Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Of all the characters that have appeared throughout the 12 seasons that together make up Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, one of the least understood and examined characters is Anne Steele (played by Julia Lee). As far as screen time goes, she was a relatively minor character, appearing in only five episodes total, two on Buffy (“Lie to Me” 2.7 and “Anne” 3.1) and three on Angel (“Blood Money” 2.12, “The Thin Dead Line” 2.14, and “Not Fade Away” 5.22). Such a minor character can easily be dismissed on most shows, but the fact that the writers kept returning to the character of Anne, even years after her original appearance, demonstrates something about the character that continued to fascinate both the writers and the audience.

Anne is an intriguing character because, although she is tangentially touched by the supernatural occurrences that are regular events on both programs, she maintains her identity as a “regular” individual throughout. This ability to live a normal life (despite her first-hand knowledge of the existence of vampires, demons, and zombies) demonstrates her strength of character and also allows the writers to explore the elements of an important psychological concept outside the supernatural realm that permeates the series, the concept of identity formation. Naturally, all of the characters on both programs have strong identities that form as the shows progress, but Anne is different in that, while many of the other characters develop identities that are very much determined by their experiences with the supernatural, Anne’s identity develops outside the supernatural realm (the way the identities of those young people watching the show develop).

Modern theories about identity formation began in 1963 with Erik Erickson’s groundbreaking work Childhood and Society in which he first coined the phrase “identity crisis.” According to Erickson, identity is “a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image” (as quoted in Cherry 3). An identity crisis frequently emerged during the teenage years as a “time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself” (as quoted in Cherry 2) during which individuals struggle between feelings of identity versus role confusion.

In 1966, James Marcia expanded on Erickson’s initial theories in an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled “Development and Validation of Ego Identity Status.” He posited that the identity crisis discussed by Erickson eventually leads to an identity commitment, which occurs when the individual makes a firm commitment to an identity (social role or value) that he or she has chosen for himself or herself. After interviewing numerous adolescents and young adults for his study, he concluded that there are four separate “identity statuses” that make up psychological identity development:

Identity Diffusion The status in which the adolescent has not yet experienced the identity crisis. They have not yet explored any meaningful identity alternatives and have not made any commitments to identity.

Identity Foreclosure The status in which the adolescent has made a choice to a commitment but has still yet to undergo an identity crisis. The adolescent has not yet had the opportunity to experience alternatives. The adolescent accepts what others (frequently parental figures) have chosen for him. These same adolescents identify greatly with the same-sex parent and typically try to emulate the choices that he or she has made (i.e., if a young boy’s father is a mechanic and owns his own business, then the boy will become a mechanic as well and take over the business when his father retires).

Identity Moratorium This status is a brief period in which the adolescence is on the verge of his or her identity crisis; however, the adolescent still is undetermined about making a commitment. It is a period of delay. It is during this time that adolescents will experiment with a variety of different identities and roles and explore different life philosophies in the hopes of finding a compatible one on which to commit.

Identity Achievement This status occurs after the period of identity moratorium and after the adolescent has undergone the identity crisis. This status indicates that the adolescent has made his or her decision for life identity. These individuals have explored all the different roles and opportunities and have come to conclusions and made decisions on their own.

Marcia was very adamant that these four statuses were not stages that every individual went through in a strictly sequential process and that people throughout their lifetime would fluctuate within the statuses as new circumstances arose to challenge the commitments they have made in their lives. Numerous decisions and commitments are made throughout an individual’s life to help determine who that individual will be (Breaux 2-6).

