**Due to recent misinterpretations of some one post
from this blog, a disclaimer is now apparently necessary. If this is your first visit to The
Scratched Camera, please read the introductory post and discover, for yourself, that every typed word that
follows is unabashedly my opinion and mine alone. In said introductory post, which,
shockingly, I did not simply type up for my own good health, I state that we
all read events and characters with our own baggage in mind; no one observes
with a perfectly clear lens—hence the
name The Scratched Camera.
Therefore, it is completely your will to disagree with any material that
follows, just as it is my will to agree and advocate for what is mine.** ~End, irritating obligatory disclaimer~
Summers versus Chase—Who is the Better Grown Up Cheerleader?
In
terms of the arc of their characters, both Cordelia and Buffy have a lot of
commonalities. They each come from
humble beginnings—in character, not necessarily in monetary or influential
terms, as both girls came from moderate to vastly successful families and were
at the height of popularity in their perspective schools—as a character carved
from an archetype of the popular cheerleader variety. However, despite these disconcerting origins, both
characters rose above their circumstances to become a vastly more powerful and
relatable character than the audience could’ve ever anticipated from their
introduction.
When
we first meet the characters in the television show, Buffy has already made
some progress in the issue of maturity, whereas Cordelia is approximately in
the same place as Buffy was during the film set earlier in the same school
year. As a result, Cordelia serves
as a constant reminder of the life Buffy left behind in order to fulfill her
destiny as a Slayer. Chase, in her
ignorance of all things supernatural, is able to be popular, run for prom
queen, date and, in general, have a normal social life.
Buffy,
at the start of the series, has been forced to sacrifice quite a bit
already. In the flashbacks provided
by Becoming, as well as first hand
experiences seen in the film Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, the audience glimpses that Summers was almost as tactless
as Cordy at one time. She was once
cruel, as she speculates manipulating others into asking her to the dance and
releases verbal lashings to her supposed best friends. In Los Angelus, she could say whatever
she wanted and people would bow at her feet, just begging to know her, be close
to her. At the time, this made her
feel as if she were on top of the world.
Cordelia,
who expresses in Out of Mind, Out of
Sight that she would rather have fake friends than none at all, understands
this feeling of superiority. The
conversation is difficult for Buffy to navigate, as she can appreciate that her
life has improved since her days of popularity have to come a close; yet, she
still yearns for that sense of normality that Cordelia so illusively represents
to her. In short, Buffy envies
Cordy, something I doubt she’d ever fully admit.
When
Cordelia learns that Buffy was once possibly even more popular than her, any
chance of a potential friendship between the two is eliminated. Instead, Cordelia, in her authority as
the Queen Bee—or, C, as she would
undoubtedly prefer—of Sunnydale High School, declares Buffy a social
outcast, as Summers turns towards the true friendship offered by the likes of
Willow and Xander as an alternative to the merely motivationally driven
companionship that Cordelia extends.
High school Cordy, in all her power and authority, represents, as the
authors of Praising Cordelia state,
“the archetypal feminine type,” a woman who embodies the “stereotypes of
femininity”—endowing her with an ability to simultaneously dominate all the
females of the school and command the attention of every male. In short, Buffy has a supernatural
power that makes her nearly unbeatable on a battlefield. Cordelia, on the other hand, has an
applicable sway and charisma (get it?) that allows her to reign supreme
in the structure of the public school society.
From
this downgrade of Summers’s social status, the two will forever serve as mutual
foils and rivals. They compete
over titles of popularity, friendships and, of course Angel. In their time spent at Sunnydale High,
Buffy is clearly the better role model.
Cordelia’s blunt honesty does have several merits, but, beyond that, her
character lacks a level of vulnerability that would be required to redeem the
negatives of this trait, making her appear to be little other than cruel. The audience does get a peak of a true potential
for emotional exposure from within Cordy at her discovery of Xander’s betrayal
in Lover’s Walk. Unfortunately, she quickly closes all
emotions down and regresses towards her vindictive and popularity driven
ways.
Cordy,
in a somewhat Fronting Feisty Female fashion, enjoys berating others while
being utterly incapable of standing on her own without need of a savior. Buffy, on the other hand, requires very
little rescuing in the first three years of the show. She is often the one doing the saving, with the damsel in
question frequently being Cordelia herself. With this earned selflessness, Summers has learned to filter
what she says since her days in L.A.
