Beauty Vs Beast - SlayerFest 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014 at 11:58AM 
JA from MNPP here with this week's new edition of Beauty Vs. Beast! As I noted over at my site last week, today is the 17th anniversary of the first ever episode of Joss Whedon's televisual masterpiece Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Welcome to the Hellmouth" aired on the WB on March 10th 1997, and some of us have been whooping it up inside that Hellmouth ever since.
If you're a fan you know what happened on Buffy's 17th birthday - let's just hope we can all make it through today without anybody's ancient Gypsy curse being activated by sexual relations. That Angelus, he was a nasty one... but Glorificus did her damage too, The Master and the Mayor - an endless list of memorable villains.
But it's Buffy's dark mirror that's always revved our engines the hardest...
Welcome to SlayerFest '14!!!
Only one can make it out alive! The too good blonde, the too bad brunette - make your pick and then we'll all skip class and stake some vamps and dance crazy at The Bronze til the sun comes up and dusts our boyfriends.
"previously on..."
Before y'all hit the comments and give us your reasonings though, a look back at last week's (literal) face-off - we were talking the spray-painted ladies of Death Becomes Her, and sure enough, confounding nobody's expectations - MERYL WON. Team Madeline blew a shotgun hole through Goldie's Helen with about 2/3rds of the vote. (As if we needed to puff up Meryl's chest anymore!) As Rob put it in the comments:
"Hel does have a special place in my heart for eating frosting out of its container with her fingers while rewinding the footage of Madeline dying on film but over and over again. But, in the end, gotta go with Madeline, because FLAWLESS."
Reader Comments (24)
Buffy has all the best puns.
A lot of big SMG moments lately -- also the 15th for Cruel Intentions. That + Buffy are really her crowning achievements. I remember watching this pilot... so crazy!
nearly all my favorite Buffy episodes feature Faith (the 3rd season is just so magnificent) so I had to vote Faith. 5 x 5 !
Well the REAL answer is Willow, the good turned bad became good again redhead. But I went with Faith. Now if we were talking about SMG's Kathryn Merteuil...
Yeah, if it weren't for Faith, Buffy (the character) would have been much more boring. Love her (and Eliza Duskhu) to death - even if she was kinda a murderer and then took things WAY too far.
Buffy rules.
Well I adore Faith but I gotta go with Buffy. However that episode that ends with the dialogue:
(Buffy) -You killed a man.
(Faith, cold as ice) - I don´t care.
nearly made Faith a winner. One of the greatest episodes among so many great ones.
Buffy all the way. Buffy for life. etc
Can we do Beauty vs Beast for Cruel Intentions next? :p
I have to go with Buffy, but my brother LOVED Faith. Season Three was when I stopped watching the show regularly, and I only have 1-3 on DVD. I didn't follow Buffy to college, in part because this was in a pre-DVR time, and remember that they didn't air the Season 3 finale until the middle of July because of the violence in a school? (It was written and produced pre-Columbine)
And I am in full agreement with Hajeen's post. Faith's "I don't care" was one of the most memorable endings in a show that often led you gasping at the 'EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JOSS WHEDON'.
HOW IS FAITH LOSING THIS POLL?
Faith for President (of my pants)!
I voted for Buffy, but I agree with Ryan T that Willow is the best, except for the lesbian thing.
Alyson Hannigan is also lovely in real life.
Willow: "She's like this cleavagey slutbomb walking around going 'Ooh. Check me out, I'm wicked cool. I'm five by five.'"
Tara: "Five by five? Five what by five what?"
Willow: "See, that's the thing. No one knows."
gotta go with the cleavagey slutbomb
I voted for Faith too. I loved her character arc on Buffy and Angel. Plus she was amazing in season 3 :
"Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?"
"cleavagey slutbomb" - the finest of fine compliments.
I put out a plea on Twitter and Facebook calling on all Faith fans to vote. Somehow I got a bunch of Buffy fans arguing about non fat yogurt instead. That backfired in ways I wasn't expecting.
I launched a one-lady Twitter and Facebook campaign to get the Faith fans to vote. Instead I got a bunch of Buffy fans discussing non-fat yogurt. That backfired in ways I did not expect.
anne marie -- i haven't been able to rally Faith troops either. Perhaps not enough BtVS fans read The Film Experience to be interested though that makes me sad.
That makes me sad too! We should steal some of the Faith fans from The Toast. Those ladies are all about the Dark Slayer.
Team Buffy. Sorry. I'm greatly encouraged to see her actually winning this poll, Faith always seems to be the more popular of the two, which makes me sad. :)
Votes in my house:
2 - Faith
1 - Buffy
1 - Willow
I adore Faith + Eliza, but I simply must vote for Buffy just for the way SMG said "Mom... Mom... Mommy?"
I voted Buffy but most likely I was simply voting for Sarah Michelle Gellar, who gave an acting masterclass for seven years on that show. Faith is definitely the more interesting character, but Faith's best episode was performed by SMG.
JS -- interesting point there. that episode is so so good.