UPDATE #2: On January 10th 2013 I received a one line email from the YouTube team saying simply “The content has been reinstated.”
UPDATE #1: Lionsgate has filed a bogus DMCA takedown on this fair use remix. I’m currently fighting to get it restored, in the meantime you can see the HTML5 popup version of Buffy vs Edward here.
“I’m really glad that she didn’t end up doing the smoochies with him”
— Marti Noxon, executive producer of BtVS about Buffy vs Edward
Description:
In this remixed narrative Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Sunnydale High. It’s an example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy’s eyes, some of the more sexist gender roles and patriarchal Hollywood themes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed in hilarious ways. Ultimately this remix is about more than a decisive showdown between the slayer and the sparkly vampire. It also doubles as a metaphor for the ongoing battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century.
Press:
• NPR Radio – When Fair Use Isn’t Fair
• LA Times – Meet the man who staked ‘Twilight’s’ leading vamp
• Boston Globe – The remix is better than the Hollywood movie Vampires Suck
• Jezebel – Buffy Shuts Down Edward Cullen In The Best Clip Ever
• LA Weekly – Pop Culture Hacker Jonathan McIntosh on Buffy vs Edward
• Entertainment Weekly – Twilight and Buffy: Together at last!
• Perez Hilton – Edward Cullen meets Buffy Summers
• After Ellen – Buffy vs Edward: Place your bets now
• Washington City Paper – Buffy Vs. Edward Cullen: A Feminist Mash-Up
• Slate – Jung, Buffy, Twilight, Virginia Woolf—and Happiness
• Change.org – Buffy vs Edward Cullen
• Vanity Fair – Buffy Could Kick Edward Cullen’s Precious Sparkly Ass
• New York Post – Edward Cullen, Dusted by Buffy
• Technology Review Magazine – Open Video in Practice
• Sociological Images – Is it Romance, or Stalking?
• Salon – The Twilight of our youth
• WIRED UK – Buffy and Twilight remixed
In Depth:
• Experience the HTML5 pop-up video version of the remix!
• Compare the original stalking scenes from Buffy and Twilight on Critical Commons
• Check out my answers to frequently asked questions about the remix
• Post on why I made the remix – What Would Buffy Do? Notes on Dusting Edward Cullen
Awards:
• Won the Short Mr. Pointy Award for WWBD? essay from the Whedon Studies Association
• Nominated for Best Remix/Mashup Video in the 2010 Webby Awards
Other Video Formats/Backups:
• NEW Mirrored on the Internet Archive in MP4 and OGV formats
• Download in webM format (30mb) – for your HTML5 projects!
• Higher-res special BitTorrent edition 435mb
• Web streaming on blip.tv
Subtitles & Translations:
• Closed caption option available on the youtube version for those that find it useful
• Link to the full english transcript from “Buffy vs Edward”
• Subtitled in – Czech, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Swedish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Chinese, Malay, Dutch, Danish, Romanian, Tagalog, Slovenian, Arabic, Japanese, Turkish, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal), Indonesian, Finnish & Spanish via DotSub.com
• You can help by adding, editing or fixing the translations here
Fair-use Notice & License:
This is a transformative work and constitutes a fair-use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. “Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed)” by Jonathan McIntosh is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-3.0 License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Find out more about fair use at the Center for Social Media and more about fan based transformative works at the Organization for Transformative Works.
Discussion & Reviews:
A quick list of some of my favorite reactions and debates on the remix: jezebel.com, pandagon.net, smartbitchestrashybooks.com, pixiepalace.com, whedonesque.com and this Twilight fan blog. I’m sure there are many more out there – feel free to comment with links.
“It’s really good, I liked the girl power it showed. I’ve watched it like 10 times and showed it to my friends. It’s the best thing I have ever seen on the internet!”
— Dawi Zarni, age 10 Twilight fan on Buffy vs Edward
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Ryanne Hodson for all her help with the video encoding. Also to Anita Sarkeesian for consulting on the project, as well as to Francesca Coppa and Martin Leduc for help beta testing the narrative. Although this work is not a “vid“, it was influenced by vidding and vidders like Laura Shaprio. Thanks to bell hooks for her inspirational writing on pop culture, feminism, racism and love. And lastly, of course, to Joss Whedon for writing Buffy as a strong complex female character on television.
