Did you get a chance to see “Buffy vs Edward: Twilight remixed“? It was recently nominated for a Webby! And it might be the only feminist anything that is nominated at all this year, which is why I think it’s so important that it wins the people’s choice award for best remix/mashup video! Currently it’s only in third place and it needs a big boost of votes to bring it to first.

There are only a few days left (voting ends on April 29th) and it only takes a few minutes to vote on the Webby YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=remixmashup

** You can watch, comment, share and subscribe on YouTube

Here is an easy to follow guide for the guys on the right versus the wrong reasons to hate on Twilight.  With the release of New Moon, there has been an awful lot of sexist, homophobic, patriarchal crap floating around the internet and I just wanted to set the record straight.

Check out other great blogs and commentary about the Twilight Series:

1. The creator of Buffy vs Edward (and my partner!) also wrote What Would Buffy Do? Notes on Dusting Edward Cullen about why he made the remix.
2. Bite Me or Don’t over at Bitch Media is a great look at the repercussions of this new wave of young adult fiction and what the author is calling abstinence porn.
3. Twilight’s Bella Swan is a Feminist’s Worst Nightmare breaks down the many troubling aspects of Bella’s character

This video can be viewed with English subtitles at DotSub and is available to be translated into other languages.

The Real Reasons Guys Should Hate Twilight Transcript

I just want to clear up a little confusion with the guys about the right reasons and the wrong reasons to hate on Twilight.  These are the wrong reasons:

Clip: Ben Hoffman at Infomania
Ben: Thought it was gonna be about a bunch of badass vampires who wanted to kill people and drink their blood, but no it was some teenage p**&% who didn’t want to kill people instead he just wanted to be sensitive and play piano.
Game Show Buzzer Sound

Clip: The Spill Crew
Man: That’s why I like the werewolves because when the vampire start like saying “I can’t be with you because I’m too sensitive and I’m risking our lives”
Woman scream
Man: The werewolves come in and ‘f*&% the vampires’
Game Show Buzzer Sound

And then also the endless array of “He’s so gay” comments on YouTube”
Game Show Buzzer Sound

So just to recap the wrong reasons are that Edward is too sensitive, that he’s gay, and that he’s not violent enough.  The right reasons however, are that Edward is a creepy, manipulative, controlling, overprotective, stalker.  Ultimately what you dude’s are saying is that in addition to being emotionally abuse you want Edward to be violent, sadistic and physically abusive.

So next time you are with your buddies talking about how much you hate Twilight, you can just repeat after me.  I hate Twilight because Edward is a creepy, manipulative, overprotective stalker.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This remix is just what I’ve been wanting – death to Edward Cullin!  I might be a little biased because I was a consultant on this project but I think it turned out wonderfully.  It is a meticulously crafted discussion about the disturbing and unacceptable behaviour of Edward Cullin.  Where in Twilight his controlling and stalkerish ways are celebrated as romantic, in this reimagined narrative, using the empowered yet complicated character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jonathan McIntosh demonstrates an alternative way of looking at Edward’s character.

I find the Twilight series to be the antithesis of anything feminist from the over dominating, stalking (and murdering) boyfriend to the disempowered female protagonist.

In this re-imagined narrative, Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 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. — This transformative work constitutes a fair-use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. The remix is licensed under a creative commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Read an article from Jonathan McIntosh about why he made “Buffy vs Edward” at WIMN Voices where he discusses his pro-feminist interpretation of Twilight and also gives a big shout out to the vidding community which was a primary influence in making this video.  His other remixes can be seen on his blog at www.rebelliouspixels.com