Erynn McLoughlin
2/23/15
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer (2000, Episode 5.1) “Buffy vs Dracula” adapted the original
Dracula in several different ways. Buffy represents Mina in the television
series but this episode starts off not like one would expect after reading the
novel. Lucy was the one in the book that would go out into the night and
sleepwalk and then return home to a worried Mina at times. At the beginning of
this episode it is Buffy running through the graveyard which the initial reactions
of viewers would see that as a representation of Lucy’s adventures during the
night. Buffy fights with a vampire and by stabbing a wooden stake through his
heart she kills him and he turns to dust. Buffy is a vampire slayer if one didn’t
already know and that’s why she was running through the graveyard and fighting
a vampire. There are several other ways this television series adapts the story
of Dracula.
Dracula
is known to be able to travel across the sea through large boxes filled of
dirt. This is clearly shown in the episode when the men were unloading a huge
box from the back of their truck and once it fell and hit the ground, dirt
started pouring out of it. After the dirt poured out a masculine figure arose
from the box and killed one of the men instantly. The original story is adapted
by still having Dracula’s appearance the same with his sharp teeth and finger
nails and his pale skin. Dracula also has an accent and is dressed in a long
dark red and black cape. Dracula enters Buffy’s room through a white fog and
then after hypnotizing her, he was able to bite her neck. Just like in the original
Dracula the men have Buffy (Mina in the novel) stay home while they go out and
look for Dracula. Overall, the main purpose of Dracula coming to them was
because of his urge to have Buffy just like the main purpose in the novel was
to have Mina.
Gender
in this television episode was seen in several different ways after analyzing it.
At first women in this movie can be seen as fierce or strong. It starts off by
showing Buffy running through the grave and fighting, which ends up killing, a
male vampire. When Dracula met Buffy for the first time face-to-face his words
could have persuaded other female characters to act a certain way but Buffy was
strong to her beliefs and stood up to him. At the very end of the episode it
shows Buffy resisting Dracula’s hypnotizing mind which tried to have Buffy
drink his blood from his wrist. Buffy was able to push him away which lead into
a fight. No matter how hard it was Buffy never gave up and continued to fight
the strong male character until she stabbed him with the wooden stake.
While
the television episode started to unfold the female characters seemed to change
a little bit and turned into more weakened ones. It started off by Buffy
having a male character watch over her and that shows that women are weaker and
need a sense of protection by a male dominant figure. Then when Dracula was
seen by Buffy and Willow he was seen as a sexy figure with dark, penetrating
eyes. Dracula had a hypnosis placed on Buffy which made her weak and do
whatever he told her to do. Dracula told her to move her hair off her neck so
she did and then he was able to bite her without any complications because of
the trance she was in. Overall, women’s role in this television episode, even
though started off as strong, independent characters definitely changed and
were mostly seen as weakened, dependent characters.
For your blog, I like how you made the connection of Buffy representing Mina from the book and that in the show Dracula still needs the boxes with the dirt. Your gender interpretation brought up some very good points about how Buffy goes from being this independent badass character to the weakened dependent character. I did wish there were visuals to go along with your blog though.
ReplyDeleteI also watched Buffy for the assignment, and I think you did a good job with this. The female characters do weaken towards the end, but in the end they rise a little. Buffy learns to slip out of reach in Dracula's thrall. You did a good job summarizing the similarities between the two. I think it would have been cool if you did a little more on the other characters in the show. I know Buffy was the Mina character, but I think its important to look at how the other females are portrayed in comparison to Buffy's character. Great job though!
ReplyDeleteI like how you chose to do a television episode of Buffy for your blog because it gives us a different look at gender representation because these characters were already established. As we have seen while watching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all the female characters are strong and having not scene this episode I can now tell that these characters weakened a little bit because of Dracula. You also write about the way the male characters are seen as the "protectors". I think you did a great job showing gender representation!
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