Buffy Reboot
Even though this idea has been kicked around for a little while, I just found out about the idea of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot. This would be a reboot without Joss Whedon, the original stars, or probably even the original characters. Now I'm going to do something that few may expect me to do.
I'm going to defend it.
For the record, I'm never for taking someone's creation, even if you own the rights to it, and doing something else with it TO MAKE MONEY OFF OF IT. (Which is why I'm more than fine with roleplaying and fanfiction.) It's like taking someone's ideas and dancing all over them, then grinding them under your feet. So, since Joss Whedon seems to not want this to happen, I'm not technically for it happening this way.
However, I do think the Buffy franchise could stand a reboot, although I'd rather keep all the original characters or start completely fresh with just the 'one slayer, one watcher' concept.
First, I'll argue against some of Joss's writings, at least in the later parts of the show, that made several people I know grow to seriously dislike it, myself included.
1.) Joss Whedon has this TERRIBLE habit of writing strong female characters at the expense of male characters. Xander was the poor wretched example of this. Did he get any REAL writing in S7? Seriously? I totally understand that, since Buffy's name was in the title of the bloody show, it's going to focus on her. However, it has been admitted in interviews that they stopped having ideas for Xander in S7, so he basically became a giant ninny. It was depressing to watch. Giles is another example. One of my favorite characters on that show got turned into a complete OOC asshole because they couldn't figure out a decent way to write Anthony Steward Head out of the show. Would he really just LEAVE the woman he considered a daughter while she was at her worst? Couldn't you have come up with something better? Doing research for something? Staying with a dying relative? Finding some mystical relic that would keep Buffy from turning into a massive bitch in S7? Any of these would have been better. And him setting up Spike in the most retarded plan ever in S7 with Principal Wood? Don't get me started on that. I could go ALL DAY on that. Let's just say that, post S5, Joss forgot how to write for Giles when he needed to.
2.) Buffy in general. Past about season five, I hated Buffy with an epic passion that didn't get rehabilitated until I say her roleplayed by people who understood her better than the man who CAME UP WITH HER, apparently. She just turned...mean and snotty by S7 that basically made me hope that she would die in the finally, and then actually being upset when she didn't. Buffy got far too high and mighty for just about anyone's taste. Yes, Buffy is the Slayer and the hero. What made her epic and awesome as far as Slayers were concerned was her friends. By S7, she had completely stopped listening to them and was mostly pushing them aside in favor of Spike, who tried to kill her on multiple occasions. (Yes, Angel did, too, once he turned Angelus-y. I know.) Even though she was proven right in the end by Spike saving them all with a stupid deus ex machina necklace thing, she really had no reason to trust him, did she? Even with a chip in his head, he actively did stuff to try and get her killed. People with souls kill. I'm fairly certain that, by Joss Whedon's standards of every human having a soul, both Hitler and Joseph Stalin had them, even if apparently they didn't work or something. Having a soul, at best, keeps you from acting on impulses, to my understanding. Doesn't necessarily make you a good person. Also, in the comic books, she proves that she's learned nothing by her little 'trysts' with Spike in S6 by using the Slayer girl, Satsu, for sex. Apparently this girl has a head of rock and can't learn from her mistakes. Am I supposed to believe she's a good person? Nah. Plus, making her at least sexually attracted to girls seemed completely OOC. You'd think that would have come up on the show before with her at least checking out Willow, eh?
Also, I do understand that, since it was her friends who brought her back from heaven, she may not be feeling so generous to them afterward. They still fought by her side and tried to keep her from harm.
3.) My personal LJ icon says that if you love it, Joss kills it. Most people who know me know that Wesley Wyndam Pryce is one of my favorite characters. Why kill him at the end of S5 of Angel? Well, first they put him through complete and utter hell for two and a half seasons, then killed him. I do admit it made for good TV, but I could never understand why everyone took back Angel in S2 after he went batshit and killed (or helped lead to their deaths) a room full of lawyers but wouldn't forgive Wesley for what turned out to be an honest mistake. Sure, he should have shared, and I didn't understand why he didn't, but still.
Also, they kill Tara in S6 of Buffy in the most senseless way possible. Couldn't her death mean something besides pissing Willow off to turn her into Dark Willow? It honestly felt like it was done cheaply and badly. Plus, he killed possibly the only character from that season that wasn't completely retarded by either their own stupidity or by having hell put upon them. Tara got STRONG that season, and Joss supposed loves strong women, but then he killed her by a goddamn gunshot. Really Joss? You couldn't do better than that?
