Buffy and Veronica. Similar or not?
Jul. 6th, 2006 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI 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...
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...
