Joyce Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seems to be one of the most controversial parents in all of television. While she is praised for some of her parenting, she’s also criticized for being too lenient with a daughter who is clearly showing signs of mental illness. Not only does Joyce not know that Buffy is the vampire slayer, she doesn’t even know that vampires and other things that go bump-in-the-night are real!
So when Buffy acts out and does things like burn down her school gym, it seems as though Joyce is ignoring clear signs of trouble or the supernatural. But on the other hand, she is ive and loving and always seems to have Buffy’s best interests at heart. There seems to be a constant debate when it comes to Joyce’s parenting. With all of that said and done, here are five times when Joyce was a bad mother and five times she was actually better than some would give her credit for.
SHE WAS A GREAT MOM: She’s A Single Mom
Joyce is a single mom who does her absolute best under difficult circumstances. She clearly didn’t have very much from Buffy’s father, given how absent he is in Buffy’s life. That, and mother/daughter relationships are really hard, especially with a teenage and daughter and especially if the vampire-slaying teenage daughter in question appears to be troubled.
Trying to a family and raise a child on your own is unimaginably challenging, but Joyce really does give it her best efforts and deserves a lot of credit for that.
SHE WAS NOT A GREAT MOM: She’s Oblivious
From the very beginning, Joyce seems to downplay all of the very bizarre things that happen to and around Buffy. In the very first episode that shows Buffy’s first day at Sunnydale High School, Joyce gives Buffy a quick pep talk and tries to give her sound advice. Instead she tells Buffy "Try not to burn anything down.”
It seems as though she almost brushes off how serious something like that is and makes a joke of it. She is also frequently heard through the series asking, “What’s going on?," never really seeming to figure things out despite how obvious and blatant they get.
SHE WAS A GREAT MOM: All Of Season 5
There are a lot of fan theories surrounding Joyce’s character in Season 5. Joyce is a lot more present later on in the series and most theories point to the fact that Dawn is now in the picture.
With two daughters to take care of, Joyce seems to be a much more active and available parent, showing genuine concern for both of her children. It seems as though the addition of Dawn in the Summers' household changed a lot of things. Not just in the demon world because Dawn after all is the key, but in the Summers’ world as well.
SHE WAS NOT A GREAT MOM: She Kicks Buffy Out
One of the worst things Joyce ever does comes at the end of Season 2. Here, Buffy is about to fight Angel to the death to save the world, but Joyce is not letting her leave the house. Buffy comes clean to her mother and tells her everything, but her mother won’t listen and tries to ground her daughter.
Buffy disobeys her mother and on her way out the door, Joyce tells Buffy, “If you leave this house, don’t even think about coming back.” Buffy respects her mother’s wishes and once she kills Angel, she runs away from Sunnydale.
SHE WAS A GREAT MOM: She Gets Buffy Back
As if to make up for the previous entry, Buffy does eventually return to Sunnydale and her mom welcomes her back with open arms. Her mom is anxious to have things return back to normal and wants to trust Buffy again.
She keeps an open line of dialogue between her and her daughter, even when it comes to Buffy’s slaying. She also fights really hard to get Buffy back into school when she comes back to Sunnydale and seems to have a hopeful outlook for Buffy’s entire situation, despite their current circumstances.
SHE WAS NOT A GREAT MOM: She's Too Overprotective
A pretty constant theme throughout the first two seasons, before Joyce finds out that Buffy is the slayer, is how many times she gets in the way of Buffy and her slayer duties.
Buffy is constantly having to sneak out and around her mom in order to save the world from the latest evil thing. Joyce is just trying to protect her teenage daughter, and it’s not really her fault that she doesn’t know who her daughter really is. Still, she also doesn’t make an effort to really examine everything going on in Buffy’s life.
SHE WAS A GREAT MOM: She Protects Buffy No Matter What
Even though Joyce has no idea just how much trouble and danger her daughter is typically in, she does everything she can think of to protect her. Joyce seems to have very healthy and normal boundaries for her teenager and if Buffy were just a normal teenager, Joyce’s house rules would probably work really well.
She doesn’t expect too much from her daughter, but definitely wants the best for her and will do what she has to do to ensure her daughter’s happiness and safety. She does these without ever knowing that so much of what happens to Buffy (and what she does to save the world) are incredibly dangerous and out of her control.
SHE WAS NOT A GREAT MOM: Dating Ted
One of the things Joss Whedon does brilliantly is use mythological creatures and demons to draw parallels to the real life issues a lot of teenagers face. One of those issues is pointed out in a Season 2 episode “Ted."
Buffy’s mom starts dating and falls for a guy that rubs Buffy the wrong way. Ted’s '50s-era way of thinking and speaking plus his threats to “give Buffy a slapping” don’t seem to deter Joyce from her new love interest. After some investigating, the Scooby gang learns about Ted’s dark past and eventually discover he is not a man, but a robot. Joyce clearly doesn’t have great taste in men.
SHE WAS A GREAT MOM: She Loves Buffy’s Friends
Joyce makes an honest effort to bond with all of the people in Buffy’s life. She takes an interest in all of her friends and treats Xander and Willow as if they are her own children.
She really hits if off with Spike, which makes for a friendship that a lot of fans and enjoy watching develop - even if you could argue that befriending and sympathizing with a vampire is a bad parenting move. Joyce is good with people, she’s warm and innocent and comes as a relief to Buffy and her gang whenever they’re in trouble.
SHE WAS NOT A GREAT MOM: Bringing Home The Evil Mask
Joyce works at an art gallery and enjoys collecting pieces for herself and her home. In one episode in Season 3, Joyce brings home an ancient mask from the gallery where she works.
At this point, Joyce knows Buffy is a slayer and she knows about all the real evil that exists in the world and follows her daughter around Despite that knowledge, this doesn’t stop her from bringing home a very scary mask, which of course, possesses evil powers. When Joyce’s friend Pat gets her hands on the mask, things go from bad to worse. Thanks a lot, Joyce.