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selenakThe first thing that occurs to me here is that Buffy and Emma have as much that separates them, if not more, than what they share. Yes, they're both the blond leading ladies in their respective shows, and have to deal with being made into saviour figures by shady magic wielding men. But Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for the greater part of the show, is decidedly a coming-of-age narrative (and not only for Buffy); the high school setting, the school-as-hell metaphor of the first three seasons, the college experience in the fourth, and just the start of adulthood in the fifth, sixth and seventh can't be separated from who Buffy the person is. Once upon a Time is many things, but as far as Emma's story is oncerned, it is about making connections, allowing connections and finding a community as much as it is about anything else. And this can't be separated from Emma being very much an adult. The show as it is would not work with a teenage Emma; Emma's double existence as a mother and a lost daughter is too much at the heart of it.
Speaking of teenage Emma: she shares more with Faith than with Buffy. Emma never gets into details regarding what happened to her in the foster system, but it was enough to make her determined not to let other children end up there and have her on the run living from stealing at age 16. While Emma never appears to have killed or tortured anyone (that would have come up by now), prison seems to have been a similar turnaround for her as it was for Faith. Adult Emma's existence as a bounty hunter with intimacy issues when her son Henry reenters her life is what I could see Faith developing into. Mind you, later season Buffy has her own share of trust and intimacy issues - does she ever! - and Wishverse Buffy practically consists of them. These, however, are very much the result of her life as a Slayer through the show. And Buffy still has the memory of having had parents who loved her (until after When She Was Bad, 2.1., at which point Hank Summers in absentia becomes a deadbeat dad), and that is very much a part of who she is, much like Emma thinking of herself as an orphan, abandoned, is part of who Emma is.
On second thought, though, there are some other traits and narrative qualities they share, among more differences.
Emma's role as the savior and curse breaker was manufactured by Rumpelstilskin, but, as he points out when Emma has her existential crisis mid s2, what she did and does with it, and what she does post curse breaking, are all her own choices. The role of Slayer was thrust on Buffy, but how she fills it is her own choice, and both narratives put their heroines through the rejection-acceptance story. Mind you, the two roles are quite different. Being the Slayer isn't something Buffy can not be, at its not a job that comes with vacations. Emma's role as Sheriff of Storybrooke strikes me actually as more like Buffy's role as Slayer than Emma being the Saviour, because being the Sheriff (at least in s1 and in the part of s2 where Emma is actually around to do the job; otherwise David does it for her) means protector of the community that Storybrooke is in a similar way to Buffy basically being supernatural Sheriff of Sunnydale. (Not so coincidentally, "cop" was the job Buffy's questionaire predicted for her.) (Whereas Emma-as-bountyhunter is more (reformed) Faith's style of being a Slayer.)
Both Buffy and Emma get to deal with surprise!family members. Buffy's relationship to Dawn goes from big sister/little sister (manufactured via artificial memories) to the genuine article (after Buffy finds out the truth but decides Dawn is her sister anyway) to also incorporating parent/child (once Joyce is dead) overtones, and while Buffy at age 18 is too young to be the mother of a teenage daughter, that is in effect what she becomes. (With Tara and Willow sharing maternal duties after Buffy's temporary death and during her post resurrection depression.) It is part of who Buffy is in the later seasons, and, inevitable pun intended, a key part. Emma's bond with her son Henry forms in season 1, and is relatively easy to establish in that Emma has the right age and knows Henry is, in fact, her son. But s2 and s3 see her having to deal with the fact her friend Mary Margaret, roughly the same age as her by looks, is in fact also her mother, and that David (ditto, age wise) is her father. And that readjustment is harder to navigate emotionally. (That the show gave Emma enough space to do so is something I'll always love it for; Emma & Snow White/Mary Margaret and to a lesser degree Emma and David is all I ever wanted after the River-is-Amy's-and-Rory's-daughter reveal over at Doctor Who and never got there.)
Lastly, both Buffy and Emma establish deep emotional connections with people whom their original narrative positions them against (and who are in fact guilty of a great deal of crimes), but who end up as their allies and with whom they partly share emotional experiences they don't with others. For Buffy, this is true in different degrees with Faith and Spike; for Emma, with Regina. I'm tempted to add something about fannish reactions, but that would lead us away from the ladies themselves, so I'll limit myself to saying that no, I don't these relationships are identical - nor of course are the character - but they do have similar narrative functions at different points in the respective shows.
