Dracula and Van Helsing Comparisions and Relations

                Dracula the king of all vampires, is sought out by no other than Van Helsing, in not one but multiple stories. In Dracula the novel and Van Helsing the movie, there are multiple relations between each.  The characters of the plots are of similarity, however there are huge differences in the way vampires can use their powers. Where there are wolves in the novel, there are now werewolves that are not only created by the devil, but to destroy the vampire race as a whole.  The movie correlates with the novel in various ways however the Van Helsing movie took the original story of Dracula and gave it a much more modernized glorious twist.

Van Helsing, in Dracula, is all but a mere doctor who moves into a more depth account of examination of vampires and then into hunting of them. It is almost like he is acquiring knowledge on them before he can really do anything to burden or hurt them. Compared to the movie of Van Helsing, where he is explicated as not only a doctor, but a renowned hunter of sorts. In the movie he is trained, in not only a few ways of martial arts, but trained from birthright.  He is knowledgeable on all ways of mediation and battle.  As this is a powerful trait, it creates the stigma around him, as an individual not to mess with.  And so it is renounced not in a positive note in the beginning of the movie.  Where he is confronted by the pope of England to set out to and find and save Anna and Franco of Transylvania.  These two characters are similar to that of Mina and Johnathan Harker.  I will explain this in the upcoming passages. 

Three Brides / Three Sisters of Dracula

 The count and his three brides are a lot more powerful than that of the novel.  The count, has an almost immortal, or G-d like, persona about him.  He has been staked, casted with Holy water, burned, and more but nothing seems to come close to harming him. Is it because he is the first vampire cursed by the devil himself?  But nonetheless, his brides are “even angelic” figures compared to that of the novel.  They can morph into flying bat like creatures, which can sing beautifully, manipulate humans with their beauty, and kill with a sense of devilish qualities.  But these are the least of Van Helsing’s worries as there are creatures created by Dracula himself, that look like they have been morphed together by clay and touched up with clothes, not to mention a huge hairy werewolf on the lurks around Transylvania.

Before I go into further detail about the challenges Van Helsing is up against. The characters of Mina, and Harker from the novel of Dracula have quite a change of persona from start to finish.  In the beginning of the novel, Harker gets trapped into Dracula’s lair. Where he is completely stripped of his freedoms and masculinities. Almost the same way as Franco is in Van Helsing.  Harker who is in complete love with Mina, after release isn’t the same character mentally, as prior. However, Mina steps up to be the one leading the relationship forwards attempting to get Steward back into normal mental mind state.  Harker anytime Dracula is mentioned becomes cowardice towards the fact of a fight. This is similar to that of Franco. Franco, in Van Helsing, is Anna’s brother, who gets captured by Dracula’s servants and stripped of his freedoms as well.  He is than experimented on, with that of the werewolf curse.  This curse has him alter his person into the beast that is hunted regularly.  However, since he was experimented on by Dracula, Dracula has full control over his actions.  Where the count can influence Franco’s overall decision.  Franco can partake in actions of free-will but when converting into the wolf, he is completely obedient, emasculated, and enslaved almost as a pet.  In this same exact sense as Steward is  towards Dracula in the novel.

Anna (Warrior Pose)

Mina (Normal Pose)

                Anna is the warrior version of Mina. She is in charge of Transylvania, and the most respected and feared individual of the town.  Anna loses her entire family to Dracula, as she is in constant battle keeping the townspeople sane from the threats of their vampire neighbors. She keeps charge over the city, holding down the fort more or less.  When Anna and Van Helsing meet the first time, sparks flare. Where she accuses Van Helsing of being an outsider turns out to be the most promising challenge that could be accepted by Van Helsing.  As Van Helsing placed fear into the ready to fight townspeople just by pulling out his guns, they were ambushed by Dracula’s brides.  As they fight Anna is to be seduced by two of them, where the last bride is to be killed by Van Helsing.  The death of the bride, causes petrifying screams that the other brides feel and shake them back into the battle causing them to flee.  Van Helsing showing his ultimate dominance by killing the first vampire in over 100 years.  The townspeople as well as Anna all begin to show Van Helsing the respect and fear he is renowned for.   Anna gives the proper thanks of a drink, but in the process Van Helsing only wants the details on who and what he needs to kill. 