A third psychological researcher, Raymond Lloyd Richmond, challenged both Erickson’s and Marcia’s claims about identity formation in a 1997 article in Psychology Guide titled “Identity and Loneliness” in which he argues that all identity is a “fraud” (Richmond 7), that an individual’s identity is only “whatever you ‘think’ you are [but] is, ultimately, nothing but a vague approximation of what you really are. And what you really are is revealed [only] in discrete moments of genuine encounter with your inner life” (Richmond 9). Richmond stated that people only reveal their true identities during moments of the “unexpected,” when they are less concerned with what will “look good” than what is truly in accordance with the nature of the individual’s “inner identity” (Richmond 13). Richmond believed that individuals created “false public identities” to avoid facing their “inner identities,” which are frequently dark and ugly and that many psychological conditions (such as depression and phobias) are nothing more than symptoms of a person’s fear and rejection of their true identities (14).

Anne’s first appearance on Buffy is in the episode “Lie to Me” (2.7) in the show’s second season. At the time of this episode, she is calling herself “Chanterelle.” Here, Chanterelle is trapped between two different identity statuses, foreclosure and moratorium. Although we in the audience do not know it at the time,” clearly the identity of “Chanterelle” represents one in a long series of identities that she is experimenting with in an attempt to find an identity to which she can commit a clear sign of identity moratorium. (Later, as “Lily” she tells Buffy that “Chanterelle” was part of her “exotic phase” and before that she was known as “Sister Sunshine” while following “this loser preacher.” The audience never learns her true name since she refuses to answer Buffy’s question of “What do they call you at home?” However, the shooting script of “Lie to Me” lists her original name as “Joan Appleby” [Ozzman 2]).But this identity is also one of foreclosure, one which she does not choose so much as desperately seize in the hopes of gaining a permanent identity commitment and that will make her part of a larger social group rather than a lonely, isolated individual.

Here she is concerned more with what will look good to the others (the very definition of a “fraud” identity, as described by Richmond) than in making an informed decision. Even when Angel attempts to force her into seeing the true nature of the identity she is seeking, she refuses to listen, telling Angel he “doesn’t have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints other than yours may be valid, you know.” In the aftermath of Angel’s conversation with Chanterelle, Willow seems to parrot Richmond’s theory about identity choice in her response to Angel’s comment about the vampire wannabes (“they’re children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark”), adding, “Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story.”

The subsequent vampire attack on the Sunset Club at the end of “Lie to Me” and Chanterelle’s near-death at the hands of Spike (only to be saved by Buffy) breaks her free from the foreclosed identity of vampire-wannabe, and she runs away from Sunnydale to the streets of Los Angeles. When Buffy next meets her in “Anne” (3.1), Chanterelle has changed her name to Lily (again a name/identity that was chosen for her, this time by her boyfriend Rickie). She is still floundering in search of a committed identity (her homelessness is symbolic of this lack of direction in this regard). But she is beginning to show signs of committing—the tattoos she and Rickie get indicate her willingness to commit and connect with another individual—one of the key components of Marcia’s functional identity (along with occupational role and fundamental beliefs and values [Cherry 4]).

When she loses Rickie, she seeks out the help of the one person she knows who helped her through her previous “identity crisis,” Buffy. During this time, however, Buffy is undergoing an identity crisis of her own. Since Anne is actually Buffy’s middle name, however, it indicates that her new identity and old identity are still tied together. Buffy makes a choice.

As Anne, Buffy spends her days drifting between her menial job as a coffee-shop waitress and moping in her apartment. When she eventually meets Lily, she denies her former identity when confronted and seeks to avoid Lily since she serves as a reminder of that life. But, when Buffy finds herself trapped in a hell dimension and confronted by a demon threatening to strip her of any identity whatsoever, Buffy makes a choice. She chooses to accept fully her identity as the Slayer and refers to herself, for the first time in the episode, as “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.” Unlike earlier in the series when Giles forces her to accept her identity as the Slayer (a clear indication of a foreclosed identity), here Buffy herself makes the choice during the moment of crisis (moving her identity as “Slayer” from a foreclosed identity to a committed identity).

