By Liam Gaughan
Thread
Your changes have been saved
Email is sent
Email has already been sent
Please verify your email address.
You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.
Manage Your List
Follow
Followed
Follow with Notifications
Follow
Unfollow
Link copied to clipboard
Jane Schoenbrun’s astounding second feature I Saw The Glow instantly proved to be one of the most fascinating films of the year, as it has just enough ambiguity and surrealism to provoke profound discussions about its intentions. It’s been made fairly clear by Schoenbrun that the film’s analysis of cult television fandom was meant to be an allegory for the trans experience, as the film’s characters are “truly closing that gap between self and screen” as they become obsessed with a fictional program known as "The Pink Opaque." The notion of unlocking one’s identity by becoming attached to a genre show is a very personal one for Schoenbrun, as they admitted thatI Saw The Glow was deeply inspired by a love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Discussions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its cultural legacy have been rather muted in recent years; while the long-rumored reboot has still not moved forward in any way, the allegations made against series creator Joss Whedon have made it harder to reflect on this era of television with any sense of objectivity. Nonetheless, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom was defined by their passion, as some hardcore fans even protested when episodes of the show were censored from airing. I Saw The TV Show shows the power that niche fandom has to bring outsiders together, and how it can serve as a conduit to ask deeper questions about one’s identity.
I Saw The TV Glow examines how cult fandom can be the saving grace for those who feel “off,” as they have not yet found the words to describe why they don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Owen (Justice Smith) has always been an outsider who does not have an easy time communicating with his parents, and is barred from watching The Pink Opaque because his father Frank (Fred Durst) refers to it as a “girl’s show.” However, Owen is slipped secret tapes by his new friend Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), an older girl at his school whose entire life revolves around The Pink Opaque. As with how Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans would discuss critical plot points and revelations at key points in the series, Owen and Maddy have a relationship that is entirely contingent on breaking down the rules of a fictional universe. However, Owen sees this as an opportunity to spend more time with Maddy, the only person he feels truly comfortable around.
Related
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Finds New Streaming Home in Time for Halloween
Here's where you can relive all the best moments with the Scooby Gang — for free!
1
I Saw The TV Glow shows how important seeing one’s self on screen is, as troubled kids like Owen and Maddy need to see heroes that experience the same feelings of distress and falsehood that they do; in The Pink Opaque, this is seen through the heroes Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan), whose ability to enter into a “pocket universe” (in a fairly oblique trans allegory) allows both Owen and Maddy to be seen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was acclaimed for being quite progressive in its development of diverse heroes, as Willow Rosenberg’s (Alyson Hannigan) coming-out storyline was relatively groundbreaking when compared to the lack of LGBTQIA representation on television at the time.
‘I Saw the TV Glow’ Contains Many ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ References
The film’s overall arc may have been directly inspired by the show, but Schoenbrun also inserted several “Easter Eggs” meant to please Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans.The Pink Opaque is a supernatural coming-of-age story in which the characters face down with a “monster of the week,” so the connection isn’t that hard to see. Additionally, I Saw The TV Glow replicates the same font used in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer title cards and features similarly designed monster creatures whose relatively low-budget qualities are ignored by Owen and Maddy when they are at an impressionable age. The most striking connection is a brief cameo by Amber Benson, best known for playing Tara, a witch who first appeared in the fourth season of Buffy. Tara was one of the few openly queer characters in all of the series, and her shocking death continues to provoke criticism from those that felt that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was conforming to the “burying your gays” trope.
Although the tributes to Buffy the Vampire Slayer are quite loving, I Saw The TV Glow shows the dark side of holding on to nostalgia without recognizing one’s personal growth. Maddy suggests to Owen that they run away and bury themselves in order to become Isabel and Tara in events that directly mirror the sacrifice that Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) makes at the end of the show’s fifth season. Owen is ultimately not willing to go through with this, and his subsequent attempts to reconnect with The Pink Opaque years later on streaming forces him to acknowledge how cheesy, and somewhat embarrassing the show is, and how it differs from his warm memory of it. While the shame that he experiences is again meant to represent his repressed identity, it also shows the struggles that fans face when their favorite shows no longer feel relevant in a modern context.
‘I Saw the TV Glow’ Celebrates the History of ‘90s Television
Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t the only cult classic show that gets a shout-out in I Saw The TV Glow, as the film also contains references to the supernatural creepiness of Are You Afraid of the Dark? and the coming-of-age spirit of The Adventures of Pete and Pete. Additionally, Owen’s stunned reaction at the cancellation of The Pink Opaque mirrors a similar reaction that many Twin Peaks fans had when ABC chose to end the show abruptly on a cliffhanger at the end of its second season. I Saw The TV Glow doesn’t necessitate knowledge of these shows in order to be enjoyed as a transgressive work of art, but it does hit harder for those who poured hours of their lives into fictional worlds that seemingly disappeared overnight.
I Saw the TV Glow
PG-13
Drama
Horror
- Release Date
- May 3, 2024
- Director
- Jane Schoenbrun
- Cast
- Amber Benson , Justice Smith , Brigette Lundy-Paine , Danielle Deadwyler
- Runtime
- 100 minutes
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- Jane Schoenbrun
I Saw The TV Glow is streaming on Max in the United States.