 As the story forwards, they find out that the only way to kill Dracula, is that of a werewolves doing.  In Dracula the novel, this is not the case.  Dracula must perish through that of normal death, head being cut off. In Van Helsing, it is as if this is not plausible.  And that a being of the mystical sort must do the bidding. These stories both intertwine very nicely, as they keep formal similarities between both, Dracula and Van Helsing the movie.  They show both dominant role reversals between that of Anna and Mina. Where both characters are or form into powerful fighting females, that help lead way to saving the day.   The Van Helsing movie leads way into a more mystical path, where Dracula the novel embarks on a hidden realistic point of view behind vampires. 

               

Modern-Day Mina

So, I decided to watch the Dracula themed episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  And I don't regret my decision at all. Thanks to this class I will be binge-watching about 3 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer this weekend. I really enjoyed this episode. I like how the creators of this show mastered the art of portraying most of Dracula's characters and iconic moments while turning the construction of gender roles on it's head. 

Buffy instantly reminds me of a modern-day version of Mina.  She, like Mina, is the glue holding the vampire-slayers together. She seems to be every one's motivation to work harder at their job. 

When the movers discovered the crate filled with dirt I got excited because I already knew Dracula was in town. Giles plays a Van Helsing-like role. That role is reinforced when he mentions that he will be returning to England because Buffy doesn't need him to help her anymore. Dracula eventually makes his presence known to Buffy and he is a cutie patootie. When he tells Buffy that he assumed she knew who he was I knew this story was going to follow the romantic version of this story. Dracula has been searching all over the world for Buffy. Buffy, as well as the other female characters, are star struck but Dracula and are all sexually attracted to him.  

When Dracula is in town he proves he is the great Count Dracula. He has the classic accent, can appear and disappear from thin air, turns in both a bat and a wolf, lives in a luxury estate, and can put people under mind control. He even puts a spell over Xander. Xander takes the role of Renfield in this episode. He is promised immortality if he does Dracula's bidding. He constantly refers to Dracula as the Dark Prince or his Master. He says that "blood is life" and kills and eats a spider. Gross!

Expectedly, Dracula comes into Buffy's bedroom as a pearlescent mist. He comes in and seduces Buffy. Even though she tries to resist him, he puts her in a trance and bites her. When she wakes up, she discovers the bite marks and tries to hide them from the rest of the group by wearing a handkerchief.  The men in this story all remind of the men in the book. They're protective over Buffy. When one of the males discover the bite mark on Buffy, she admits to him that he doesn't know why she tried to hide them from everyone. She tells him "I'm your girl and I'm going to stay that way".

 That guy immediately takes the role of Jonathan Harker.  But Dracula's hold over the modern Mina is too strong. He summons her again and tries to get her to drink from him and to my surprise she did. But as she does, her life flashes before her eyes and she remembers her purpose. This was my favorite part of the episode because this is where the show reverses gender roles the most. Buffy didn't need a man to remind her of her goal to defeat Dracula. She figures it out on her own and in the end saves her own life. If she would've relied on the men in the story, she probably wouldn't have been successful in her mission to kill Dracula. Dracula was strong but Buffy was stronger and I loved that about this episode. It showed that women can be their own knights in shining armor. They don't need a man to complete them or come to their rescue.

While the men split up, Giles encounters the three vampire sisters. They are very aggressive and try to seduce him and distract him from his mission. But unlike the book, he cannot resist them. He was powerless under their control and would've been fed upon if it wasn't for the Jonathan of this episode saving him by showing the sisters a cross. 

Buffy is the most clever of the characters and outsmarts Dracula. She kills him all by herself and that spoke volumes on the topic of traditional gender roles. As soon as she kills him, Xander's spell is lifted and he is back to acting like his normal self. 

The Helpless Portrayal of Women in Dracula(1979)

In John Badham's version of Dracula (1979) events and characters take an unusual twist from Stoker's original version. While there are a majority of similarities, such as Dracula's powers, his boxes of dirt, Dracula's mannerisms, and some major events, this particular flim version changes the story line a great deal. The most drastic change is with the characters themselves. In the film the characters are related and the roles of Lucy and Mina are switched. Mina is the one who is bitten first and becomes the vampire that is killed, and Lucy is what Dracula attempts to make his immortal lover. Oddly Mina is Dr. Van Helsing's daughter, Lucy and Jonathan are lovers (although their marriage plans are not made), and Lucy is the daughter of Dr. Seward. Arthur and Quincy are not in the film, however there is Reinfield who is still insane and continually feeding on bugs throughout the film and doing Dracula's bidding.


