Buffy and Veronica. Similar or not?

[dangermousie]

I know Veronica has been compared to Buffy, and it's no secret that RT loves Buffy and that Joss returns the compliment and loves VM. And true, both shows revolve (revolved) around a short blonde who possesses skills those in her peer group do not. But I think this is where it ends. I don't think that Veronica and Buffy have too much in common. In fact, someone like Max from Dark Angel (who has supernatural fighting abilities she must hide and a special destiny) has more in common with Buffy than does Veronica. Both Neptune and Sunnydale are hyper-real, unreal worlds. But in a very different fashion.

Let's compare and contrast. Buffy is a girl who has a destiny. She is the "Chosen One" who really can't 'retire' because if she does, the world ends. Veronica has no special significance in the world. And she can certainly let go of her sleuthing any time she wants. Veronica is a more acid-tongued and messed up version of an average girl. Not Buffy. Buffy, btw, longs for normalcy throughout and the destiny she can't shake keeps her from it. Veronica, who is 'abnormal' by choice, finds average normalcy overrated, probably because she got to choose. Of course, unlike Buffy, she doesn't have to live with the daily reality that today might be the last day of her life. She is also much more of an outcast than Buffy who has her group of friends in high school and while no Miss Popularity, is not reviled, shunned, mocked.

Their guy tastes are different too. Buffy seems to be drawn to 'dangerous men' (Spike is clearly a bad boy and Angel, ensouled and helping the helpless or not, has some severe issues and a dark side and is not someone you want to cross). When she tries it with nice guy Riley, the relationship goes nowhere. And she never even notices Xander as a man. And she always needs a man on her arm. Veronica, who is happily single for long stretches, doesn't have the whole dangerous=sexy thing. She is no slayer running through dark cemeteries with a thin wooden stick looking for a fight. She falls for Logan because she likes his other characteristics, and his issues/dangers are actually a drawback, one that makes her break up with him. I think it has to do with the differences between her and Veronica's priorities. Veronica wants someone who can keep up with her mentally and let her do her detectiving. Buffy needs someone who is good enough in a fight to have her back (she can defeat both Angel and Spike but it takes some doing).

They do both come from broken homes and backgrounds. Both have rather unsatisfactory mothers (I will never forget Joyce kicking Buffy out at the end of S2), though of course Joyce, clueless or not, is a much much better mother than the awful Lianne. And both find compensation for that in their father figures: in Veronica's case it's her real father, and in Buffy's it's her father figure Giles. They are close to them in a more equal relationship than the usual father-child one.

Veronica is more emotionally mature, but less emotionally open of the two. No matter the zingers life throws Buffy (hello, first time with love of life resulting in said love turning evil! dying! Twice! etc), Buffy remains emotionally open, where Veronica builds walls. They both use snark as their shields, but what hides behind those shields is different: Buffy is afraid of all the darkness, of being a freak, of loss of friends and loved ones, Veronica is afraid of hoping and being hurt again.

And of course, detectiving and killing demons? Not really similar activities at all...

Comments

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Great comparkisonkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Veronica has or had her share of "wanting to be normal" thing. Unlike Buffy she actually has the option of reaching it, which probably plays into her wanting to give it a shot with normal boys.

Buffy could always consider that not only does she *need* somebody extraordinary guy to be her boyfriend (because of the danger/to watch her back), she can also figure that her life is never going to be normal anyway. So what's the point of rejecting somebody for not being normal when she's never going to be normal herself?

With Veronica, I do think she felt like she was being excluded from her former status (which she consider normal). But rather than being "chosen/exalted" it was like part due to tradgedy (Lily's death, her rape, Duncan dumping her because of the sibling issues, her dad losing his job, her homelife with her mother) and partly due to her attitude about it (since she was snarky about it and refused to suck up).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

True, but all through first season, V doesn't want to be normal, maybe because she knows she can't. And in S2, she does ultimately come down from her normal 'high.' I do get the feeling that Buffy wouldn't be able to be normal for long either, but in some ways she strikes me as more conventional, so you never know.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I think season 1 always struck me as a bit sour grapes. She was pissed at the establishment for being shallow and dumping her, but she did want it back. Again probably because it presented pre-Lily's death normal to her. And only over time she probably realized more that she didn't need it.

