Buffy vs. Edward: Meet the man who staked 'Twilight's' leading vamp

On June 19, Jonathan McIntosh vanquished “Twilight’s” undead heartthrob Edward with the help of one Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It was something that needed to be done, McIntosh said in an interview, calling Edward “a creepy stalker guy.” After the vampire’s obsessive pursuit of his teenage love Bella in last year’s “Twilight,” McIntosh was driven to act. 

“Bella is not weirded out by his behavior at all, which made me think, ‘What would Buffy do to this guy if he was into her? What would she do if he snuck into her room at night watching her sleep without her knowing?’” McIntosh said.

As realized by McIntosh, he’d get rebuffed, mocked and, ultimately, a stake through the heart.

McIntosh, 30, a freelance Web designer and owner of RebelliousPixels.com, took it upon himself to pit the two characters against each other in a video he created using footage from the “Buffy” TV series and the “Twilight” film to show, well, an alternative -- and fatal -- ending for the love-struck Edward.

"Buffy" executive producer Marti Noxon said in an interview, "I'm a sucker, so to speak, for any vampire story so I'm a fan of the 'Twilight' saga, but it's true that Edward hasn't come up against a kick-ass woman like Buffy." 

"I'm really glad that she didn't end up doing the smoochies with him."

In the clip “Buffy vs. Edward,” the Slayer has little patience for the expertly coifed Edward, dazzling or otherwise. “Being stalked isn’t a big turn-on for girls,” Buffy tells him. When Edward tries to explain that he's on "a special diet," Buffy replies, "What are you doing? Here, at this table, talking to me like we're some kind of talking buddies?"

And later when he shows up in her bedroom in the middle of the night, she resorts to more extreme measures: “Get out or I will drop you out, head first.” A body rolls off the roof in the next scene.

With the second “Twilight” film “New Moon” just months away from its November release, interest in the vampire love story hasn’t flagged and “Buffy vs. Edward” quickly blew up online, linked on highly trafficked pop culture blogs like EW.com’s Pop Watch, Perez Hilton and Jezebel. Jezebel blogger hortense dubbed it “the best clip ever.”

“Everything that is portrayed in ‘Twilight’ as super romantic about Edward is exposed as creepy and stalkerish here,” hortense writes, “which is fantastic, as Edward Cullen’s creepiness too often gets a pass from those who brush aside his controlling, stalkerish ways as the signs of ‘true love.’

“Edward is not the dreamboat here -- he’s the enemy. The best part? Edward lays down his famous line, ‘You’re like my own personal brand of heroin,’ and Buffy responds, ‘Oh my god, what are you, 12?’”

McIntosh said that on Blip.tv, the service he used to upload the clip, and YouTube, “Buffy vs. Edward” has received almost 1 million views. And last Thursday, he made a downloadable version available on his site.

Banishing Edward to the netherworld isn’t a new critique of the “Twilight” story, McIntosh said. “It was already out there in the collective consciousness. I don’t think there was anything original or unique about the points I was making, many of them have been made in many feminist-style critiques since the book came out. I simply wanted to add to the pop culture discourse and debate about these books and the vampire myth.

“Also, I thought it would be hilarious.”

It would seem most “Twilight” fans agreed. Major “Twilight” fan sites with a sense of humor, including HisGoldenEyes.com, TwilightersAnonymous.com and RobertPattinson.org have posted and applauded the carefully put-together video.

“Well, I liked it (a lot) until the end. I cannot believe Edward died. That was really depressing, but the rest was VERY good,” commenter Kristen wrote on BellaandEdward.com.

“As much as I love Edward and [actor Robert Pattinson] and everything else, Buffy would whip him UP!” BandGirlsLoveEdward posted in the Twilighters.org forums.

-- Denise Martin

Comments

[lyndsay hall]

does anyone not remember the fact that angel watched buffy sleep and stalked her as well but did he ever end up as dust i think not. pattern seems to show its ok for vampires to stalk if its true love great vid tho.

[Jonathan]

I would only add that my remix was inspired by the art form called vidding, which was developed by female fan communities and has been around since before I was born. Mine is not a "vid" but vidders do deserve credit for influencing me and my work. Learn about it at http://fanlore.org/wiki/Vidding

[Juli]

Angel watched buffy sleep when he was evil and wanted her dead.

[L. Desiree Ortiz]

It's a shame to say that it doesnt matter whether anybody thinks that Edward's role seems like a stalker the caracters totally hit the top because of the intense of the writting also the intense of how all of them acted they did a wonderful job and there will always bs critism in the media whether whose better than who it doesnt matter, he did a great job in making the caracter come alive and having the whole audience feel the story so i think is very childish of people that dont have nothing to do but criticise the movie or the story, I am a fan of Twiligh Saga and I think is was a great story... So i have to give to Rob, Kristen and the whole cast for a wonderful job, waiting anxiously for the nxt movie to come out. So to the cast of Twilight keep doing a great job.

Desiree
Puerto Rico

[Trixie Brunson]

This is funny but I don't think it's realistic. I loved watching Buffy, Angel and the Twilight series. And it is hard for me to see Buffy doing that considering she fell in love with Angel and then Spike who are both vampires who wanted to kill her whereas Edward wouldn't have wanted to kill her at all. And Buffy just didn't kill someone unless he was trying to kill her and she didn't kill every vampire that she came across because they annoyed her. She would want to know more first like why he was really there she would investigate first.

[Xenobiologista]

I think this video is great, not only because of the meticulous selection of scenes and the editing, but also because it makes its point (that the way Edward acts does not make him a "good guy") in an entertaining way. If you're worried about teenage girls having poor role models for relationships the way to fix it is not to write long boring papers in academic feminist journals.

[shel]

"does anyone not remember the fact that angel watched buffy sleep and stalked her as well but did he ever end up as dust i think not."

As someone said, he watched her when she slept while he was Angelus (and evil). And he didn't end up dust...but he ended up with a sword through his chest and sent to a hell dimension. And that was when he got his soul back! So I think Buffy was willing to do what she had to do. ;)

[wolfgrl]

Great video! Jonathan McIntosh is a genius ;-) Thanks for putting this online.
BTW I wish the people who are uploading bad copies of Jonathan's work and claiming it as their own would stop it!

[susan helke]

Evidently, a lot of people remember Angel watching Buffy sleep. Personally, I think Angel was much more appealing and 'way less creepy, and he didn't wear so much lipstick.

[J.G. te Molder]

Funny, "What would Buffy do?"

If I remember Buffy right, Angel stalked her just like Edward did Bella, doing the same things, and she fell in love with him. Spike attempted to kill her on multiple occasions, stalked her, stole her underwear, creeping into a her bedroom to do so, abused her, attempted to rape her, and she fell in love with him.

So, the question that informs this video is really, "What SHOULD Buffy do (or have done), when she comes across stalkerish vampire like Edward, Angel, and Spike?"

[vanessa]

that was awesome!buffy rules! ive never liked the twilight series and really wish that the buffy series had not ended.james marsters would have been a better edward.