As for the setting of the film Dracula comes to England to live and the cast welcome their new neighbor with open arms. Dracula is living in Carfax as he does in the novel, but it is made more into a castle in the film like one would imagine Castle Dracula to appear in the novel. There are no previous encounters with the characters as there had been with Dracula and Jonathan in the novel. The characters are very welcoming of Dracula and do not treat him as the "other" as in the novel Dracula still wins over the mortals with his charm, in the film however he is portrayed as a younger beautiful man, rather than an old grey man with a strong odor.



Just as in the novel, the films portrayal of the women in Dracula makes them appear as easily manipulated and very sexual when it comes to their encounters with Dracula. The men in the film like Jonathan and Van Helsing are not manipulated by Dracula which is seen several times in the film when they are attacking him and Dracula fails to mentally manipulated then men and has to use his physical strength to over power them. The women on the other hand are manipulated by Dracula just by simply looking into his eyes. Mina and Lucy both show how easily they as women can fall under Dracula's spell. Mina (Lucy in the novel) is the first to be manipulated by Dracula. She first encounters Dracula when he comes to England on the ship where are the crew members have mysteriously faced an awful death. She sees the shipwreck from her window and goes out of the house to see what has happened. There she finds Dracula in a cave.


When Dracula makes his appearance to the party everyone is having for him, his manipulation of the women begin. While Mina is serving the Count tea they are discussing why he came to London and he mentions that he wishes to walk around and see the people. Mina replies that he has a "lust for life", which we know to be all too true, and Dracula responds with "how well you phrase it" with a malicious smile. At this Mina become instantly sick from starring into the Counts twitching eyes and almost faints. When Dr. Seward goes to give her drugs Dracula insists that they do not "taint the blood". He is able to ease her pain by again having her stare into his eyes and hypnotizing Mina. The scene shows just the beginning of Dracula being able to easily manipulate the women, just from looking into his eyes the women become helpless.


Shortly after Mina becomes the victim of the Count when he comes to her window in the night while she sleeps. Once again Mina is the helpless women who very easily opens herself up to Dracula. Just from the sight of Dracula Mina unbuttons her blouse and willing allows herself to be fed upon by Dracula. Mina then goes into a fit where she cannot breathe and then dies, only to become vampire after her death.




While Mina's death comes very early in the film and is quickly manipulated by the Count, Lucy's (Mina in the novel) encounter with him is quite different. The film portrays the two as a type of lovers that are trying to be immortals together. Lucy is manipulated in the film much more than that of the role of Mina in the novel. In the novel Mina fights off becoming a vampire and a victim of Dracula, while Lucy(Mina in novel) in the film is fighting to be with Dracula forever. Lucy is also sexualized in the film and can be seen as coming onto Dracula by inviting him to dance when they first meet and continuously longing and waiting for him throughout the film. The main encounters of Dracula and Lucy's love affair is when she goes to his home and when the bite finally happens. When Lucy goes to Dracula's home for dinner(which she is wearing a very revealing shirt showing her neck and chest) Dracula seduces Lucy by his stare and they kiss passionately. At this Lucy becomes even more under Dracula's spell and does not wish to leave him.

The scene where the bite between Dracula and Lucy occurs is the most sexual and female manipulating in the film. Lucy is waiting for Dracula's appearance in her bedroom and when he arrives his stare instantly seduces her. Here the Count makes the "flesh of my flesh" quote but instead of threatening as it is in the novel it is more of a welcoming. Lucy is completely open to Dracula's advances and the intense sexual scene takes place. The scene is portrayed as the two lovers as silhouettes moving around in a deep
pool of red. This representing the sexual encounter as also the transferring of each others blood. The music played is sexual as well starting off very slowly and rapidly intensifying to a point where the music sounds conquering and then goes back to a very slow melody. This scene shows the two as lovers rather than a victim and prey and concludes to what Lucy is to become.