However, this does not mean she’s completely changed personalities; she
does managed to remain true to herself in this time. With the change in her priorities, Buffy simply accepted
that a change in her personality came with the job. The change is brought about in a more begrudging manner from
Chase, who suffers endlessly between a desire to be popular and what her true
instincts tell her she should do.
Ironically,
while it took moving away from L.A. to round-out Buffy’s character, Chase’s relocation
to the City of Angels achieves similar ends. While Cordelia will always have desires driven by popularity
and superficial values, she does start to take some impressively large steps in
the right direction here. She
hasn’t changed some much as to avoid telling the occasional superficial lie to
draw in the attention of a significant other, particularly in one who is of
both rich and attractive. However,
she finds that she now has further standards than money and physical
appearance; should that person begin to question her or ask her to compromise
her part of the Angel, Investigations mission, she will quickly remove them
from her life. Repeatedly, over
the course of season one of Angel, we
see attractive men come and go, as they begin to bore her in comparison to the
sense of purpose she now feels the need to fulfill.
Alternatively,
Buffy, seen in season four as a freshman in college, struggles to continue to
hold true to the strength she had displayed in her relationship with
Angel. Her submissiveness at the
lack of sustainability in her relationship with Parker is borderline
disturbing, as all of her friends attempt to repeatedly convince her that
Abrams is nothing worthy of her time or energy. While it may be more realistic to show a character who isn’t
always at the top of her game in terms of relationships with significant
others, it does her no favors to show her as desperate as she is here.
Likewise,
Summers consistently second guesses herself in regards to her relationship with
Riley Finn. I do respect the
struggle she adamantly conveys to him before the relationship begins—her bond
with Angel was turbulent at best and it is, therefore, only realistic that she
be rather gun shy to become invested once again. However the dependability developed after they become
settled into the situation isn’t necessarily healthy. Finn’s strength—admirable, yet inferior to Buffy’s—also adds
a complexity to the relationship, as Buffy admits to Willow several times that
she holds herself back to prevent from hurting his feelings. While this may be the compassionate thing
to do, no female should ever feel the need to coddle the insecurities of
another at her own expense.
I
have no doubt that the very thought of holding herself back for the sake of
sparing someone’s feelings would be enough to make Cordelia laugh. While she may not have the strength of
Buffy, she refuses to compromise on the characteristics she thinks of as her
best assets. Regularly, characters
ask her to bite her tongue in an attempt to become more socially
appropriate. If anything, this
only causes her to become more crass as she refuses to do what she’s told.
There
is also the issue of the near rape towards the end of season six. I discussed this briefly in my post
centered on Spike—although, I will be the first to admit I skirted around the
issue, as the actual action and the resulting consequences, or lack thereof,
truly bother me. While I
understand what facts allow Buffy to forgive Spike of his misdeeds—namely, the
acquisition of his soul—I strongly believe Cordelia’s reaction would’ve been
significantly different and would’ve served to set a sturdier model.
Fortunately, Buffy is endowed with
supernatural strength and was able to prevent the assault before it was fully
realized. Cordelia, on the other
hand, has been violated several times over the course of her adventures with
Team Angel. In Expecting, she wakes up the morning
after a date nearly nine months pregnant with very little comprehension of the
course of the previous evening. In
Epiphany, she is once again
impregnated, this time by a three-eyed demon that is, at the very least, able
to evidently do so without actually sleeping with her. In the season two two-part ending,
Cordy is told that she will be forced to sleep with Gru to rid herself of her
visions. While Chase was initially
attracted to Gru, she refuses to sleep with him if it means she will lose her
visions in the process. This
repeated sense of sexual violation, albeit in varying levels of seriousness,
would most likely have forced a very different reaction from Cordelia, had her
place been switched with Buffy’s.
Summers vaguely struggles to redevelop her trust towards the
vampire. While Cordelia manages to
forgive a lot of actions Angelus subjects her to, I believe a rape—successful
or not—would’ve distinctly placed them in an unforgivable territory.
While she will never be endowed
with the supernatural strength that allows Buffy to defend herself so readily, Cordelia,
over the next two years of her life, will become more immersed in the elements
of the supernatural, via visions that are incredibly painful gifts from the
Powers That Be. At first, she
views these premonitions as a curse, as they induce painful migraines that have
the potential to be very dangerous.
However, as time carries on, and she experiences more strangers in the
height of their pain, she is fundamentally changed.
