The funny thing about Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that the heroine is the least appealing character. You know it, I know it, the world knows it. The show is all about Xander and Spike and Willow and Tara and Giles and, God help me, even Dawn sometimes. Buffy is not about Buffy. It might be about Buffy and Angel, or Buffy and
Spike, or Buffy and Riley (I LIKED HIM SO BACK OFF), but remove the better half and you’ve got a bitter, lonely, arrogant chick who hunts demons.
Both thematically and realistically, Buffy is nothing without her friends. She is the one around whom everything revolves, but if you take away her satellites, well…
Sarah Michelle Gellar never seems to have realized this. Always difficult and diva-ish, she finally left with show with relief and went on to a career of…nothing.
Okay, that’s not fair. After all, she was in The Grudge! And The Grudge 2! And Southland Tales! And who could forget that perennial classic, Cruel Intentions?
(I’ll be charitable and not mention a certain comedy that may have involved those darn kids. But, yeah, that too.)
Presumably, she is married to actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. so she looks like less of a has-been by comparison. I kid, I kid, I’m sure they’re very happy together. But the fact remains that Sarah Michelle Gellar is a cult actress with the attitude of an A-list star.
Then again, her big comeback could be nigh.
Comebacks have been big lately – Neil Patrick Harris, Alec Baldwin, and Bruce Campbell are all among those who have been rediscovered. And all of them have made big use of T.V. to accomplish it.
So Sarah should be thrilled that screenwriter Charles Randolph penned the pilot of “The Wonderful Maladys” with her, specifically, in mind. And HBO has ordered that pilot, so she has a chance to prove that she’s got the moves.
If all goes well, this could mean a resurgence in popularity for the ex-Slayer, not to mention an additional excuse as to why she won’t participate in anything Buffy-related. (Not that the animated series was really going anywhere, but still. IT’S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING.)
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