CLIP: Music of bite scene

Throughout the remainder of the film the men are trying to fight for Lucy's life, but Lucy stays loyal to Dracula and continuous to fight to be with him. She even tricks the others into thinking different at times pretending to be scared but she is only waiting for Dracula to come make her his immortal lover. The final scene shows the fight on the ship where Lucy and Dracula are found sleeping in the coffin together. Although it seems Dracula is defeated his cape flapping in the wind and Lucy's hopeful smile on her face suggest otherwise and that Lucy is still under Dracula's manipulating spell.

CLIP Seduction of Dracula throughout film:

Argenta's Dracula

   In some way's Argento's Dracula can be connected with the Dracula.  The storyline may have varied a little but you can still see the connections.  Overall, I think that the movie was okay.  Here's the basic storyline:

   The movie's opening was a little slow but gradually got better.  One thing I noticed from the beginning was the obvious signs of superstition.  Such as: garlic hung around the room, crosses, and barring the windows at night.  One thing the director chose was to play music that suggested suspense and mystery as the girl in the opening act runs through the woods.  As you continue to watch, you learn that she is running to meet her married lover.  After her meeting, she gets scared and asked the man to walk her home.  Which kind of plays into the gender-specific role as a woman of the time, needing the strong protection of a man to guide her home.  But because of his marriage, he doesn't want to be seen with another woman.  Enraged, the woman forgets her fear and storms off... but not before throwing her cross necklace, which was a gift from him, at the man.  

   As she walked through the forest, she begins to hear something around her, it's then when she realizes that maybe walking through the woods was a bad idea.  She soon spots a hawk flying straight for her.  Screaming, she breaks into a run, trying to get to the house that she passed along the path.  However, the man worked for Dracula and was no help at all.  Once the hawk reached the woman, it morphed into Dracula, himself.  He attacked her and eventually, turned her into a vampire.  One thing that I noticed, was that the writers made this scene rather sexual.  It is after this scene that Luci is introduced.  One thing that was different in the movie compared to the book, was Luci's hair.  Rather than being blond, Luci had brown hair in the movie.  Her first scene is when she's giving piano lessons to a little girl.

   After Luci is introduced, Jonathan is shown making his way to Castle Dracula.  One thing that I noted was that the horse showed signs of nervousness.  Which horses (and animals, in general) are said to sense supernatural, meaning that the horse probably sensed the vampire in town.  One thing that was inconsistent, however, was that the horse showed no sign of nervousness when arriving at the castle.  Once at the castle, Jonathan meets the vampire woman, the one from the beginning of the movie.  It is after this, that Dracula is finally introduced.  They way they portrayed Dracula surprised me.  I didn't expect him to  be so young.  He was closer to Jonathan's age, looked like an Englishman, and was blond.  

   During that initial meeting, Jonathan mentions that Mina, which is his wife in the movie, couldn't make the trip with him and that she would be arriving later. To which, Dracula makes the comment, "A wife's place is at her husband's side."  This comment shows how woman were though of during that time period, as weaker than the man, and needing the man's protection.  

   Now, the rest of the storyline slightly varies from the book, such as the vampire woman attacking Jonathan, there is a human who serves the vampire woman, and Luci's dreams are only mentioned once rather than many times.  Even Luci's storyline varies.  While still being attacked by Dracula, Luci didn't have the blood-transfusions, and while she mentioned three suitors...you never see them.  And Luci dies rather quickly.  

   It is here that Van Helssing is introduced.  Not as someone who fancied Luci, but as a vampire hunter.  He assists Mina in hunting down Luci, who is now a vampire.  However, instead of using the stake to kill her, she is burned to death.

   After Luci's death, Van Helssing decides to go after Dracula, who eventually captures Mina.  (He believes that Mina is his reincarnated wife)  Unlike the book, Van Helssing only has one other helper and that is a priest, who really was no help at all.  The movie ends differently than the original story as well.  Mina, breaking from Dracula's spell, ends up killing him by shooting him in the heart with a silver bullet.

  In all honesty, this is the kind of movie that I would only watch once.  While, it was interesting to see what they did with the story, it wasn' something that really kept my interest.