In
season three, she is offered an opportunity to return her visions in trade for
the life of the stardom she had originally sought. As Skip informs her that retaining the visions will mean her
death, she takes the deal, albeit tentatively. In the events to follow, Chase, without any recollection of
her previous life and mission in Los Angelus, manages to find her own way back
to the path she chose several years prior. She kisses Angel, and receives the visions all over
again. Her obstinate demeanor
results in another offer from Skip—he can change her physicality to make her
part-demon, thereby allowing her to retain her visions without their implicit
fatality.
Chase’s
agreement to change her very nature in order to preserve her part to play in
the mission of Angel, Investigations rings along the same lines of Spike
seeking out his soul. Buffy and
Angel each had changes forced upon them.
Summers’ character developed because she was called as the Slayer and,
therefore, had to learn to grow up rather quickly, as the weight of the world
was dumped on her shoulders overnight.
Angel was cursed with his soul and, therefore, much like Buffy, joined
the good fight due to an external uncontrollable factor.
Spike
and Cordelia, on the other hand, each sought out their own way to join the
cause. After the aforementioned
attempt at rape, Spike went looking for a way to acquire his soul. Chase could’ve very easily contentedly
settled into a life of fame and fortune when presented with Skip’s
opportunity. Even after the first
deployment failed, she could’ve insisted Skip give her one last attempt at
finding normality amongst the rampant supernatural saturation that has occurred
to her in the last year. However,
she simply can’t do that. She’s
seen a bigger purpose in this world—something that can make her life worth
living and dying for. As such, she
goes so far as to voluntarily change her very being to preserve her chance to
make a difference in this world.
To draw attention to this, at the
very same time that Cordy is sacrificing her humanity to serve a larger
purpose, Buffy is complaining that her responsibilities as a Slayer make it
very difficult for her to get a job somewhere other than the local burger
joint. As Cordelia progressively
climbs up the selfless ladder in season three of Angel, Buffy struggles to keep her head above water in season six
of BtVS. She engages in a relationship that’s unhealthy and unsatisfying
to both her and Spike. She hides
her true afterlife experiences from her friends, despite knowing that they
could help her deal with the aftermath of being ripped from Heaven. In general, she develops a pattern of
making poor decisions, as she selfishly puts her own needs ahead of the
helplessness of those who surround her.
In
a sense, I cannot blame her for this.
Buffy has selflessly served as the world’s protector and savior for the
last five years. Her reward has
been to lose everything she’s ever cared for. While her mistakes here are understandable, I still can’t
help but be bothered by the uncharacteristic nature of the character in this
season.
Thankfully,
Buffy resumes her usual disposition in season seven. Roles reverse here once more, as Summers becomes the leader
of the greatest army BtVS has ever
seen and Chase, possessed and atypical in behavior, becomes Angel’s Big Bag for the fourth
season. The Cordelia here,
however, is not, in any shape or form, the actual Cordelia. Therefore, she cannot be held
accountable for any of the horrible deeds she completes throughout the season. Her resulting comatose state, however,
reminds me once again that, while Buffy has her ups and her downs, she is, at
her very core, able to take care of herself just a bit better than Cordy has
ever been able to.
From Bella to Katniss:
Are Buffy and Cordelia good role models? I have rated both of these characters individually in the
past. However, for their
evaluations here, I will be comparing them to their foil alone, as opposed to
their previous ratings, which resulted from a comparison in regards to the
general population of other strong female characters. Buffy’s sense of sacrifice is rarely surpassed, as she
repeatedly places her own happiness on the line in order to save the lives of
others she cares about. However,
this isn’t to say she can’t be selfish.
She spends almost the entire sixth season perpetually whining about
money and dead-end jobs. While I
understand her displeasure at the degrading social standing brought on by her
supernatural capabilities, to be fair her friends all offered a variety of
alternatives that would be more suitable to her Slaying schedule; it was her
own depression that forced her to believe she deserved nothing better. This depression, though
uncharacteristic for perky Buffy, does provide a certain model, as depression
is rarely shown in media. In
addition to this struggle, she manages to bring herself back around to become
an even better role model than ever in the show’s seventh season. Once the others take it upon themselves
to remove her as leader, she and Spike alone remain free off treason in my
eyes. The fact that she is able to
rise above their betrayal and return to command their army shows an incredible
ability to forgive that is admirable.
