So much of it depends on how and why you watch a show or book. You've come to the series rather late in the game and from your responses, I'm guessing, are predisposed towards the gothic horror genre or it's not really your cup of coco.
When Buffy first aired in 1997, there really wasn't that much out there like it. All the shows on now, including Harry Potter for that matter, came after. And it is very much a series of its time. The only vampire romances on tv were...well Forever Knight and The short-lived Kindred. Not a popular trope back then. Buffy set the trend more or less. I don't know how well it would do if it premired now. We're sort of at the end of the whole vampire trend - in fact I think the market has gone past its saturation point, you can always tell when they start doing parodies. In the 1990s, most horror was slasher stories like Scream or Halloween. Whedon's Buffy in a way was a reaction against that trend, he was making fun of a horror trend that was popular in the 1990s and early part of the 21st century. If you hadn't watched those films or were aware of that specific trope...you may miss a lot of things, and not understand why it was wickedly cool that Xander was the powerless and inept sidekick who lusted after Buffy but could never have her, and often had to be saved, while Buffy was the superhero and in love with the dangerous men. Back in the 1990s, it was often the other way around. Even now, to a degree, it is.
As for vampires with humans bit? It depends again on how you think - I suspect. I know my Grandmother, may she rest in peace, could not abide musicals - because seriously, who bursts out in song just walking down the street? And she found vampires silly - because they don't exist. She preferred "realism" and "fantasy/sci-fi/horror" did not work for her. I, on the other hand,love that stuff - but I also don't view it through a literal lense, but a metaphorical one. For example? I can see a human with a vampire - why not? You can do anything you want in fantasy - it's not "real" after all, so "real world rules do not necessarily apply" - that's the fun of it. While oddly...procedurals, like CSI, Criminal Minds, NCSI, Bones...drive me crazy, because I'll think there is no way on earth anyone would do that. It's not fantasy, it takes place in reality, it is supposed to be real - but anyone knows that you can't get fingerprints off a car or a window and DNA doesn't survive in certain conditions - it breaks down. (I know a lot about criminal procedurals). Or legal shows - I'll often think, damn, that doesn't happen, the CSI person can't arrest them. The detective can't do that. You can't approach the witness and stand next to them throughout the trial - you have to ask the judge for permission to approach. So for me? It depends on the rules of the world set up. If the show clearly is supposed to exist in our world and obey our rules, like say Bones - then if it doesn't - I'm gone. Unless of course I have no idea what the rules are or am not familiar with that area - such as say Grey's Anatomy - medical procedural shows don't bug me - because...well, I don't know a thing about medical science and I find their make-believe world weirdly comforting.
See? It's all in how you perceive it and how you look at the rules. And even what I stated above? Isn't that cut and dry..it changes depending on the series.
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When Buffy first aired in 1997, there really wasn't that much out there like it. All the shows on now, including Harry Potter for that matter, came after. And it is very much a series of its time. The only vampire romances on tv were...well Forever Knight and The short-lived Kindred. Not a popular trope back then. Buffy set the trend more or less. I don't know how well it would do if it premired now. We're sort of at the end of the whole vampire trend - in fact I think the market has gone past its saturation point, you can always tell when they start doing parodies. In the 1990s, most horror was slasher stories like Scream or Halloween. Whedon's Buffy in a way was a reaction against that trend, he was making fun of a horror trend that was popular in the 1990s and early part of the 21st century. If you hadn't watched those films or were aware of that specific trope...you may miss a lot of things, and not understand why it was wickedly cool that Xander was the powerless and inept sidekick who lusted after Buffy but could never have her, and often had to be saved, while Buffy was the superhero and in love with the dangerous men. Back in the 1990s, it was often the other way around. Even now, to a degree, it is.
As for vampires with humans bit? It depends again on how you think - I suspect. I know my Grandmother, may she rest in peace, could not abide musicals - because seriously, who bursts out in song just walking down the street? And she found vampires silly - because they don't exist.
She preferred "realism" and "fantasy/sci-fi/horror" did not work for her. I, on the other hand,love that stuff - but I also don't view it through a literal lense, but a metaphorical one. For example? I can see a human with a vampire - why not? You can do anything you want in fantasy - it's not "real" after all, so "real world rules do not necessarily apply" - that's the fun of it. While oddly...procedurals, like CSI, Criminal Minds, NCSI, Bones...drive me crazy, because I'll think there is no way on earth anyone would do that. It's not fantasy, it takes place in reality, it is supposed to be real - but anyone knows that you can't get fingerprints off a car or a window and DNA doesn't survive in certain conditions - it breaks down. (I know a lot about criminal procedurals). Or legal shows - I'll often think, damn,
that doesn't happen, the CSI person can't arrest them. The detective can't do that. You can't approach the witness and stand next to them throughout the trial - you have to ask the judge for permission to approach. So for me? It depends on the rules of the world set up. If the show clearly is supposed to exist in our world and obey our rules, like say Bones - then if it doesn't - I'm gone. Unless of course I have no idea what the rules are or am not familiar with that area - such as say Grey's Anatomy - medical procedural shows don't bug me - because...well, I don't know a thing about medical science and I find their make-believe world weirdly comforting.
See? It's all in how you perceive it and how you look at the rules. And even what I stated above? Isn't that cut and dry..it changes depending on the series.