Dracula (2013) vs. Bram Stoker's Dracula

The show Dracula starting Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Dracula definitely takes and interesting twist on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Just off the first two shows I was able to tell the differences. So the show basically starts off with Dracula being buried in a coffin until Van Helsing would free him. Dracula would then go to London under the alias Alexander Grayson, an American entrepreneur, ten years later. The reason he goes to London is to help Van Helsing take down The Order of Dragons. This was the organization responsible for Ilona's, Dracula's wife, death and the death of Van Helsing's family. During the party in the beginning of the show Renfield makes an appearance as Dracula's right hand man. Later we also meet Johnathan, Mina, and Lucy. Jonathan is currently working as a journalist while Mina is a full-time medical student learning to be a surgeon. The thing is though Johnathan and Mina are not engaged. Lucy is still Mina's best friend but she does not support Mina's relationship with Jonathan due to her own interest in Mina. As for Van Helsing, it is revealed that he is Mina's professor while working with Dracula.

                   

With the first episode there are so many differences from the story. When we see Dracula for the first time he's in a coffin a dried up state instead of him being an old man like in the book. With that scene in the show instead of Jonathan meeting Dracula first it's actually Van Helsing, who was actually searching for Dracula, not to destroy him, but for his help. The show then cuts ten years later to a party hosted by Dracula himself with Renfield helping him instead of being in an insane asylum. For Dracula, he takes on this role as an American to keep his plans secret. Whereas in the book he doesn't hide who he is from the start. With Renfield, he takes on this duty of doing whatever is necessary to further Dracula's plans.

During the party Jonathan, Mina, and Lucy are introduced for the first time. In the book he is a solicitor that works with Dracula in the beginning. While in the show he works a journalist. He then works for Dracula as an investigative agent. Later Jonathan will go on to joining him Order of the Dragon.

With Mina, she takes an interesting role in the show that varies greatly from the story. Mina take on the feminine role of the of the "Victorian Modern Woman." Even though she makes fun of the modern woman in the story, she is the model modern women. She is a schoolmistress, is able to type on a typewriter, and can write in shorthand. While in the show she embraces being a modern woman due to her drive to being a surgeon instead of just being a nurse. She takes on a more masculine type of persona then her book version does with this change.

For Lucy, she doesn't take on the role of the proper English woman in show like she does in the book. Instead of her being worried over who will be her husband she is more concerned for Mina to the point of being possessive of her. During the show it is revealed that Lucy has romantic feelings toward Mina. The one similarity the show shares with the book is that Dracula changes Lucy into a vampire in the end. In the end of the season when Lucy is a vampire it shows her attacking her own mother. While in the book it's Dracula who attacks the mother.

In the book, Dracula briefly mentions that his main goal is to seek revenge but it's never really said why. While is the show it's said specifically. Dracula wants revenge over the Order of the Dragon for the death of his wife Ilona before he was turned into a vampire by the Order. During the season Dracula is shown in a more sympathetic light because he is doing everything for his lost love. Van Helsing works with Dracula in his plans to take down the Order because of his own vendetta that was started after the Order had Van Helsing watch his wife and children die in a fire because he went against the Orders wishes.

It's very clear in the book that Dracula has no romantic feelings towards Mina. Mostly he targets her to get to the Crew of light. But in the show she is depicted as the reincarnation of Draculas' dead wife Ilona which leads to Dracula being more protective of her. When the two first meet in the story he is more primal and savage towards her. While in the show he's loving and caring towards her. He is willing to do anything for her. Renfield asks him in the show why he wouldn't just take her and turn her into a vampire. Dracula states that if he to turn her it would be an abomination. This shows he would never want to hurt Mina in any way again making him a more sympathetic even romantic version of the Dracula character. In the show Dracula would always try and protect mina even if it meant she was with a different men. Like in the story Mina and Jonathan do get engaged, but shortly it ends due to Jonathan making comments dealing with his disapproval of Mina being a medical student and that how after they got married she would give up her dreams and become a proper English woman. Mina hears these comments and ends the engagement. it's only due to Dracula's intervening that Jonathan and Mina get back together. Later in the show Mina leaves Jonathan and gets together with Dracula. In the book Mina has a son with Jonathan and is married to him.