On the other hand, her ability to forgive sins enacted by significant
others—in varying levels of severity—is a less than exceptional example to be
set that results in a hindering of her rating in comparison to the brunette to
follow.
Role Model Rating:
8/10
Cordelia has a sense of sacrifice, but it is not nearly as
honed as Buffy’s. As the Slayer, a
certain level of surrendering for the safety of the world is to be
expected. Alternatively, Cordy, as
a civilian playing a game she isn’t fully equipped for, doesn’t have the
demands placed upon her as Buffy does and, therefore, is presented with fewer
opportunities to follow in those footsteps. However, when such a chance arises, she consistently chooses
her dedication towards her newfound higher purpose above all else—particular
examples of this can be seen in her willingness to become part-demon to
continue her visions and her eventual acceptance of forfeiting her human life altogether
to become a higher being. Her
compassion doesn’t lessen her edge, however, as she continues to contain a
certain sense of tactlessness and rudeness. While some may think Buffy’s more conventionally socially
acceptable compassion is the better example to set, I, personally, believe we
all could use to follow Cordy’s brutally honest model a bit more often. Buffy, herself, could certainly use a
dose of this medicine in regards to significant others, an area in which the
brunette out exemplifies the blonde in nearly every regard.
Role Model Rating:
9/10
From Lorelai to Wonder Woman: Are Buffy and Cordelia relatable? While Buffy is in need of far less saving than Cordelia
typically is, this is due to the blessing of her Slayer abilities—had roles
been reversed, and Cordelia called as the next Slayer, perhaps it would be the
brunette constantly saving the blonde.
This uncontrollable endowment of strengths makes Buffy slightly more
difficult to relate to. While she
may have risen from common origins to become a strong female, she wouldn’t have
been able to do so without her role as a Slayer forcing her to see the bigger
purpose in life. However, with
this realization comes a perpetual state of struggle, as she constantly lays
everything on the line and receives very little in return. This loss appeals to the audience, as
no one has traveled through life sans suffering. Where her previous pitfalls in the realm of relationships
hindered her ability to serve as an excellent role model, her mistakes also help
the audience to relate to her far easier; I’ve seen many younger girls obsess
over significant others in the way Buffy does over Angel or her brief
interaction with Parker. Buffy
makes mistakes; she puts her faith in the wrong people and suffers the
consequences frequently. No one is
perfect, and Buffy, in her exceptional strength and power as the Slayer, proves
just that.
Relatability Rating:
9/10
Where Buffy was blessed with supernatural powers to
jump-start her conversion from vapid Valley Girl to a more compassionate and
rounded-out character, Cordelia had no such igniting device. While the visions she acquired in the
first season of Angel would
eventually cement the changes she had started to experience, she alone
advocates for her own change in personality starting in the second season of BtVS. As soon as she chooses Xander, and, by association, the
Scoobies, over Harmony and the other mindless drones that make up the
population of the popular students at Sunnydale High, she took her own first
step towards improvement, with no supernatural assistance necessary. This sends an even stronger message to
the audience than Buffy’s previous off-screen renovations to her
personality. Two messages are
received as Cordelia progresses.
First, as we watch her grow and develop, the audience is shown that we are in control of what we feel most
passionate about. When she first
moves to L.A., she focuses on acting, as that is something that interests
her. Over time, however, she
begins to see a deeper, more meaningful potential purpose; a purpose that
starts to set in prior to her acquiring her visions, might I add. Second, you are able to alter your
personality without losing sight of all that it means to be you. Cordelia manages to soften her personality without losing
the distinct edge of honesty that just makes Cordelia Cordy. For those of us
who consider themselves on a perpetual track towards attempted
self-improvement, this revelation about Cordelia serves to not only make her a
decent role model, but works toward making her a more down-to-earth character
than her brash and pushy demeanor can sometimes allow for. It also aids the audience in finding
some relatability in an overly beautiful and popular character. Previous to the loss of her family’s
money, life was almost too good for Cordelia for us to realistically understand
any struggles she could go through.
With the loss of her confidence and a steady stream of funds comes a
propensity to voice the true concerns of the every man; where Buffy is
inherently too good to really ask
others for money just for saving them, Cordy demands clients pay their bills in
full, even if she has to personally put herself in danger to receive the
funds. Cordy, much like us, has
bills to pay and a mouth to feed.
Relatability Rating:
9/10
