Editing Buffy Summers (section)

==Concept and creation==
[[File:Joss Whedon by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Buffy creator [[Joss Whedon]] in 2009]]
An early influence for Buffy was [[Kelli Maroney]]'s character in the 1984 science-fiction horror film ''[[Night of the Comet]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2010/05/28/100-greatest-characters-nos-1-25|title=100 Greatest Characters: Nos. 1-25|author=<!-- Staff -->|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=May 28, 2010|access-date=January 19, 2023}}</ref> The character of Buffy was conceived by Joss Whedon as a way of subverting the cliché of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror film".<ref name=blondegirl>{{cite book|last=Billson|first=Anne|author-link=Anne Billson|title=''Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BFI TV Classics S.)''|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|year=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/buffyvampireslay0000bill/page/24 24–25]|isbn=978-1-84457-089-8|title-link=Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BFI TV Classics S.)}}</ref> Whedon stated "Rhonda the Immortal Waitress" was the first incarnation of Buffy in his head, "the idea of a seemingly insignificant female who in fact turns out to be extraordinary."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com.au/buffy-the-vampire-slayer.html |title=Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |publisher=Scifi.com.au |date=March 10, 1997 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> When asked how he came up with the name of "Buffy," Whedon states "It was the name that I could think of that I could take the least seriously. There is no way you could hear the name Buffy and think, 'This is an important person.' To juxtapose that with Vampire Slayer, just felt like that kind of thing—a [[B movie]]. But a B movie that had something more going on. That was my dream." Whedon claims the title was criticized for being too silly, and the television network begged him to change it. He refused, insisting "You don't understand. It has to be this. This is what it is."<ref name=IGNJW6>{{cite web|last=P. |first=Ken |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208222912/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 8, 2007 |title=An Interview with Joss Whedon |date=June 23, 2003 |access-date=August 15, 2008 |website=IGN }}</ref> Jason Middleton feels that Buffy avoids the "[[final girl]]" character trope seen in horror films, where the androgynous and celibate heroine gets to outlive her friends and exact revenge on their killer; in Middleton's words, "she... gets to have sex with boys and ''still'' kill the monster".<ref name=Middleton>{{cite book|title=Undead TV|editor=Elana Levine and Lisa Parks|author=Jason Middleton|chapter=Buffy as ''Femme Fatale'': The Cult Heroine and the Male Spectator|pages=160–161|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8223-4043-0}}</ref>

Whedon always intended for the character to become an icon, claiming "I wanted her to be a hero that existed in people's minds the way [[Wonder Woman]] or [[Spider-Man]] does, you know? I wanted her to be a doll or an action figure. I wanted [[Barbie]] with Kung Fu grip! I wanted her to enter the mass consciousness and the imaginations of growing kids because I think she's a cool character, and that was always the plan. I wanted Buffy to be a cultural phenomenon, period."<ref name=DarkHorseJW>{{cite web|url=http://www.darkhorse.com/news/interviews.php?id=737|title=Joss Whedon|access-date=August 15, 2008|publisher=[[Dark Horse Comics]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211141837/http://www.darkhorse.com/news/interviews.php?id=737 |archive-date=February 11, 2008}}</ref> In developing Buffy, Whedon was greatly inspired by [[Kitty Pryde]], a character from the pages of the [[superhero]] comic ''[[X-Men]]''. He admits, "If there's a bigger influence on Buffy than Kitty, I don't know what it was... She was an adolescent girl finding out she has great power and dealing with it."<ref name=WhedonesqueKitty>{{cite web|url=http://whedonesque.com/comments/3095|title=Kitty Pryde influenced Buffy|access-date=August 15, 2008|publisher=[[Whedonesque]]|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415232037/http://whedonesque.com/comments/3095|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=SuperSlayer>{{cite web|last=Sanderson |first=Peter |url=http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/?p=3424 |title=Super Slayer |access-date=August 15, 2008 |publisher=Quick Stop Entertainment |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309031305/http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/?p=3424 |archive-date=March 9, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=WhedonInk>{{cite magazine|last=Edwards|first=Gavin|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/9218/|title=Whedon, Ink|access-date=August 15, 2008|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]}}</ref> In a 2009 interview, Whedon revealed he only recently realised how much he saw of himself in Buffy. After years of relating more to Xander, he says, "Buffy was always the person that I was in that story because I'm not in every way." Whedon openly wonders why his identification figure is a woman, but describes it as "a real autobiographical kind of therapy for me" to be writing a strong female character like Buffy.<ref name=Crave>{{cite web|last=Topel |first=Fred |url=http://www.craveonline.com/articles/filmtv/04653105/joss_whedon_sheds_some_light_on_dollhouse.html |title=Joss Whedon Sheds Some Light On Dollhouse |access-date=February 28, 2009 |publisher=Crave Online |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228092951/http://www.craveonline.com/articles/filmtv/04653105/joss_whedon_sheds_some_light_on_dollhouse.html |archive-date=February 28, 2009 }}</ref>

According to Whedon, Buffy "had been brewing in [him] for many years" before finally appearing in the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' film played by Kristy Swanson. However, he was not satisfied with the character's treatment in the film, feeling "that's not quite her. It's a start, but it's not quite the girl."<ref name=DarkHorseJW/> Although Whedon's vision of female empowerment was not as apparent as he would have liked in the 1992 film, he was given a second chance when [[Gail Berman]] approached him with the idea of re-creating it as a television series.<ref name=TVwithBite>{{cite video|people=[[Joss Whedon]]|title="Television with Bite" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' The Complete Sixth Season DVD Special Features)|medium=DVD (Region 2)|location=United States|publisher=20th Century Fox|date=2003}}</ref> Adapting the concept of the movie into a television series, Whedon decided to reinvent the character of Buffy slightly. The shallow cheerleader of the original film had grown more mature and open-minded, identifying with social outcasts such as Willow and Xander, and instead, the character of Cordelia was created to embody what Buffy once was.<ref name=Welcomecomm>{{cite video|people=[[Joss Whedon]]|title=Commentary for ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth"|medium=DVD (Region 2)|location=United States|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]|date=2000}}</ref> Early in the television series, make-up supervisor Todd McIntosh was instructed to make Buffy "a soft and sort of earthy character." He gave Gellar a soft, muted green make-up and kept her look very natural. However, it was later decided this was inappropriate for the character, and Buffy needed to look more like a [[valley girl]]. McIntosh switched her make-up around, giving her frosted eyeshadow and lip colors, bright turquoise and aqua marines, bubblegum colored nails, and bleach-blonde hair, causing the character to "blossom."<ref name=BeautyBeasts>{{cite video|people=Todd McIntosh|title="Beauty and the Beasts" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' The Complete Second Season DVD Special Features)|medium=DVD (Region 2)|location=United States|publisher=20th Century Fox|date=2001}}</ref>