Oh, Cordelia!

I think Cordelia's character raises some really great questions for Buffy viewers. She is at once a typical "mean girl" from high school -- rich, vain, popular, very concerned with her reputation and power -- still, Cordelia is one of the most honest and straight-forward characters on the show. Her secret "relationship" (at least at the moment, mainly physical) with Xander makes her face her own demons (ha, get it?) about how important a popular reputation in high school really is. I think Whedon is a genius for making the popular girl stereotype still extremely likable and funny, even when she says awful things! Furthermore, her willingness to help the Scoobies (she uses her sex appeal willingly to assist in the episode "Innocence") illustrates a better glimpse at how crucial Cordelia becomes at later points in the show. I haven't seen Angel, but I can sense how Whedon drops hints all throughout Buffy that even though Cordelia says nasty things (like in "Surprise," she tells Xander: "Well, of course you wanna tell everybody. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I, on the other hand, have everything to be ashamed of"), she really steps up and uses what she knows. She ends up actually being fond of the Scoobies and discovering new things about herself along the way. Cordelia is a great example of how people have a change of heart -- but she still maintains a level of "mean-girlness" that continually manages to receive our forgiveness.