4.) Joss seemed to have this personal belief that healthy relationships don't make for good TV. If you get two characters who have great chemistry and compelling story line, then they can stay together for years, go through trials and tribulations, and still be together. Stuff can happen AROUND them without breaking them up. They can be each other's rock.
And killing a character RIGHT when they get back together with the person who was probably their soulmate? Dick move, Joss. You create drama and suspense through good writing and creating compelling storylines with good hooks. You don't constantly rip the rug out from under people with abandonment and death.
Frankly, I think the show should have ended in S5 with her death and not move to UPN. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dawn, but my interest in the show dipped DRAMATICALLY after the move.
As you can see, I have a few HUGE rants on Joss's writings.
Now, why I can see it having a reboot/remake/spinoff and not completely sucking.
1.) Everyone on here knows that I roleplay, and I almost completely roleplay within the Buffy universe, either by playing already made characters or making up new ones that fit within the Buffy universe lines. I've SEEN wonderful, in depth characters created by people that have been Slayers, Watchers, Werewolves, Vampires, and everything in between. I can easily see a show that fits the universe but has nothing to do with the original characters being great if it followed a different Slayer post S7 or before Buffy was called, or not going with the Slayer line directly ala like Angel did.
2.) Personally, completely dork like of me, I know, but I'd LOVE to see the original show redone with a few tweaks to characters and them doing certain things differently. Of course, this work work better animated/comic book form, because, honestly, can you REALLY picture anyone else being Buffy/Giles/Angel/etc? I truly can't.
3.) I love the idea of alternate universes. One of the reasons that I loved the new Star Trek movie was because it opened up so many new possibilities. (It helped them that they found Chris Pine, who definitely has Shatner looks and tendencies.)
I think that, if done right, it could work. It would have to be someone respectful to the fans and to Joss's original work, plus just being a good writer. Good luck finding all of those, I know. I'd think that it work best to either do a reboot through animation or comic book form, or just use the basic idea and come up with new characters, though.
Feel free to comment and argue with me. I know I have at least one friend who liked S6 and S7 of Buffy and LOVES to comics. More power to her. I know she also does not favor the idea of a Buffy reboot period.
And now I'm going to bed. It's 1:30 where I'm at.
I'm going to defend it.
For the record, I'm never for taking someone's creation, even if you own the rights to it, and doing something else with it TO MAKE MONEY OFF OF IT. (Which is why I'm more than fine with roleplaying and fanfiction.) It's like taking someone's ideas and dancing all over them, then grinding them under your feet. So, since Joss Whedon seems to not want this to happen, I'm not technically for it happening this way.
However, I do think the Buffy franchise could stand a reboot, although I'd rather keep all the original characters or start completely fresh with just the 'one slayer, one watcher' concept.
First, I'll argue against some of Joss's writings, at least in the later parts of the show, that made several people I know grow to seriously dislike it, myself included.
1.) Joss Whedon has this TERRIBLE habit of writing strong female characters at the expense of male characters. Xander was the poor wretched example of this. Did he get any REAL writing in S7? Seriously? I totally understand that, since Buffy's name was in the title of the bloody show, it's going to focus on her. However, it has been admitted in interviews that they stopped having ideas for Xander in S7, so he basically became a giant ninny. It was depressing to watch. Giles is another example. One of my favorite characters on that show got turned into a complete OOC asshole because they couldn't figure out a decent way to write Anthony Steward Head out of the show. Would he really just LEAVE the woman he considered a daughter while she was at her worst? Couldn't you have come up with something better? Doing research for something? Staying with a dying relative? Finding some mystical relic that would keep Buffy from turning into a massive bitch in S7? Any of these would have been better. And him setting up Spike in the most retarded plan ever in S7 with Principal Wood? Don't get me started on that. I could go ALL DAY on that. Let's just say that, post S5, Joss forgot how to write for Giles when he needed to.
