Buffy from the very beginning
Dec. 5th, 2004 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowscastOkay, I've started watching BtVS all the way through with another friend.
This isn't the friend who's moving to Germany—she's seen "Welcome to the Hellmouth, pt 1" with me, and I'm desperately hoping that in the next few weeks we'll manage part 2 and "Once More, With Feeling" at least.
The friend who came over tonight has seen most of BtVS and AtS, but only as it aired, and he's missing chunks. So we're starting right at the beginning and going all the way through. We plan to live in the same city as each other for years to come, so there's no rush.
But why is it that I always end up watching BtVS with straight guys who totally don't appreciate any of the slashy bits? Why? God, is it too much to ask for to have a Buffy-watching buddy who will squee with me when Angel kisses Spike on the forehead?
(I should be careful what I say. This particular friend also happens to be the only person in my RL who knows about this journal.)
Anyway. He insisted on starting at the very beginning. So tonight we watched ... dum dum dum duuuuum... "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
The movie.
Yes, the 1992 movie with Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry.
OMG, was it ever '80s! Let us never forget; the '80s didn't end until about 1994. In '92 the hair was big and the pinks were flourescent.
It was fun picking out things that changed between the movie and the series...
Obviously series!Buffy doesn't get menstrual cramps every time she's near a vampire. (That sure would've made things inconvenient with Angel.)
The movie!vampires don't dust when they're staked. So much messy cleanup.
The movie!vamps have cute pointy ears.
The movie!vamps can fly! Or at least float around on invisible wires. Damn, can you imagine Spike and Angel floating gently through the night skies of Sunnydale? Hee hee.
Movie!Mom is a ditz and a bitch. Good call on completely throwing out that characterization for Joyce.
Merrick claims to be the reincarnation of a whole long line of former Watchers. But maybe he was just talking big.
And hey, the Pike character does feel kind of like a foreshadowing of Spike. I remember reading a while back a really cool "Normal Again" 'verse fic in which Pike and Spike were totally conflated in Buffy's fantasy world—or rather, Spike was the role Buffy cast Pike in, in her delusions. This made me think of that.
And finally, the training scene! I am now completely convinced that the "training montage from an '80s movie" in OMWF (Giles' ballad to Buffy) was totally a reference to the training scene in the BtVS movie. It had very similar visuals. And in a slightly earlier scene, Merrick throws a knife at Buffy the same way Giles does in the OMWF scene. It can't be a coincidence!
Fun was had by all.
This isn't the friend who's moving to Germany—she's seen "Welcome to the Hellmouth, pt 1" with me, and I'm desperately hoping that in the next few weeks we'll manage part 2 and "Once More, With Feeling" at least.
The friend who came over tonight has seen most of BtVS and AtS, but only as it aired, and he's missing chunks. So we're starting right at the beginning and going all the way through. We plan to live in the same city as each other for years to come, so there's no rush.
But why is it that I always end up watching BtVS with straight guys who totally don't appreciate any of the slashy bits? Why? God, is it too much to ask for to have a Buffy-watching buddy who will squee with me when Angel kisses Spike on the forehead?
(I should be careful what I say. This particular friend also happens to be the only person in my RL who knows about this journal.)
Anyway. He insisted on starting at the very beginning. So tonight we watched ... dum dum dum duuuuum... "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
The movie.
Yes, the 1992 movie with Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry.
OMG, was it ever '80s! Let us never forget; the '80s didn't end until about 1994. In '92 the hair was big and the pinks were flourescent.
It was fun picking out things that changed between the movie and the series...
Obviously series!Buffy doesn't get menstrual cramps every time she's near a vampire. (That sure would've made things inconvenient with Angel.)
The movie!vampires don't dust when they're staked. So much messy cleanup.
The movie!vamps have cute pointy ears.
The movie!vamps can fly! Or at least float around on invisible wires. Damn, can you imagine Spike and Angel floating gently through the night skies of Sunnydale? Hee hee.
Movie!Mom is a ditz and a bitch. Good call on completely throwing out that characterization for Joyce.
Merrick claims to be the reincarnation of a whole long line of former Watchers. But maybe he was just talking big.
And hey, the Pike character does feel kind of like a foreshadowing of Spike. I remember reading a while back a really cool "Normal Again" 'verse fic in which Pike and Spike were totally conflated in Buffy's fantasy world—or rather, Spike was the role Buffy cast Pike in, in her delusions. This made me think of that.
And finally, the training scene! I am now completely convinced that the "training montage from an '80s movie" in OMWF (Giles' ballad to Buffy) was totally a reference to the training scene in the BtVS movie. It had very similar visuals. And in a slightly earlier scene, Merrick throws a knife at Buffy the same way Giles does in the OMWF scene. It can't be a coincidence!
Fun was had by all.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-06 04:35 am (UTC)I read a story long ago (I mean, *long* ago - while S1 was airing, I think) in which Buffy asked Giles about this, and Giles said that Merrick had always been rather eccentric. *g* Of course, that was also pre-the Hemery flashback in Becoming, and everything, but still. That always amused me.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-06 04:37 am (UTC)I liked the movie. Not in any deep meaningful way, but in a "there are worse ways I could spend two hours" sense.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-06 04:40 am (UTC)see, I'm jealous
Date: 2004-12-06 05:25 am (UTC)I just saw BtVS the movie too; there are some key differences in the mythology that I'll probably rant about at some point.
I actually saw Pike being a lot more like Xander than like Spike! Did you see the featurette on the DVD? Luke Perry talked about how Pike was the damsel in distress, and Buffy was the hero.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-06 11:21 am (UTC)Viewpoint of a straight guy:
Because there are no slashy bits, that's why (well, except between Warren and Andrew). Any others are purely in your imagination.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-06 01:09 pm (UTC)I always had the impression she was staying with Dad in the movie, and it was Movie!Stepmom? Could be wrong, it's been a long time. I like to think that was the trashy secretary Hank (don't remember if he had the same name in the movie) cheated on Joyce with.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 01:25 am (UTC)Any serious attempt to make movie canon fit series canon will choke and die on any number of huge inconsistencies (the look and powers of vampires, for example) but it's fun to try to tweak the little bits into order, isn't it?
Re: see, I'm jealous
Date: 2004-12-07 02:15 am (UTC)You mean the movie DVD? Babe, I have that thing on VHS!
So, um, nope. Haven't seen featurette.
Though I can certainly see that Pike has lots in common with Xander, too. He's human, he gets rescued by Buffy, he then develops extreme loyalty to her and starts trying to help her out in fights (even though he sucks at it).
On the other hand, he's a bad boy. That, he has in common with Spike. (Well, okay, sneaking into a movie theatre isn't that bad...but it's all in the attitude!)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 02:18 am (UTC)Well, at least you admit to Warren/Andrew. Though frankly, I don't think that counts as subtext.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 02:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 02:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 02:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-07 06:20 pm (UTC)Though I still think flying Angel and Spike would be entertaining. *g*