or shocking. The writers managed to do this in a way that made it a complete natural part of the character's life and I found that to be incredible. Also, the character of Willow is a fan favorite on the show, being the one that most of the fan base could relate to as appose to Buffy. She was never disliked or treated differently after her character came out. Her character was already strong, funny, intelligent, and caring and a really impressive female character on a show already full of strong female characters. I think Willow really revolutionized this concept that somebody should love who they love, and be who they are.

Here's a link to an article that explains this a bit more
http://sosogay.co.uk/2013/love-and-marriage-in-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-willow-and-tara/