Lily also makes a choice at the conclusion of the episode. She chooses to take on the identity of “Anne” (although she does ask Buffy’s permission to do so, indicating her continued search for validation in her identity). Ironically, not only did Anne take her name from Buffy but in the episode “Tabula Rasa” (6.8) Buffy briefly and unwittingly took Anne’s original name: Joan (which is indicated in the “Lie to Me” shooting script [Ozzman 10]) The identity of Anne offers Lily another element of functional identity (as described by Marcia), that of an “occupational role” (in this case, Buffy’s job at the diner). For the first time (seemingly since we are never given a complete view of Anne’s background prior to “Lie to Me”), she has an identity that she has chosen for herself. How well she commits to that new identity will be seen in subsequent episodes of Angel.

In “Blood Money” (Angel 2.12), the audience learns that Anne is now running a homeless shelter, the East Hills Town Center. This new incarnation of the character is much stronger and forceful than the one initially seen on Buffy. Anne has now found something to commit to, an ideal: the protection of the runaway teens of Los Angeles. This commitment to an ideal is the final functional aspect of the committed identity (Cherry 4). Anne’s commitment to this new identity and all that it entails is evident throughout the episode. The first scene of her in the shelter shows the strength of her character. Unlike the meek girl in “Anne,” here she is confrontational, refusing to jeopardize the safety of her charges by allowing a drunk teen into the center. However, her identity is not yet as fully established as she would believe.

When Angel confronts her with his accusation about Wolfram & Hart’s plans to steal the fundraising money from the charity ball they are organizing for the shelter, Anne reacts in much the same way she does to his accusations against the vampires in “Lie to Me.” She is so naïve (despite her claim to Lindsey that she is not) that she believes (initially) in the good nature of those using her, even when confronted with evidence to the contrary. Unlike “Lie to Me,” where she almost literally has to die before her eyes are opened to the darkness of the world around her, here she makes a conscious decision not to trust blindly and she accepts that people may not always have her best interests at heart. In this episode, we see the conflict between Marcia’s theory of identity (with Anne being representative of that theory) and Richmond’s theory of fraudulent identity (with Lindsey and Wolfram & Hart being representative of that theory).

Despite Wolfram & Hart’s best efforts to keep the dark nature of their identity secret from Anne, she is able to see through their deception and do the right thing (despite the inherent danger to both herself and her committed identity as operator of the homeless shelter). This seems to indicate the strength of Marcia’s theory of committed identity over Richmond’s theory. Anne has her commitment tested further when she discovers that Angel has betrayed her as well, having forced her to make the choice to risk herself and her shelter for his own personal vendetta against Wolfram & Hart. Her and Angel’s confrontation directly after the charity ball indicates the strength of her commitment to her new identity. Her anger with him over his willingness to destroy her identity and the well-being of those in her care shows how committed she is to her chosen identity. His comment to her that “that’s the difference between us—you still care” indicates that he knows that she will continue to remain committed to her ideals despite all that has happened to her. The final scene of the episode, where Angel delivers the “blood money” to Anne, reinforces this notion. When she notices the actual blood on the money, she tells him, “It’ll wash,” showing that she has come to accept the darkness that comes with her committed identity. She is fully dedicated.

In the next episode in which she appears, “The Thin Dead Line” (Angel 2.14), Anne’s commitment to her new identity is complete. She refers to the teens in the shelter as “my kids” and the staff of the shelter as “my regular staffers.” She demonstrates her “true identity” (according to Richmond) when she engages in “genuine encounter” with dangerous outside forces. Richmond argues, in his essay, as stated earlier, that an individual’s “true identity” is revealed when he or she faces a confrontation during which he or she is more concerned with personal safety and life preservation than what “looks good” to others. Anne confronts the street gangster Jackson when he muscles his way into the shelter without any concern for her own personal safety, only backing down for fear of his starting trouble within the residence. She later uses a baseball bat to beat off the zombie cops attempting to enter the shelter, despite the inherent danger of the situation (only a timely intervention from Cordelia saves her).

