Love Hurts

Love Hurts

     In season 5, episode 15,"I Was Made to Love You", of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the cast deals with the topic of relationships, love, and break ups.  At the start of the episode, Buffy is angry because she goes through an emotional split with Spike, which makes her start to question herself as a person.  Seeing her mom go out on a date as well makes her believe she isn't fit for relationships.  Meanwhile, a mysterious girl named April shows up to town, looking nonstop for someone named Warren.  It turns out April is a robot that Warren created for the purpose to love him and to be the girlfriend of his dreams.  Because April is in love with Warren, she is extremely protective of him, causing her to attack Spike for touching her arm. She also tries to kill Katrina, his current girlfriend, and Buffy. Near the episode, Buffy defeats April and she realizes that she needs to love herself before getting into another romance.  The episode ends on a cliffhanger with Buffy finding her mom unconscious on their couch.  This episode explores how much of an affect love has on the mind and the actions it causes people to do.  It challenges the idea of how the love, a common emotion associated with happiness, can bring out the darkest emotions in people.

     The main monster in this episode is unlike the stereotypical monster one would expect.  April is a robot that was created by Warren designed to be the "perfect" girlfriend.  Warren programmed her to obey his every wish and to only love him.  She doesn't look like a monster; she looks like a normal human.  Her speech, however, is monotone and her responses aren't very detailed, they are to the point, which can be considered a robotic quality.  Another physical quality that is robot-like is how she walks or moves in a constant, normal pace.  Having her speech and movement be repetitive makes it more believable she is mechanical rather than human.  She may come across as a sweet character due to the fact she does everything she does for Warren because she is programmed to love, not to be bad.  However, this brings up the idea of how much love can cause someone to do whatever for that person, no matter if it is harmful or not.  For example, April becomes violent when a potential threat comes in between their relationship,which can also relate to jealousy issues.  Her attempts to kill Buffy and Katrina for getting in the way shows she has a monstrous side in her she can't control.  Even though she is a robot, her appearance and qualities are what a human possesses, which is an overall representation of how humans can have a monstrous side when it comes to protecting the ones they love.   

     Warren, the true monster in this episode, is the creator of April.  He went to college for technology, which is where he learned how to make robots.  Warren was never good at relationships or even talking to girls, so to help with his loneliness, he designed April.  Again, he is just a regular human with no monster appearance, however ,  his behavior can be considered monstrous.  He is a selfish character due to the fact he does the things he does without even considering how it can negatively affect the other person. This is showcased when he explains his situation to Buffy.  He explains how he got bored with April and  fell in love with Katrina instead, so he just left April without telling her.  He never told Katrina about her either, and wouldn't explain to her what was going on when Buffy showed up at his door questioning about April.  Although physically Warren isn't a monster,  he has emotionally hurt April and Katrina, people he claimed to love.  Due to April's actions, people got physically hurt as well, which he is responsible for.  Another reason he can be monstrous  is how he abused this power by using the knowledge and skills he has just to build a robot for his personal leisure.  His character, however, demonstrates how even though one desires a perfect person or even the perfect lifestyle, it doesn't always turn out to be what you expected.

     Love and relationships are a basic human need and desire.  The episode, "I Was Made to Love you", displays the attributes, as well as hardships, that comes with falling in love.  Although love is generalized to be happy and perfect all the time, the characters in this episode show how love can make one do crazy things, even some of those actions being monstrous.  In the end, the monsters in this episode are not based on their stereotypical appearance, but the behaviors they possess.  A monster doesn't need fangs or claws to be scary or evil, it can even be human.