Whedon discusses the Cheese Man within the DVD commentary of “Stressed.” He explains:
“The Cheese Man: meaningless. Why? As a result of I wanted one thing within the present that was meaningless, as a result of there’s all the time one thing within the dream that simply would not make any sense in any respect. On this case, it was the Cheese Man. He confounds everyone due to that, and other people ascribe him which means. This, to me, signifies that we’re being profitable as a result of this implies they don’t seem to be apprehensive about every thing else, which implies they type of did perceive most different issues.”
Regardless of this, theories concerning the Cheese Man abound, even in any case this time. Over time, I’ve heard every thing from “the cheese stands alone” as Buffy does, to the cheese is the connective tissue between this close-knit group of buddies, to Whedon is just an enormous fan of cheese. “Buffy Meets the Academy: Essays on the Episodes and Scripts as Texts” has a complete part written by Melanie Wilson arguing that not solely is the Cheese Man not meaningless, however he’s really an integral facet of “Stressed.”
As somebody who as soon as dreamt I gave beginning to a litter of socks, I am not going to argue whether or not or not the Cheese Man has some deeper significance, although, for me, he was all the time only a gag. Finally, goals have no matter which means you attribute to them. Whedon might have added the Cheese Man as a nonsensical comedic component, but it surely’s fairly fascinating that there are such a lot of various beliefs a couple of character with virtually no display screen time.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” remains to be my favourite present ever, even when its creator has made my love for it more and more difficult. Simply because the Cheese Man is meaningless to Whedon, does not imply followers cannot discover which means wherever they select.