In the end of the book Dracula is dead and the Crew of Light have all moved on with their lives. The show however is different. Instead of Dracula dying, he actually continues to live but with Mina at his side. Jonathan, however, is bitter towards Dracula and joins Van Helsing in hunting down Dracula.

 

Van Helsing Gender inverted

In the Van helsing (2004) film version of Dracula the story is dramatically changed. The plot this time revolves around Van helsing who is now somewhat of a seasoned hunter of cryptid like creatures vampires werewolfs and etc. As the plot advances van helsing heads to Transylvania to kill Dracula, later on we come to find out Dracula is trying to produce offspring via live birth instead of the traditional bite of the neck vampire turning. Due to this the live offspring are born dead because of the vampire’s undead nature. Then there is an interesting twist in the plot Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is also involved in the plot. Frankenstein’s monster is the key to giving life to Dracula’s offspring. Ultimately dracula meets his demise by van helsing who has been bitten by a werewolf and transforms into one himself.

In this adaptation of the Dracula story Dracula himself is an inversion of gender.During the film Dracula and his three brides only take enough people or the bare minimum needed for their subsistence. Dracula shows concern and stresses that they all not take more than they need. Throughout the film this Dracula shows continued emotional sentiment as well as sympathy. His character is feminized through the stereotypical archetype of the overemotional female. This version of Dracula is somewhat unique from the perspective of gender because, he is feminized and is portrayed in such a way to draw out sympathy. Although he is portrayed this way he easily becomes masculine when he transforms to defend himself or to meet his goals or desires.

The next relevant character from a gender perspective would be Anna Valerious who is at first portrayed as a supposed male gender perspective strong woman. She can be seen as masculine throughout the film. Fighting the same monsters that van helping fights. She is a gender inversion a well as contradiction even though she has masculine trait. During the film she has to be rescued by van helsing and can do nothing against Dracula while captive. This serves as somewhat as a double standard because she has shown that she is not weak and can defend herself, which shows that maybe this is an attempt to belittle women or make them dependent on men.  In contrast to Bram stokers Dracula Anna is definitely not the norm. Her involvement in battling overturns the view of stokers woman and the gender roles he though they should be inclined to.

Van helsing is the last gender relevant character in this adaptation in the film. He is the embodiment of masculinity and it is repeated. He saves the damsel in distress. It is also revealed in the film that van helsings real name is Gabriel and he is supposedly the right hand of god and he killed Dracula by gods order. In this version van helsing is portrayed as the protector of light which tightly relates with stoker’s depiction of the men in Bram stoker’s band of men.

Overall Van helsings version of Dracula is a unique twist on an old classic. It is also a fresh perspective on how gender roles can be inverted as well as the norms associated with them. Dracula himself is a great change to the narrative of these set in stone gender roles that are slowly change. Van helsing is a tried and true male masculine hero that was unique in his own way but failed to deliver a varied gender perspective. In conclusion it was a nice change to gendered norms and biases of modern society.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Versus Dracula: Gender Representation

               

               For my first time watching an entire episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was kind of impressed. I was surprised that over three hundred pages of Dracula were condensed into a forty-five minute episode.  I was also shocked how the gender roles were portrayed throughout the show. I couldn’t believe how weak the female characters were made out to be, and as the show went on, the men looked just as bad as the women did.  The producers did an excellent job of mocking how ridiculous gender roles are while showing that these problems still exist. While most of the women were made out to be weak, male- dependent characters, most of the males were made out to be jealous, cocky, and could be easily described as what we call pigs.

                There were similarities in both the TV show and the novel. Both works had this Dracula character that was able to seduce male and female characters. He sensed when there was a feeling of sexual frustration/oppression, and he went after whoever was feeling it. Dracula had the power to control people’s minds and their dreams. He also had the power of shape shifting into different forms to disguise himself. In both works we see him as the vampire, a wolf, a bat and a mist. In order to travel, he needs dirt from his homeland. He is only present at night. And lastly, we don’t get to see his perspective.

                The differences are quite obvious. In the novel, no one knows what a vampire is until Van Helsing introduces the idea, people witness it themselves, or until they are in the process of transforming into one. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, everyone knows what a vampire is. Buffy doesn’t even believe that Dracula is the real Dracula when she first meets him, because she has dealt with many vampires claiming that title.

