Girls on Film: Bella, Buffy, and Bloodsuckers
Filed under: Fandom, Columns, Girls on Film
I'm about to make a very unpopular comparison, one that surely will have some fans trying to revoke my own Whedon fandom: Bella, Buffy, and the bloodsuckers from Twilight and Buffy aren't all that different.
I say this as someone who only left her house once during the seven seasons of Buffy night, who watched each episode countless times, and amassed a huge pile of memorabilia. I say this as someone who has read Stephenie Meyers' series and enjoyed it for the ways it reflected and improved on my own fluffy YA reading (The Vampire Diaries), and knocked it for the Mormon-esque message underneath.
I haven't ignored my fandom; I just can't help but see the myriad of similarities between the two characters, ones that make Buffy owning Edward seem quite hypocritical. The power behind the slayer comes from Joss Whedon and the themes explored throughout her story -- not from the character herself. Strip away the story arcs and implied messages, and you've got a troubled woman who is no better off than Bella.
The one thing Buffy has going for her is her slayer power. But before that, when she didn't have a mission, she was the quintessential, stereotypical blonde airhead. She was sweet but floofy, obsessed with boys, fashion, and popularity. Even after she became the Chosen One, it took quite a while for the hardships of slaying to hone her focus.
Bella, meanwhile, matured quite young with no supernatural influence. She switched the mother-daughter dynamic to take care of her own child-like mom. She wasn't popular, and chose to spend her time doing well in school and reading the classics. She can't relate to teen gossip and high-school politics, and she exists without anyone she can really relate to.
And then come the boys.
Angel is introduced lurking in the darkness, and he offers only the vaguest and creepiest rationale when the Slayer catches him. Then, when Buffy learns that he's a vampire, he doesn't simply say: "Hey! I don't kill humans anymore!" Angel gets creepy first, with tales about those he's killed, and how he wants to kill her too. Quite over-dramatic. And when it's her turn to die via prophecy, he takes part in a scheme to protect her from the fate, ignoring her own inherent strength.
Sound familiar? Edward lurks in the darkness, watching Bella sleeping, wondering why this human appeals to him so much more than others. When she learns he's a vampire, Edward gets menacing, talking about the people he's killed, his desire for her blood, and how easily he could destroy her. Yet, when Bella is in danger, he's all about protecting her and shielding her ... much like Angel -- the whole need-to-be-a-knight male mentality.
And then there's Spike -- a supernatural embodiment of the Luke and Laura story. Spike and Buffy are enemies whose hate evolves into a physically damaging and addictive lust. Spike goes so far as to make a sex bot. In the real world, this would turn a girl off, yet the vampire gets his greatest wish -- the Slayer herself. Even after he almost rapes her, Buffy still cares for him and ultimately calls him her champion.Side by side, they're quite similar, especially in their romantic dysfunction. The difference between these vampire-loving icons is how they're treated in the plot -- how the creators chose to tell their story.
Buffy is terribly flawed, but surrounded by feminist messages, social commentary, and progressive vision. We forgive her flaws because they allow us to stretch the boundaries of femme-centric media, and they prove that just like any male-led story -- a female lead is as good as the work she's given.
Bella, meanwhile, is a rather likable and relatable girl whose story is sadly lost in love. She wouldn't be so easy to chastise if, as Laura Miller pointed out over at Slate, Bella's story was still her own and not a deadly obsession.
That's where Meyer missed the mark. She created an interesting character and was able to intermingle classic vampiric tropes with notions of family and loyalty, but in the process of getting lost in amber eyes, she forgot the most important part of all: To let Bella be defined by more than her love for Edward.
As it stands, Buffy might win for Sunnydale, and all that the small town embodies, but on her own, she's just another smitten girl like Bella, whose obsession for vampires trumps any rational judgment.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-06-2009 @ 9:33PM
Bubbameister33 said...
I don't get it?
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7-06-2009 @ 10:04PM
Baxter said...
I think all this really means is that Stephanie Meyer ripped off Joss Whedon.
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7-06-2009 @ 10:35PM
Jason H said...
This is pretty much the sentiment I got from this article. Twilight is basically a crappy knock off of Buffy.
Sweet?
7-06-2009 @ 10:59PM
Roxie said...
I have always said that Angel & Edward are not that different at all
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7-06-2009 @ 10:43PM
Monika said...