These are two primary examples of how Anne is much more concerned with the safety and well-being of her charges than in her own personal safety. In Richmond’s essay, he discusses what he calls the pride-love dichotomy. He states that many individuals in the helping professions (medical, teaching, social work, psychology, etc.) are motivated less by the need to help those less fortunate and more by the “need to project a certain image of oneself into the world, an image such as a ‘peacekeeper’ that in itself might derive from a childhood role within a family system of conflict. In such cases, the caretaking becomes not much more than an exercise of authority and power over the patient…In other words, many persons ‘give’ in order to advertise an identity and to maintain a position of power. This is pride, not love, because love empties itself of worldly desires through service, in order to give selflessly. Pride, however, makes giving into a form of bribery, in order to get something bigger in return” (Richmond 18-19, italics in original).

Clearly we see in Anne’s willingness to put herself in harm’s way to protect the teens in her shelter that she is acting from a vantage point of love and not pride. She, in fact, acts more heroically in this episode than the show’s supposed “hero,” Angel, did earlier in “Blood Money.” He acts more with pride than love since it is clear that Angel is helping Anne not out of compassion or a desire to “help the helpless” but instead simply because helping Anne would allow him to gain some measure of revenge against Wolfram & Hart. Anne even references this in her comment to the Angel Investigations team at the beginning of this episode when she tells them that Angel tried to help her a few weeks earlier although it turned out he was only doing it “to screw over this law firm.”

Anne’s strength of identity is further intensified in the final episode of Angel, “Not Fade Away” (5.22), in which Gunn seeks her out on what he believes will be his final day. During the final season of the show, Gunn has literally sold his soul to the dark forces by allying himself with Wolfram & Hart and allowing them to manipulate his self/his identity in order to gain advanced legal knowledge and prove himself to be more than just “the muscle” of the team. Unlike Anne, whose identity is governed by “love,” Gunn has allowed himself to be ruled over by “pride,” by his mistaken belief that his role as protector is not enough to validate his existence, that he will get more recognition as a valued member of the team if he is viewed by others in a more “respectable” position. This pride (and the fear of losing this new “identity”) leads to Fred’s death.

In the scene with Anne, Gunn tests her commitment to her “identity” by suggesting a scenario in which her “locus of control” (a psychological concept proposed by J.B. Rotter that refers to the psychological “place” in which a person puts responsibility for the outcomes of various life situations [Richmond 20]) is external—determined by forces outside of her control—rather than internal (determined by her own personal actions and life philosophies) (Richmond 20):

“What if I told you it doesn’t help? What would you do if you found out that none of it matters? That it’s all controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than we can conceive, and they will never let it get better down here. What would you do?”

Without skipping a beat, Anne replies, “I’d get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here.” Anne does not allow an external locus of control to determine her life, for those who have an external locus of control “live in a perpetual feeling of victimization, always blown about by the whims of the world around you” (Richmond 21) and instead lives by an internal locus of control in which “you love [and] you lay down your life for others” (Richmond 21). Anne has now fully committed to her “identity.” She is no longer dependent on others (as she was in the Buffy episodes) to determine her value and is not willing to be downtrodden and victimized by others. She is fully her own person now.

The development of Anne’s character from “Lie to Me” to “Not Fade Away” represents an everyday, nonsupernatural identity formation not unlike that of many of the show’s more supernaturally-related characters, such as Buffy, Angel, Spike, and Wesley. Each of them moves away from identities largely defined by others towards identities forged by their own beliefs, personalities, and life philosophies. The character of Anne shows those young people in the audience that they each have the strength of character to form their own identities and become committed to those identities fully in their own lives. Anne’s chosen surname, Steele, symbolizes the power and strength of that commitment. And with that powerful and strong commitment to identity should come an equally powerful and strong commitment to one’s fellow man, to a love of humanity unblemished by personal pride. In that way, and many others, Anne Steele becomes Joss Whedon’s prime example of humanity at its very best. situations (Richmond 20).