Sorry for my super-late Buffy vs. Dracula post, guys. Here goes:
One of the things that stuck out most to me in watching Buffy vs. Dracula was the reactions of the men to the attraction Buffy, Anya, and Willow have towards Dracula – even before any of them were under his so-called “thrall.” Riley and Xander (and even Giles, somewhat) grow protective and jealous of their attraction to a famous historical and sexual figure. This parallels the protective instincts of Van Helsing, Jonathan, Dr. Seward and Quincey over Mina. Somehow, all parties come to the conclusion that this attraction is not due to the conscious desires of the women, but rather to the supernatural power that Dracula has over them. Why is this?
Buffy’s ability to pretend to be under Dracula’s thrall – as well as Mina’s guilt and feelings of disloyalty to Jonathan – both put little holes into the theory that Dracula’s appeal is solely supernatural. And Giles himself (at least, I’m pretty sure it was him) said that it’s not enough for Dracula to merely take his victims; they have to “want to be taken.” All three of these things suggest that the women have more of a hand in their “thrall” than the men acknowledge.
These things suggested to me that the men’s perception of “thrall” could be thrown completely out of proportion by their own desire to see innocence in the women in their lives. By completely tossing aside free will, they would make it more comfortable for themselves in choosing to believe that the women have no choice. This, in turn, would make the women both able and deserving of redemption, and allows the storylines to reach positive conclusions.
What do you think: is Dracula’s thrall 100% compulsory? Or is there some element of free will?
<3 Lisa
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