The Buffy Dialogue That Got Surprisingly Censored
There are many things that made Buffy the Vampire Slayer a hit show, but perhaps the most important thing was the series’ whip-smart dialogue. Simply keeping up with Buffy and the Scoobies’ nonstop torrent of pop culture references was a roller coaster ride, and it was always fun to rewatch an episode and discover something you missed the first time. However, this Buffy dialogue got the show censored on one particular occasion: the Buffy episode “Witch” had its references to Nazis censored for the German broadcast.
Different Dubs For German Airings
Compared to some Buffy episodes that have featured assault, abuse, and addiction as major plot points, “Witch” is pretty mild, so you may be wondering why it got censored in Germany. In this case, it had to do with one simple exchange of dialogue between Buffy and her friend Willow. With her usual polite timidity, Willow begins describing Amy’s mother, saying “Her mom’s kinda…” and then trails off, as if in search of the right word.
The ever-blunt Buffy provides that word, suggesting “Nazi-like?” Going with the joke, Willow then responds “Heil.” It’s a very brief exchange, and very few American audiences would find it offensive because “Nazi” has been slang for “very harsh person” for many decades.
Censorship Is A Necessary Evil To Reach A Wider Audience
Most Buffy fans probably hate the idea of the show’s witty dialogue getting censored on sheer principle, but there’s a little more going on with this story. Let’s start by recapping the episode itself. “Witch” was an episode whose inciting incident seemed straight out of the Old Testament, complete with would-be cheerleaders catching fire, going blind, and going mute.
Buffy Summers and her friends are no strangers to supernatural shenanigans, and they soon suspect they have a witch in their midst. They suspect fellow student Amy is the culprit, but they eventually realize this story’s strange twist: Amy’s mother actually forced her daughter into doing a Freaky Friday-style body swap. This allows the mother to take vicarious living to the next level by actually re-living her high school glory days in Amy’s young body.
They Were Still Able To Subtly Make The Reference
Of course, Germany still takes any references to Nazis very seriously, which is why this particular Buffy dialogue exchange was censored for the German broadcast. Translated from German, the new exchange has Buffy saying “Superwoman” rather than “Nazi-like.” In turn, Willow responds with “something like that” rather than the Hitler-friendly phrase “Heil.”
Given how Germany generally treats Nazi references, it’s not surprising that Buffy’s dialogue got censored like this, but why swap “Superwoman” for “Nazi-like?” While I admittedly don’t speak German and am just taking a guess, it’s entirely possible that the censored dialogue is still alluding to Amy’s mom being a Nazi.
The Double Meaning Of “Superwoman”
After all, our word “Superman” is a translation of the word “Übermensch,” a term coined by Friedrich Nietzsche. That man also happened to be Hitler’s favorite philosopher (we try not to hold it against him). Therefore, Germany changing the term “Nazi-like” to “Superwoman” via censorship may still be a way of referencing the show’s original meaning.
Hardly Censored In The United States
At any rate, it’s less surprising that Buffy got censored overseas than it is how little it got censored in America. Sure, episodes were held back due to real-life tragedies like Columbine, but American audiences generally got to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer in all its violent and irreverent glory. And, as lifelong fans, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