2.) Buffy in general. Past about season five, I hated Buffy with an epic passion that didn't get rehabilitated until I say her roleplayed by people who understood her better than the man who CAME UP WITH HER, apparently. She just turned...mean and snotty by S7 that basically made me hope that she would die in the finally, and then actually being upset when she didn't. Buffy got far too high and mighty for just about anyone's taste. Yes, Buffy is the Slayer and the hero. What made her epic and awesome as far as Slayers were concerned was her friends. By S7, she had completely stopped listening to them and was mostly pushing them aside in favor of Spike, who tried to kill her on multiple occasions. (Yes, Angel did, too, once he turned Angelus-y. I know.) Even though she was proven right in the end by Spike saving them all with a stupid deus ex machina necklace thing, she really had no reason to trust him, did she? Even with a chip in his head, he actively did stuff to try and get her killed. People with souls kill. I'm fairly certain that, by Joss Whedon's standards of every human having a soul, both Hitler and Joseph Stalin had them, even if apparently they didn't work or something. Having a soul, at best, keeps you from acting on impulses, to my understanding. Doesn't necessarily make you a good person. Also, in the comic books, she proves that she's learned nothing by her little 'trysts' with Spike in S6 by using the Slayer girl, Satsu, for sex. Apparently this girl has a head of rock and can't learn from her mistakes. Am I supposed to believe she's a good person? Nah. Plus, making her at least sexually attracted to girls seemed completely OOC. You'd think that would have come up on the show before with her at least checking out Willow, eh?
Also, I do understand that, since it was her friends who brought her back from heaven, she may not be feeling so generous to them afterward. They still fought by her side and tried to keep her from harm.
3.) My personal LJ icon says that if you love it, Joss kills it. Most people who know me know that Wesley Wyndam Pryce is one of my favorite characters. Why kill him at the end of S5 of Angel? Well, first they put him through complete and utter hell for two and a half seasons, then killed him. I do admit it made for good TV, but I could never understand why everyone took back Angel in S2 after he went batshit and killed (or helped lead to their deaths) a room full of lawyers but wouldn't forgive Wesley for what turned out to be an honest mistake. Sure, he should have shared, and I didn't understand why he didn't, but still.
Also, they kill Tara in S6 of Buffy in the most senseless way possible. Couldn't her death mean something besides pissing Willow off to turn her into Dark Willow? It honestly felt like it was done cheaply and badly. Plus, he killed possibly the only character from that season that wasn't completely retarded by either their own stupidity or by having hell put upon them. Tara got STRONG that season, and Joss supposed loves strong women, but then he killed her by a goddamn gunshot. Really Joss? You couldn't do better than that?
4.) Joss seemed to have this personal belief that healthy relationships don't make for good TV. If you get two characters who have great chemistry and compelling story line, then they can stay together for years, go through trials and tribulations, and still be together. Stuff can happen AROUND them without breaking them up. They can be each other's rock.
And killing a character RIGHT when they get back together with the person who was probably their soulmate? Dick move, Joss. You create drama and suspense through good writing and creating compelling storylines with good hooks. You don't constantly rip the rug out from under people with abandonment and death.
Frankly, I think the show should have ended in S5 with her death and not move to UPN. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dawn, but my interest in the show dipped DRAMATICALLY after the move.
As you can see, I have a few HUGE rants on Joss's writings.
Now, why I can see it having a reboot/remake/spinoff and not completely sucking.
1.) Everyone on here knows that I roleplay, and I almost completely roleplay within the Buffy universe, either by playing already made characters or making up new ones that fit within the Buffy universe lines. I've SEEN wonderful, in depth characters created by people that have been Slayers, Watchers, Werewolves, Vampires, and everything in between. I can easily see a show that fits the universe but has nothing to do with the original characters being great if it followed a different Slayer post S7 or before Buffy was called, or not going with the Slayer line directly ala like Angel did.
2.) Personally, completely dork like of me, I know, but I'd LOVE to see the original show redone with a few tweaks to characters and them doing certain things differently. Of course, this work work better animated/comic book form, because, honestly, can you REALLY picture anyone else being Buffy/Giles/Angel/etc? I truly can't.
3.) I love the idea of alternate universes. One of the reasons that I loved the new Star Trek movie was because it opened up so many new possibilities. (It helped them that they found Chris Pine, who definitely has Shatner looks and tendencies.)
I think that, if done right, it could work. It would have to be someone respectful to the fans and to Joss's original work, plus just being a good writer. Good luck finding all of those, I know. I'd think that it work best to either do a reboot through animation or comic book form, or just use the basic idea and come up with new characters, though.
Feel free to comment and argue with me. I know I have at least one friend who liked S6 and S7 of Buffy and LOVES to comics. More power to her. I know she also does not favor the idea of a Buffy reboot period.
And now I'm going to bed. It's 1:30 where I'm at.