                The women are not seen as how women wanted to be represented. Take Willow’s character. For my first time meeting her, I’m not impressed. She is the definition of what most men feel women should be. She is seen as weak, dependent on men, and she can’t think or do anything for herself. For example, when Giles tells her that he’s thinking about going back to London, she responds with “We still need to be watched.” Even during the scene where Dracula turns himself into a bat, she states that she wishes Giles was there “because he would know what to do.” God forbid if she thought for anything by herself.

                Next is Anya. Anya is what society calls a “slut.” Why? Because she is not afraid of admitting who she slept with, and even if she was afraid to, everyone already knows.  The character of Spike (who doesn’t even seem close to this friend group) was surprised as hell when Dracula came back for her, but he learns quickly that Dracula is really there for Buffy. If that’s not enough proof for her “slutty” character, her attire is enough to convince you otherwise. Her deep V-neck spaghetti strap top doesn’t leave a lot of room for the imagination.

 

                Then we have Buffy. Her attire is modest for the most part, but what’s really to focus on is how flawless her skin and makeup are the entire time the film is on her. Even in her sleep her makeup is on point. Let’s be real, no one looks that good with makeup on in the middle of the night. The show features her as your typical blonde, almost valley girl. At one part she calls herself a “repeat-o girl” because she can’t stop repeating the same thing. And they also show her being kind of weak when Dracula turns himself into a bat. Instead of worrying about how she can destroy him, she worries about the bat flying around her head. Besides her perfectness, she is an ideal female character. She thinks for herself, fights for herself, and is very independent. Though she technically does have Giles there “watching” her, she’s been kicking butt on her own. Unlike the other two females, Buffy is able to step away from the norm. She doesn’t fall entirely into Dracula’s thrall and ends up defeating him. What a woman.

                As for the men, we don’t get very good vibes from them either. First is Xander. His character can be summed up as a tool. He is cocky, is always looking for a fight and is jealous when claiming what is his. The best part of the entire show is when Dracula seduces him, making Xander obsessed with him. Xander loses his manliness as he is in his own thrall with Dracula. And even when Buffy defeats Dracula, Xander tries to reclaim his manliness by saying that he will no longer be the “spider eating man bitch who eats insects and gets funny syphilis…he is done being a butt monkey.” What a manly man.

                Giles starts off as being a senex/father figure to the group, which is great. However, as soon as he enters Dracula’s castle, he is seduced by three sisters in red. All of his morals fly out the window when these girls are ripping his shirt apart, tickling his bare skin and licking his body. Who could resist all three? Obviously one woman wasn’t good enough, but add two more to the mix and we’re in heaven. Riley comes to rescue him and he doesn’t even want to leave. Instead he states, “There was no possible way of escape…Oh, I forgot my shoe.” Anybody else getting the sense of male voyeurism?

Riley is the best man here. He is logical and perfect for Buffy. He is confident in himself so much, that when Buffy was seduced by Dracula, he couldn’t get mad. His only flaw was telling Buffy that she “throws like girl.” Which he was right, that next throw she made was so good, Riley couldn’t catch it and ended up hurt.

Then we have Dracula. He has the power of seducing anyone, so he seduces men and women. One sex apparently isn’t enough though, and we see that in both novel and TV show. His other flaw is that in the show, he does not have an ounce of terror in his appearance. If he came up to me and told me he was going to bite my neck, I would expect a hickey, not two puncture wounds where he fed off of. He looks like the kind of person that you would invite to have coffee with. Another flaw of his is that he can sense when people are sexually frustrated. That being said, when someone isn’t getting it in, he seduces them, forcing them to sexual bliss. Have I mentioned the term “pig”? It’s kind of surprising for a character that doesn’t come across as masculine. He doesn’t look very muscular and his long hair and nails seem natural to him.

In tying these ridiculous gender roles to the story of Dracula and entwining with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we see how sexual frustration/oppression is dealt with in the works. In the TV episode, it bluntly shows how Dracula is beyond willing to sexually heal the person in need. In the novel, the sexual oppression is there in the females, but it’s not as blunt as the show. Either way, if you don’t take care of your girl, Dracula will (as it seems).  You wouldn’t be able to see this if it wasn’t for the crazy gender roles society has given to its characters.