Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Things About Willow That Would Never Fly Today – Screen Rant

Willow Rosenberg is a staple and one of the four main characters from the very beginning ofBuffy theVampire Slayer. Most fans and critics of this hit series agree that Willow had one of, if not the, biggest transformation over the seven seasons the show aired.

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Willow became a role model for women and was one of the first lesbian characters written for a mainstream, network series. There's a lot to love about Willow, played by Alyson Hannigan, but looking back on theBuffy there are a few things that haven't aged very well and certain things that would probably have to be re-written if the show were produced today.

Willow is introduced as a nerdy, brainiac, and everyone's go-to tutor at Sunnydale High School. In a few of the earlier episodes, Willow is seen being too helpful to her fellow students, even doing their work for them. Willow seems to be too scared to stand up for herself, so she takes the easier road and does what her classmates ask her to do, even though it's wrong. In today's world, Willow wouldn't risk getting caught cheating and ruining her perfect academic reputation for these people who are just using her.

Willow harbors a secret crush for her best friend Xander and in the first couple seasons, she hides her true feelings and pretends that she's okay just being his friend. When Xander starts dating Cordelia, Willow's reaction is less than supportive and she gets catty behind her friend and his new girlfriend's back.

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On a couple of occasions, Willow makes unfair jabs at Cordelia's expense, calling her a "skanky ho". This kind of language coming from another woman is frowned upon twenty years later and we would expect more from Willow today.

At the end of season two, a distraught and heartbroken Buffy leaves Sunnydale without telling anyone where she's going. Her mother had just kicked her out of her house and she had to kill Angel to save the world, so Buffy, understandably needs to spend some time alone to cope with her loss. When Buffy does return, her friends and family have been worried about her and are angry at her for running away. Willow doesn't give Buffy any room to explain why she left, and jumps on her pretty quickly, making it more about herself than about her friend who was clearly going through something traumatic.

There are a lot of problems with the Willow/Oz/Xander/Cordelia storyline. The biggest problem is that Willow in a lot of ways, sets Oz up for failure and manipulates their relationship, only to cheat on him with her best friend, who she has been harboring secret romantic feelings for, for years.

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What Willow does to Oz is pretty unforgivable, but she gets away with it and everyone seems okay eventually. It's hard to imagine that storyline would get the green light on television now, with so little explanation on Willow's part.

Willow's wardrobe has not aged well. This show premiered in the late 90's and aired through the early 2000's, so there's a lot about the wardrobe and hair and makeup that is dated, looking back on the series now. Keeping that in mind, Willow's outfit choices are particularly bad. The only way she could get away with wearing any of her clothes in 2020 was if it were Halloween or for a throwback Thursday Instagram post.

After Buffy dies, Willow and Tara move into the Summers' home to look after Dawn, who is still a minor. When Joyce, Buffy and Dawn's mom died, Buffy became Dawn's legal guardian, but with Buffy dead, her friends are worried Dawn would end up in foster care, so instead of fighting for custody, they put Dawn more at risk by using the Buffybot.

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The Buffybot looks like Buffy, but she doesn't act like Buffy very well. Despite the problems, Willow and Tara send the Buffybot to school meetings and to meetings with social workers pretending to be the real Buffy.

With the success of shows likeThe Walking Dead and movies likeZombieland, it's difficult for viewers to imagine how Buffy coming back from the dead would play on television today. Willow brings Buffy back with a resurrection spell, which essentially, makes Buffy a zombie, and the gang jokes about that fact on numerous occasions. Zombies are such a big part of today's sci-fi/fantasy tv culture that this storyline would have a lot of problematic plot points if it were written in 2020.

Willow is initially written to be meek and mousy and frequently doesn't stick up for herself. A character like that on television today, would be written off quickly. Women are more empowered now and playing a female protagonist small doesn't work anymore.

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Willow does come out of her shell more, but she still carries this character trait even in the later seasons. Willow is a really strong woman, yet frequently backs off or hides, especially when Buffy is leading the fight.

Most 90's teen series seemed to portray a giant lack of parental supervision, andBuffy is no exception. Willow's parents are occasionally mentioned, and we even see her mom in an episode, but they are notably absent for the entire series. Maybe that was okay in the late 90's/early 2000's, but today, it raises a lot of questions. It's also a plot hole for Willow's character because it's hard to imagine someone with such absent parents would still be so organized and on top of her grades and responsibilities.

Willow murders Warren to avenge Tara's death. Willow is understandably devastated when Tara is murdered by the leader of The Trio, but at the end of the day, Warren was human and Willow killed him. There's no police investigation and after spending some time in England with Giles, Willow comes back and is forgiven by her friends. Now, it seems a little far fetched that there weren't more repercussions for Willow after she takes a human life.

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Amelia Brantley is a writer and actor based in Los Angeles, California. Her love for film, television, and theater drove her to pursue her dreams at a young age. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Acting from The American Music and Dramatic Academy and constantly auditions/works in the industry. In addition to writing for ScreenRant, Amelia also blogs, on her own blog, as well as for other entertainment industry online resources. If she isn't writing or self-taping, she's most likely cuddling with her dog, Warner George.

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Things About Willow That Would Never Fly Today - Screen Rant