Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Term Paper

Even the pagan concept of a goddess resembles Buffy's character, wherein the pagan concept of a goddess is based on the assumption that the goddess exists to protect humankind from the threat of mortality -- that is, the goddess exists for the purpose of ensuring humanity that they live a long and fulfilling life on earth. The pagan goddess, then, is the protector of the earth, humanity, and everything it represents. Like the pagan goddess, Buffy's role as protector of humankind from vampire slayers and other evil creatures makes her an appropriate icon for today's popular culture of so-called saviors of humanity.

These similarities of Buffy as a vampire slayer elevates her status to one similar to Virgin Mary's, the Hindu goddesses', and pagan goddess' stature in their respective religious societies. However, despite these similarities, there are also remarkable differences between Buffy and these religious icons, and these differences make up the qualities that only Buffy possesses, making her unique compared to Virgin Mary, Hindu goddesses, and the pagan goddess.

What makes Buffy unique from the Virgin Mary's image is that she possesses a characteristic that resembles Jesus Christ's persona more than the Virgin Mary. Buffy's intelligence and skill to fight against her enemies and power to spare humans from death from the evil creatures make her more powerful than Virgin Mary. Buffy's character goes beyond the docile and feminine character of Virgin Mary, and this is the most important distinction that makes Buffy more unique than her.

Compared to the Hindu goddesses, Buffy gains better reputation because of her androgynous qualities, wherein her power and personal characteristics equal to the combined characteristics of all Hindu goddesses.In effect, she represents all facets of female and male temperaments that are only found in specific characters from each Hindu goddess. This holistic representation of Buffy's character makes her, as with Virgin Mary, a more superior character than Hindu goddesses.

Under the pagan belief, the pagan goddess is exclusively identified as feminine, devoid of any masculine character. Compared to Buffy's almost androgynous characteristics, the pagan goddess pales in comparison, primarily because she is only known to protect the earth and everything it represents. Furthermore, the Wiccan's belief to protect humanity and the earth is limited, and does not encompass the fact that, unlike Buffy, the pagan goddess is limited to the preservation of natural creations on earth, which does not involve the ability to interfere with human relationships and interactions.

Given the following compare and contrast analysis of the character of Buffy as a vampire slayer vis-a-vis the Virgin Mary, Hindu goddesses, and the pagan goddess, it becomes evident that because of the flexibility of Buffy's characterization, specifically her possession of both male and female characteristics, makes her more powerful and able compared to the three famous religious icons. The combination of the three icons' personalities within Buffy illustrates how her character is created to make her unique and at the same time, appeal to people in general. The universality of Buffy's character makes her more admirable and interesting to her viewers, endearing her more to her audience and become more acceptable to people from other cultures….....