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Popular Culture Review
rather in the position that she is temporarily occupying. This rephcates Bentham’s
notion that the perfect panoptic system is not dependent upon any single individual,
but rather it is “a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent
of the person who exercises it” (201). Foucault also emphasizes that “it does not
matter who exercises power. Any individual, taken almost at random, can operate
the machine” (202). This principle can be seen in the episode “What’s My Line?”
in which a new slayer appears to take Buffy’s place after she has been dead for
only two minutes. The idea of disembodied power is also apparent in Angel, while
the show appears to emphasize Angel’s unique identity as a vampire with a soul,
we learn in the episode “I Will Remember You,” in which Angel becomes
temporarily human, that Angel is only one of the warriors fighting for the PTB and
he is easily replaceable. Buffy and Angel are further removed from the typical
superhero and linked more with the Foucaultian model in that they are themselves
subject to the power which they represent. Buffy, for example, repeatedly struggles
with the demands of being a slayer. In “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date,” Buffy
argues with Giles about whether or not it is possible for a slayer to date boys.
Buffy compares her role to that of Superman, who had Lois Lane, but Giles argues
that, for a slayer, “dating is problematic at best.” Buffy also differs from Superman
in that she is fulfilling a prophecy and is therefore not allowed the same freedom to
make choices or mistakes. As she complains in the episode “Reptile Boy,” “I told
one lie, I had one drink,” to which Giles replies, “Yes, and you were very nearly
devoured by a giant demon snake. The words ie t that be a lesson’ are a tad
redundant.” While such scenes serve to metaphorically depict the trials faced by
average teenagers, as Wilcox points out (20), they also demonstrate the severe
consequences that accompany Buffy’s attempts to ignore or circumvent her slayer
duties. These episodes demonstrate that Buffy’s behavior is controlled and
disciphned even while she appears to be the one doing the disciplining. Angel
presents an even more extreme case: due to a gypsy curse, he is given a soul that
forces him to realize the horrors he committed as a vampire, and, in addition to this
burden of guilt, he is unable to experience even a moment of true happiness or he
will once again transform into his evil self. Like Buffy, Angel is prevented from
having a normal life, and he is forced to concentrate only on the role he plays for
the PTB.
Therefore, rather than being “anarchists,” as Colonel McNamara of The
Initiative claims, Buffy and her allies actually fulfill the promise of Foucault’s
institutional apparatus. Due to its excessive and inefficient use of force. The Initiative
is repeatedly shown to be a failed institution of disciphne and punishment, and
even the Wolfram and Hart law firm, which appears to be incorporating demons
into modem institutions of penahty, is similarly shown to be a cormpt perversion
of the legal system. In contrast to these institutions, Buffy and Angel operate within