From superheroes like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Wonder Woman to love-driven Bella Swan of the “Twilight” series, University of Massachusetts German Professor Susan Cocalis discussed the varying levels of female strength and assertiveness in supernatural and fairytale worlds during a pizza and professor lecture and discussion titled “Witches & Women with Superpowers” yesterday.

Approximately 50 students gathered in Goodell Hall last night to eat pizza and discuss the heroines of today’s and yesterday’s supernatural fiction. Discussion topics ranged from what Cocalis called the “passive” heroines of today to the heroines of the past like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the even earlier Wonder Woman and Xena: Warrior Princess.

“What happened to Superwoman?” asked Cocalis, who has been teaching at UMass since 1975 and teaches a class called “Witches: Myth and Reality,” as well as one called “From Grimm to Disney: The German Folktale.”

She began the lecture and discussion by expressing her disdain for the “Twilight” series, saying that while reading the books and viewing the movies, she felt the intended heroine – Swan – had no personality, lacked any real strength and was not actually a heroine at all. Her only powers, Cocalis assessed, were defensive instead of aggressive.

“Bella is just so masochistic,” said Cocalis. “It turns out she does have a super power, but it’s totally passive.”

The discussion expanded from that topic to the subject of Disney princesses and their quest for true love and desire to be rescued. The opinions of audience members participating in the discussion varied from anti-damsel in distress to liking the idea of falling in love and being rescued.

“How many of you want to be rescued?” she asked the group during the discussion, to which not many students responded.  “How many of you are waiting for Mr. Right … or Ms. Right?”

The concept of a role model was prominent during the discussion. Cocalis discussed the possibility of a character like Swan being a role model and what kind of message that sends young women.

“Buffy is this active heroine and role model,” said Cocalis. She then referred to heroines like Xena and Wonder Woman, who she said “solve problems”, unlike Swan, who she said is constantly needing to be saved and protected.

“She doesn’t transform into a were-creature…she doesn’t go out on her own crusades,” said Cocalis, talking about another female dating a vampire: Sookie Stackhouse, the heroine from the HBO series “True Blood.”  She said the heroine could read minds, which was still fairly passive in comparison with Buffy, who could beat up and kill vampires and demons.

Disney princesses were also a topic of conversation yesterday and whether Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Mulan and Ariel – who is Cocalis’ personal favorite – are any better role models than Swan or Stackhouse.

Cocalis said during a recent poll of the students in her “Grimm to Disney” class, she found that most students someday hoped to get married, and that female students said they want to be married between the ages of 25 and 32 and have children somewhere around 32. Cocalis said that she was surprised to see that many women still say they intend to give up their careers when they have children.

“The new Disney heroines … they all rebel against their fathers and the target audience for these movies is 16-year-olds,” Cocalis said. “This conflict with the father is a big part of what these heroines are. But they only reject their father in order to choose who they want to love and marry.”

Cocalis claimed that the motivation of the Disney princesses is to fall in love, and to break away from controlling fathers in order to be with the men they love. These princesses, in the process of falling in love, need to be saved by strong men, she said.

Steffi Porter can be reached at [email protected].