Not really. Before both of these came The Vampire Diaries (now being made into a tv show), which has a lot of similarities to both, and before that the work of Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, etc.
Vampire-themed media always riffs on what came before.
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7-07-2009 @ 7:42AM
Bondo said...
I think you give Meyer too little credit. I dare not say too much so as to avoid spoilers, but Twilight is all about the maturation of romance. The first two books are full of the narcissistic melodrama that is oh so common among the high school set. Sure, she loses her sense of individual self within her infatuation for Edward, but haven't so many girls (and guys) done so the first time they think they've fallen in love.
But over time the relationship becomes an adult relationship, rich but with a sense of context. And it truly is a mutual relationship, not one's ownership of the other. Sure, the series engages in some very traditionalistic messaging (though there is nothing wrong with traditions, just the imposition of them on unwilling parties) and this may turn off those who do not value tradition, but ultimately Bella is very much more than her love of Edward.
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7-07-2009 @ 12:12AM
Anita said...
I think Jenn Pozner from WIMN (http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/?p=1272) summed up my opinion on this best so I'm just going to copy and paste it here:
"...from my perspective the dynamic within the Buffy/Angel relationship is not at like the Bella/Edward relationship. While some of the elements might seem similar on the surface, the narratives are polar opposites.
For example, take the stalking: in Buffy, when Angel follows Buffy, she calls out this behavior as creepy and tells him she can take care of herself (more importantly, we as viewers are meant to understand that Angel’s behavior is sketchy and inappropriate). When Edward stalks Bella, spies on her, etc., these actions are framed as romantic.
Eventually, Buffy and Angel form a relationship based not only on mutual attraction but on mutual respect, strength, teamwork, trust. As Buffy’s boyfriend Angel behaves as her partner, not as a controlling daddy figure.
Angel only becomes controlling, stalking her, threatening her, using violence, in later seasons when a curse forces him to “turn bad again” (within the show’s mythology, he loses his soul and becomes an evil vampire). Buffy doesn’t find his constant professions of threat-tainted love romantic, just upsetting and frightening. And she fights back against him, repeatedly, until she finally ends up having to kill him. Which she does. (Don’t worry… this being the Whedon universe, he figured out a way to bring him back.) But the key issue is the narrative: as viewers, when we watch Angel behave in dark, twisted, violent ways — we are meant to fear and despise these actions… and we see him rebuffed, rejected and ultimately we see him suffer fatal consequences for these betrayals.
See, that’s the thing: controlling, threatening, abusive behavior in the Buffy universe is always framed as creepy. Controlling, threatening, abusive behavior in the Twilight movie is framed as romantic, sexy, loving.
(And for those true Buffy geeks among us, I know some of you might have questions about Spike. For a long while, his desire for Buffy — and his own set of inappropriate behaviors — were seen by Buffy and all others in the show as the ultimate in ick. It was only in the season when Buffy was dealing with deep psychological trauma that she became romantically involved with Spike. During that storyline, we were supposed to understand that her hooking up with Spike was a sign of her making unhealthy choices based on her being psychologically damaged by recent events — again, not romantic, not sweet, not “true love” — but a form of self-flagellation.) "
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7-07-2009 @ 12:57AM
Monika said...
I agree with much of that, hence why I don't chastise Bella as much as how Meyer framed her. Although Bella still is a better human than Buffy was pre-calling, and after-human, well, Bella got a lot more independent and outspoken, so she has potential.
Now, while many actions were deemed creepy on the surface, the fact that the romance was still there makes much of the creep factor superfluous. There are no far-reaching consequences. The actions are always forgiven.
And as much as I'm a fan of Buffy with Angel, their relationship wasn't that grounded, and he certainly made a lot of decisions and moves without her input -- which is even more silly than Edward and Bella because Buffy had a better chance of handling them. There's trying to save her with Giles, spying on Ford, following her as she takes on many baddies, deciding to leave with part of the Judge's body, deciding to leave Sunnydale. They might have been in love and been close to physical equals, but communicate they did not! :) And to me, that's an important part of a relationship based on "mutual respect, strength, teamwork, trust."
7-07-2009 @ 12:18AM
taalibba said...
Well, besides the fact that you mention Spike, I'm getting that you're pretty much comparing Twilight and Seasons 1&2 of Buffy. And I can kind of see that, but the similarities between Buffy and Twilight stop after Angel leaves or at the very least after the gang graduates high school. I think it's a pretty far stretch to compare Bella to, say 5th or 7th season Buffy.
