Post by Brandon on Feb 3, 2017 2:03:15 GMT -5
I've always loved this scene for a lot of reasons. Firstly, Buffy has just been ostracized by her friends for her "weird" behavior since becoming the Slayer, and Pike shows up and surprises her after chastising her for even caring about going to the dance in the first place, when she has much more important things to worry about. But the reason the dance is so important to Buffy is because her life has been drastically altered since becoming the Slayer. Before she was a carefree, popular girl who didn't worry about anything, and now she has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and in her mind, an impending death. Her watcher has just been killed by Lothos, and she's probably realized that her own life expectancy, like the Slayers who came before her, isn't much longer. The dance is a shred of normalcy that she desperately clings to, to convince herself that there's still more to her life than vampires and demons and fights to the death, none of which she wanted or asked for, and after her friends dump her, Pike showing up makes her feel like there still can be. This is verbalized when Pike tells Buffy that she's not like other girls as they dance. It's a genuine compliment on his end, but Buffy assures him that she is. Because while she may be the Chosen One, she's still a teenage girl, and wants to be just like everyone else. This is also a theme that carries into the show, over all seven seasons, and why I think I enjoy both the movie and the show, because of the consistency of that aspect of her character.
Also, the song is really romantic. <3
