one subtle and under-appreciated aspect of buffy as a show is the ridiculously funny and compelling justification the writers pulled out to explain why school wasn’t canceled when a guy died and how incredibly quickly the grieving process goes for every person in town, which was that given that sunnydale was on a hellmouth, death is as natural as breathing to the residents and thus not something to uproot your life for.
which, first of all, raises so many more questions, like: why does nobody move away? why are people unwilling to accept the existence of vampires when they’ve been surrounded by supernatural activity for years? it’s such a ridiculous way to retroactively explain abnormal behavior and yet despite the logical issues it presents it’s also a very satisfying explanation, somehow.
because, second of all, the utilization of this justification is goddamn hilarious 99% of the time. cordelia asking if xander is going to fifth period immediately after he tells her the world is going to end? oz casually mentioning that the school newspaper has an obituaries page? snyder’s easy acceptance of the fact that the previous principal was eaten alive by wild dogs? the uncanny nature of it produces comedic gold.
but it’s more than funny, it’s.. actively engaging, somehow? maybe because the continued existence of these background children in a world where everything is out to get them obviously caring more about school and their love life than impending doom works really well in conjunction of a story that basically tells you straight up that high school is the real monster? maybe because there’s something uniquely intriguing about the idea that every single day people get murdered or disappear or transform into giant phallic snakes, but your life just keeps happening and you’ve gotta deal? maybe because this unnatural universe just spices up buffy as a show, i don’t know. regardless, it’s something i really appreciate about the show that flies under the radar most of the time.