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7-07-2009 @ 12:26AM
Monika said...
First, the best similarities will definitely be the ones where the girls are in the same scenario -- discovering vampire love in high school.
But I'd argue that the creepy things and similarities most definitely continue post-graduation. (And why besides Spike?! He was instrumental in all of the non-Angel seasons.) Buffy temporarily becomes a shell of a girl after one night with Parker, and then dates but never loves Riley, because as Spike says, she likes a little demon in her men. Not to mention Riley deciding to understand Buffy by going to a pseudo blood brothel. Or Buffy loving her ability to spy on people while invincible. Or Angel coming back to Sunnydale to "protect" Buffy by stalking her.
7-07-2009 @ 1:23AM
rainbow said...
This is actually an interesting juxtaposition....as an avid Buffy fan and anti-twilighter, its interesting to compare the characters and find that there are in fact similarities. This, plus the comments, totally hit the nail on the head for me as to why i dislike Twilight -- Edward's creepy, stalkerish behavior (and the positive light within which it is framed) and more importantly Bella's definition as a character. Arguments abound online as to whether she is a strong character or a weak one, and there are points supporting both sides, but you phrased it perfectly -- Bella needed to be defined by more than her love for Edward.
I also think my love for Buffy comes from the whole show, thematic content, plot, and cast of characters, not just the Buffy character herself -- with Twilight, there really isnt anything outside of the relationship that is equally compelling to these things, or can make up for its obsessive single mindedness.
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7-07-2009 @ 4:15AM
yani said...
Ignoring for a minute the incredible ick of comparing Buffy/Angel with Belle/Edward (I do agree with everything Anita quoted in her post though), having both read the first Twilight book and seen the movie, I would say that there is also a severe gap between the Belle/Edward relationship in the book and the one in the movie. I never got the sense of overwhelming "ick" from the book that the movie projected. Even the other kids at the school who all got nuts for the ever bland Belle seem incredibly dorky in the movie in a way I never got from the book.
But Buffy was never about "the romance", it was (as Joss has said many times) about taking every awful thing that could happen to you in high school but framing it in a supernatural context. That's why Angel "turns evil" after he sleeps with Buffy... it's the ultimate extension of "that boy you were really into who sleeps with you and then never calls you". It's not about somebody describing you like you're a particularly juicy lambchop.
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7-07-2009 @ 2:26PM
Monika said...
heh.. Are you referring to Edward's comment about how good her blood would taste?
I actually liked that -- not in a funny way, but because it revealed some absurdity in the whole affair. Saying "vampire" or "I wanted to kill you." is a lot more removed than the reality of: "Your blood is intoxicating and hard to resist."
It's just too bad that Bella didn't need to process that or at least think about the seriousness of that statement.
7-07-2009 @ 5:37PM
yani said...
Honestly, I don't remember the exact reference, although I did think there was more than one. Buffy would have socked him in the mouth for a comment like that.
Actually there's an awesome teeshirt I've seen that says "And then Buffy staked Edward, The End".
But if you want to try something in the vampire genre with a little more heft to it (at least for the first half dozen or so books before they jump the shark), I'd suggest the Anita Blake series if you haven't read it already.
7-07-2009 @ 6:58AM
Belinda said...
I don't agree with your assertion that Bella is an 'interesting character'. Despite having read all 4 books I find her flat and one dimensional. She and Buffy are both teenage girls who happen to fall in love with a vampire, but the similarity pretty much ends there.
Buffy went from being a popular, carefree girl, to being uprooted (not by choice) and having to find her niche in a new school, living with a newly single mother, while simultaneously serving as the world's saviour. Bella moved in order to give her mother time to spend on her new husband (her choice, but really?) and suddenly found herself surrounded with friends, despite her inability to bring much to her peer group.
Buffy, despite her relationship with Angel, retained ties to her family and friends and her responsibilities as a Slayer. Bella was willing to discard every connection in her life in a heartbeat for her 'man'.
Buffy willingly gave her blood to Angel. Edward sucked Bella's to 'save' her.
Buffy's main flaws were character based- pride and a feeling of superiority over her status as a Slayer. Bella's is merely...clumsiness.