All in all? Emma and Buffy certainly would have plenty to talk about if they met in a bar. Without getting the sense they were looking in a mirror.
Speaking of teenage Emma: she shares more with Faith than with Buffy. Emma never gets into details regarding what happened to her in the foster system, but it was enough to make her determined not to let other children end up there and have her on the run living from stealing at age 16. While Emma never appears to have killed or tortured anyone (that would have come up by now), prison seems to have been a similar turnaround for her as it was for Faith. Adult Emma's existence as a bounty hunter with intimacy issues when her son Henry reenters her life is what I could see Faith developing into. Mind you, later season Buffy has her own share of trust and intimacy issues - does she ever! - and Wishverse Buffy practically consists of them. These, however, are very much the result of her life as a Slayer through the show. And Buffy still has the memory of having had parents who loved her (until after When She Was Bad, 2.1., at which point Hank Summers in absentia becomes a deadbeat dad), and that is very much a part of who she is, much like Emma thinking of herself as an orphan, abandoned, is part of who Emma is.
On second thought, though, there are some other traits and narrative qualities they share, among more differences.
Emma's role as the savior and curse breaker was manufactured by Rumpelstilskin, but, as he points out when Emma has her existential crisis mid s2, what she did and does with it, and what she does post curse breaking, are all her own choices. The role of Slayer was thrust on Buffy, but how she fills it is her own choice, and both narratives put their heroines through the rejection-acceptance story. Mind you, the two roles are quite different. Being the Slayer isn't something Buffy can not be, at its not a job that comes with vacations. Emma's role as Sheriff of Storybrooke strikes me actually as more like Buffy's role as Slayer than Emma being the Saviour, because being the Sheriff (at least in s1 and in the part of s2 where Emma is actually around to do the job; otherwise David does it for her) means protector of the community that Storybrooke is in a similar way to Buffy basically being supernatural Sheriff of Sunnydale. (Not so coincidentally, "cop" was the job Buffy's questionaire predicted for her.) (Whereas Emma-as-bountyhunter is more (reformed) Faith's style of being a Slayer.)
Both Buffy and Emma get to deal with surprise!family members. Buffy's relationship to Dawn goes from big sister/little sister (manufactured via artificial memories) to the genuine article (after Buffy finds out the truth but decides Dawn is her sister anyway) to also incorporating parent/child (once Joyce is dead) overtones, and while Buffy at age 18 is too young to be the mother of a teenage daughter, that is in effect what she becomes. (With Tara and Willow sharing maternal duties after Buffy's temporary death and during her post resurrection depression.) It is part of who Buffy is in the later seasons, and, inevitable pun intended, a key part. Emma's bond with her son Henry forms in season 1, and is relatively easy to establish in that Emma has the right age and knows Henry is, in fact, her son. But s2 and s3 see her having to deal with the fact her friend Mary Margaret, roughly the same age as her by looks, is in fact also her mother, and that David (ditto, age wise) is her father. And that readjustment is harder to navigate emotionally. (That the show gave Emma enough space to do so is something I'll always love it for; Emma & Snow White/Mary Margaret and to a lesser degree Emma and David is all I ever wanted after the River-is-Amy's-and-Rory's-daughter reveal over at Doctor Who and never got there.)
Lastly, both Buffy and Emma establish deep emotional connections with people whom their original narrative positions them against (and who are in fact guilty of a great deal of crimes), but who end up as their allies and with whom they partly share emotional experiences they don't with others. For Buffy, this is true in different degrees with Faith and Spike; for Emma, with Regina. I'm tempted to add something about fannish reactions, but that would lead us away from the ladies themselves, so I'll limit myself to saying that no, I don't these relationships are identical - nor of course are the character - but they do have similar narrative functions at different points in the respective shows.
All in all? Emma and Buffy certainly would have plenty to talk about if they met in a bar. Without getting the sense they were looking in a mirror.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-18 01:52 pm (UTC)Did I mention that, at Geek Girl Con this year, a Buffy cosplayer and an Emma cosplayer staged a fight for Jane Espenson's entertainment? Jane seemed to really enjoy it.
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Date: 2013-12-18 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-18 02:15 pm (UTC)