I do get the feeling that Buffy wouldn't be able to be normal for long either, but in some ways she strikes me as more conventional, so you never know.

Well, we don't know what she did after the last episode. Though I did get the impression that maybe they were trying to say that she goes normal/simple after she has activated all the potential slayers and the world doesn't need her anymore.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think season 1 always struck me as a bit sour grapes.

Agreed. I do think she found out you can't go back though, in S2. Once you learn what people are truly like, it's pretty impossible to unlearn.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Buffy could kind of keep idealizing normal life. Not only because she couldn't be part of it, but also because in Buffyworld, the majority of evil was supernatural. While on Veronica Mars has met the evil in people.

[klawick003.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch Buffy much, but I did enough to know that this is really well thought out. Great comparison.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

And Luke!!!!

[klawick003.livejournal.com]

Yes, Luke is love. Seriously, why only two episodes? He should attend Hearst...YAY!

[ex-beautyof.livejournal.com]

:) Wow so well written - Really great comparison!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *blush*

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

Actually, RT has rarely if ever watched Buffy. I wouldn't describe him as a fan. It's really not his kind of show.

I think both Buffy and Veronica share a preference for normality. The greatest reward Whedon could think to give Buffy was the gift of being normal, not to have responsibility. You have to wonder if RT feels the same way about Veronica. But VM is in a noir universe, so normal is not possible.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Actually, RT has rarely if ever watched Buffy.

I stand corrected. I wonder why I thought he did. *tries to puzzle self's odd brain*

I think both Buffy and Veronica share a preference for normality.

I agree. And of course, for both of them the choice got taken away. It's not as if Buffy woke up one morning and decided "yay stakes" or V thought it would be fun to be girl-detective. Circumstances not of their control forced them into the roles.

For VM, she can only have normal when the show ends (a la Buffy). Before that, I am afraid it's corpses wall to wall :)

[ex-beautyof.livejournal.com]

I remember reading that RT had indeed had watched btvs and if I remember correctly he's also watched angel. I think he said he saw all the episodes on dvd, after btvs ended... I wouldn't describe him as a fan either though, but he always has good words for whedon as a creator and writer...

[cosmicviolet.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about it for awhile, and Veronica is probably more like Max than she's like Buffy. Both are sort of outcasts, bitter about what's happened to them, but underneath kind of softies. And DA's dystopian future isn't too far from Neptune's corrupt society. So it seems to me that the Buffy comparison is only made because both shows have blond, snarky protagonists. But I didn't watch too much Buffy, so maybe I just don't get it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Agreed re: Max. But ultimately, I don't think she is too much like either. She is her own thing, which is good.

[bennet-7.livejournal.com]

I've just started watching Buffy on DVD because so many of my VM friends like it and while I see the similarities, I am struck more by the differences.

Sure B and V are both blonde and short and (kinda) fight evil but that's pretty much it. They both have different networks of friends (Buffy has a 'gang' of friends she works with, Veronica generally works alone, involving friends where necessary) and family (Keith trusts Veronica in ways Joyce never does at that age).

I also see other differences in the shows - especially in comparison with the first season of Buffy, Veronica Mars comes off as the more polished show in terms of acting and plotting (giant praying mantis? Seriously?).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are quite different. ByVS is supernatural so the 'case of the week' is often weirder or lamer or whatever, but the dialogue is IMO often superior (Joss uses language very differently). Agreed on the acting. BtVS has an uneven first season (second is spectacular) unlike VM which has the best first season of anything I've seen.