When Angel/Angelus turned stalking into an art form, Buffy changed the locks on him to keep him from coming into her room, and was willing to send him to hell, despite her own feelings.
Angel originally stalked Buffy to protect her, but was promptly put in his place and learnt that she didn't need him for that. Never once did her tell her who she could see, be friends with, or use sex/'marriage' as a form of ransom. And when he left her, she didn't get all melodramatic and throw herself off a cliff. She just got on with her studies, friends- she even slept with other guys.
Comparing Buffy to Bella is, frankly, laughable and an insult to Joss, SMG and the many writers who have developed such an iconic character. And real vampires don't sparkle!
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7-07-2009 @ 2:39PM
Monika said...
I saw Bella's interactions with school friends showing more about them than her -- that these people didn't have much in common with her or think the same way as her -- save Angela. She had one girl who befriended her out of selfishness (Jessica), others who hated her, and guys who were friends because they crushed on her.
Buffy definitely wasn't as willing to discard everything, but she had her moments -- not being able to kill Angelus when he started his spree, skipping town after killing him, going practically catatonic after Parker, etc. Regardless, I see the defining issue in this area to be Slayerness. Without the weight of the world or the world getting sucked into hell, I think she'd be much like Bella with the infatuation.
And Angel was never put in his place about stalking. I love the character, but he definitely retained some Edward-esque overprotectiveness. He'd watch her from the other side of the room until she noticed, lurk, and the best example: Coming to protect her by stalking her over Thanksgiving.
7-07-2009 @ 5:44PM
yani said...
"And real vampires don't sparkle!"
I think I need that printed on a teeshirt! While I agree with everything else you said, I love that last line.
7-07-2009 @ 10:37AM
Veronica Sawyer said...
I don't disagree that much that Buffy/Angel is similar to Bella/Edward. (Although I do agree that one of the big differences is that Angel was called out as creepy, his behavior condemned by Buffy and others, especially Giles, which does make a huge difference.) This is part of the reason why, though I am a huge Buffy fan, I was never a fan of the Buffy/Angel relationship -- or the Buffy/Spike relationship either.
However, there *IS* no way to "strip away" all the stuff surrounding Buffy. That "stuff" is what makes the show what it is. The reason I watched the show avidly is because there was MUCH more to it than Buffy's problematic relationships with boys. The whole point of the show -- reiterated over and over -- is that what made Buffy different as a slayer was her relationships with others -- not her relationships with her boyfriends, but with her friends: Willow, Xander, Giles, her mother, and later Dawn. Those were the vital relationships in her life. And this is also part of what makes the show more feminist than many people even realize -- it valorizes relationships and community instead of blowing them off in favor of an individualistic model. Sure, Buffy was the chosen one, she was a smart and powerful woman on her own, but she never would have survived without being grounded in human relationships. And though she had a LOT of insecurities and made a lot of mistakes, this made her a human being, not a weakling defined almost solely by romance.
None of this kind of thing exists in Twilight, which is really nothing more than a romance novel.
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7-07-2009 @ 2:44PM
Monika said...
I agree.. What I'm pointing out is how "Bella sucks, Buffy rocks," "Edward is creepy and Buffy would beat him," messages, which pull everything out of context, actually start to reveal their similarities.
As characters -- their actions and responses -- there are a lot of similarities. As characters in a greater context, the cavern widens considerably.
That being said ... as these arguments started happening over the last few months, I realized just how much I forgave or blew off Buffy's questionable choices or behaviour because of what surrounded it -- others to relate to, the social messages inside, etc. Many of the same things happen in Twilight that happen in Buffy, but the latter just had an amazing writing team to dampen creepiness and perk up strength.
7-07-2009 @ 1:08PM
Nina Konda said...
I completely agree with the above poster!! While she did have some destructive relationships with controlling vampires she never let them control her life. When Angel became Angelus Buffy was distraught by the change of someone she loved(because that's a normal human reaction) but eventually killed him, something Bella would never do if Edward started a killing rampage because Edward is her life. You are only defining Buffy by her relationships with vampires when throughout the whole series she constantly picks her friends and family over her vampire loves which I think makes her a feminist because she doesnt want her relationships with men (Riley) and vampires to define and control her life. Yes, buffy is destructive and bad at relationships (with vampires and actual men like Riley) but she knows when to walk away--a concept Bella will never understand because her romance with Edward is what she defines her life by.
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