So, they are rebooting Buffy. Though I can follow the logic, it is poorly constructed logic, and it will fail. In order to argue why it will fail, lets look at why they are doing it.
To me, it seems pretty obvious, Twilight, True Blood, and Star Trek and sci-fi romance book sales. These three help to set up the rationale as to why a reboot of Buffy “should” work.
Currently there is a sequel in process for the popular teen sci-fi drama, Twilight. This plot line deals with forbidden love between a handsome male vampire and a lovely female mortal. There is danger and fight sequences and a lot of swooning. Oh dear God the swooning. So, there is a market with the under 18 (and there mothers) market.
True Blood has a more cynical twist on vampire/mortal love story, and has a chick who can, for the most part, hold her own. True Blood’s audience appears to be growing and proves that a strong female can bring a market too.
Then there is Star Trek. This reboot of a tv show has gone over quite well considering. And Trekkers are much more big on things like continuity than Buffy fans. So the fact that the movie brought in the old fans and new ones proves the viability of a tv show with a strong cult following being able to do a reboot.
Then there is the dirty little secret of what is selling in bookstores across the nation. No one wants to talk about it because well, it’s a little weird. But if you don’t believe me, go check out the Chick Lit section and look at the Trades. Now count how many have a title with the word vampire in it. Now add to that those that don’t have the it in the title but the cover has a pic depicting something in relation to vampires. Yep, not prepared for that, were you?
Now one can speculate as to why this is happening. Its been a growing trend since the beginning of this decade and when you think about it, its pretty obvious. When the relationship is Vampire/Mortal love, it is tapping into the Prince Charming complex the majority of women have. When the chick in the book is a vampire, it is a way to feel more in control and not so powerless. This past decade has been nothing but insanity. From the dotcom bust and the Twin Towers collapsing at the beginning of the decade to 2 wars, pics of torture, rising crime rates, and now economic collapse, the feelings of lack of control are natural. So taking comfort in a concept of an all powerful man to protect you from the worst of the worst, or the ability and strength to fight any possible monster that attacks, well, that is escapism at its purest form. And since the concept of a prince or being a princess isn’t even something many women can relate to at all, this is a great substitution.
So Buffy should be a success, right? Nope. And here is why.
The original team that brought the God awful obviously rewritten to death first movie is doing the reboot. Yes, Joss wrote the first one, but given his interpretation of the characters during the show and his consistent writing abilities, it is pretty obvious that others were responsible for that hackney mess.
Second, Star Trek technically ended in the 60s. Yes, there were movies and spin-offs, but those were different from the original tv show. Even the movies with the original cast ended in 1997. Buffy the tv show ended in 2003. There are online petitions to make a movie with the tv show cast still on the web. Not enough time has past to do a reboot. Now I know, what about the Hulk? The Bana version of the Hulk came out in 2003 and in 2008 a brand new Hulk came out. Well, two things, the 2008 Hulk did pretty much bring the first movie into continuity with itself. Second, the 2003 sucked. That is the key difference. Buffy the tv show was a huge success.
Lastly, no one from the tv show is involved at all with the project. “But it’s a reboot, Diane, why do they need to involve anyone there?” JJ Abrams was in consultation with the Rodenberry family the whole time. Hell, the original Spock is in the reboot. Unless you are spoofing the original ala Brady Brunch, it is good to at least talk to people and ask why that character did this or that or was this way. Even if you go in a different direction, have the concept from the shoulders you are standing on before trying to remake something.
I would love to be proven wrong, I really would. I just doubt that I will.