SIGMUND FREUD. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.
In “Ted”, Buffy tries to explain to Xander and Willow why she does not like her mother’s new boyfriend, Ted.
Buffy: I don’t know him. I – I mean – so far, all I see is someone who apparently has a good job, seems nice and polite, and my mother really likes him.
Xander: What kind of a monster is he?
Buffy: I’m just saying there’s something a little too clean about this clown.
Willow: (giggling) He’s a clean clown! I have my own fun.
Xander: Buff, you’re lacking evidence. I think maybe we’re in Sigmund Freud territory.
Willow: He has a point. Separation anxiety, the mother figure being taken away, conflict with the father figure . . .
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) developed his Oedipus Complex theory in part out of his own unresolved feelings for his father, when Freud realized that as a young child he wished his father dead because he was a rival for his mother’s love and affection.
Freud also coined the term “separation anxiety” to describe the fear felt by an infant when separated from objects and people necessary for survival.