The Heroine Standard

I’ve never watched an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Partly because I thought it was incredibly tacky (even as a young teenage girl when it came out), and partly because I have never had enough downtime or been bored enough to watch it. That being said, in this critique/analysis of “The Buffy Effect,” I am solely going off of what Fudge presents her in article. Buffy marches into dangerous situations--with incredible martial-arts skills, a smart mouth, a sexy body, a pretty face--and wins. Every time.

It’s hard for me to swallow because there is so much emphasis on her sex appeal, and in her day to day life, she’s a “wisecracking Valley Girl with blond locks and pink-passion lips...//...Buffy constantly treads the fine line between girl-power schlock and feminist wish-fulfillment, never giving satisfaction to either.” The “fine line” that she treads, to me, is one confusion. It marks a lack of strength and character to commit whole-heartedly to being a feminist or a valley girl.

Another female heroine who went from being a virtual character to a real-life, cultural icon is Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The whole Lara Croft phenomenon scares me. People became so dedicated and enthralled by a character that was once part of a virtual, fantasy world, that they have brought her to life. Deuber-Mankowsky points out the level of involvement people have with this--lets not forget--virtual character.

For example, the poem of admiration/obsession at the beginning of the article (that guy’s a creeper if you ask me) shows how people felt a genuine connection to her. In addition, an official invented biography was created for her. And f

inally, fact that she’s was once a virtual character, but has become a character depicted by Angelina Jolie in the movies... !!!! Like Buffy, Lara Croft combines sexual fantasy, representation of aesthetic perfection, an unparalleled sense of fearlessness and confidence, and the-woman-just-kicked-ass ending people love to see.

Before reading the two articles for today’s class I was unaware of who Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lara Croft were. Now that I have a better idea of who they are, I am still firm in my stance of disinterest. The problem i have with these two “heroines” is the fact that they’re doing all these physically incredible things and fighting for good...but looking like Sports Illustrated Swim Suit models before, during and after their battles. The same principle applies to the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Angelina Jolie looks incredibly, unrealistically sexy doing some kick-ass fighting and shooting. To me, there is nothing wrong with embracing and showing our feminine sexual power. However, it’s the impossible standard women are being compared to today that I do not support. I cannot embrace a heroine, like the three mentioned here, that is so far from reality.