Amber Benson responds to her character Tara Maclay's controversial death on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Tara was first introduced in the season 4 episode "Hush" as a shy member of Willow’s (Alyson Hannigan) Wicca group. The two characters bonded over their interest in witchcraft and eventually started a romantic relationship, becoming one of the very first long-term lesbian relationships on American primetime television. This milestone in LGBTQ+ representation initially garnered Joss Whedon and the Buffy writers a huge amount of praise and gratitude, especially from young LGBTQ+ fans who hadn’t seen themselves on screen before Buffy.
However, Buffy season 6 took a darker turn and saw Tara break up with Willow after Willow’s magic addiction spiraled out of control. The two reconciled towards the end of the season, but just one episode later, Tara was accidentally murdered by Warren (Adam Busch), who came to the Summer’s house with a gun intending to kill Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Tara’s death has been the subject of controversy for 20 years, with many pointing to it as an example of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope, in which LGBTQ+ characters are disproportionately killed off, especially after expressing or acting upon queer desire.
Now, Benson has spoken about her controversial departure from the show. In a new book on Buffy titled Into Every Generation, a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, written by Evan Ross Katz, Benson was interviewed about Tara’s death and the resulting backlash. The actress acknowledged how “devastating” Tara’s death was for a lot of people, but defended Whedon’s intent, stating that she didn’t think he “ever meant to hurt the LGBTQ+ community.” Read her full quote below:
"This is the first time I'm talking about this. I had had some issues with somebody on the show, and it had kind of come to a head as I was getting ready to leave. Leaving the show was sad because there are some of the crew and the writers and some of the cast that I just adore, but I had made my peace with that person and the show, and I was done: 'I'm leaving everything in a good place. I don't need to come back.’ And then all the sh-t hit the fan and Joss realized he had messed up. I mean this is a time when people are, like, sending faxes to the production office, like this was a big, horrible thing, and it was devastating to a lot of people. And I think it had hit Joss that he made a mistake, that he had been short-sighted. I truly, for all of his faults and for all of the things about him that are frustrating, I don't think he ever meant to hurt the LGBTQ+ community. He just wasn't thinking. I can truly, from the bottom of my heart, say [that] this was nothing intentional. This was a thoughtless error.”
Tara’s death was an emotionally devastating development on the show, and especially for those who saw themselves represented by Willow and Tara’s relationship in a way that they had never seen on screen before. Unfortunately, Benson’s defense of Whedon not having homophobic intentions offers little comfort now, especially with fellow Buffy cast member Charisma Carpenter’s allegations about Whedon creating a toxic workplace.
It is unlikely that Whedon and the Buffy writers had genuinely malicious or homophobic intentions in killing off Tara. However, because they didn’t consider the controversial history of the way LGBTQ+ characters have been targeted and victimized on screen, and ignored the harmful implications of the 'Bury Your Gays' trope as punishing queer desire, they ensured that Tara’s death would remain a stain on Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s legacy. Thoughtlessness when representing a traditionally marginalized or underrepresented group should not be an option.
Source: Into Every Generation, a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts