#buffy analysis

[kleoshe]

Just rewatched fool for love (buffy episode) because I love me a Spike backstory but totally forgot the B plot with Riley killing the vamp nest?

And wow it just struck me that Riley was seriously the only one taking patrolling seriously- like the scoobies were straight up munching on chips and cracking jokes lol.

The scoobies don’t take it seriously because they have this intrinsic trust that buffy is there! They assume that she will be there to save them in case one of them gets into an oopsie… we know that this is true because they are clearly shown to take patrolling seriously during the summer she is in LA and the summer she’s dead.

Buffy is continually taken for granted as this “deus ex machina” until she does something they don’t like. And the scoobies even do this with Riley in the next episode where (I’m pretty sure) Xander makes a dig at Riley for blowing up the vampire nest all by himself, even tho they definitely trusted him to handle patrolling practically all by himself the night before.

So clearly the problem isn’t buffy- they show this behaviour to Riley, and even Spike during buffys death where he patrols and takes care of Dawn yet are back on his ass about being evil the SECOND they have the slayer back. The problem is Willow and Xander and their controlling insecurities. Sigh.

[mimicmiki]

thinking about buffy season six some more i’m sorry for all of this 

i think i’m finally starting to get why season five spuffy and season six spuffy are so drastically different in execution and purpose

like, in season five, the subtextual and... domtextual suggestion is always that buffy is some level above spike. in terms of what kind of person she is. spike is a monster and she is something human, something pure, something inundated with heroism and righteousness. he is, to put it in his own words, beneath him, and early on he struggles with this idea but by the gift he seems to accept it. he’ll always be a monster. but she treats him like a man. and the important part of that is that he is still monstrous. he is still human. by treating him with kindness in her position of looking down on him she is giving him more respect than the narrative says he deserves.

it sort of reminds me of courtly love and that concept. guinevere and lancelot. the knight ever working to be on the same level as his lover, knowing that he will not be, and that her caring for him is more than he ever deserves. and there will never be a togetherness, because the point of courtly love is the longing. the disparity.

season six does away with this romantic framing of a hierarchy. it literally and physically brings buffy down to spike’s level. where there were once shots of her looking down on him, now they’re framed in the same way. her violent ejection from heaven, in her eyes, rendered her something ultimately inhuman and thus now attainable for spike. she isn’t a queen anymore. she’s in the dark and in the dirt, just like him. and spike’s afraid of her moving out of it, of losing this perception of himself, because then he loses this equality that makes a physical relationship with her possible.

just speculation, really, but i do think i finally get it and if anyone is willing to craft something coherent from this... thanks lol

[drusillathekiller]

In regards to your recent post, I recently rewatched "When She Was Bad" and saw the start of the long running theme of Buffy's PTSD: Buffy is troubled, so becomes more and more isolated, which makes it worse. The thing is, instead of her friends not asking her what's wrong and offering her support, they go behind her back and discuss "what to do with her". And the thing that REALLY frustrates me is that they KNOW what's wrong with her after a while, yet do nothing about it. (1/2)

So when Willow asks, “GOD, what is WRONG with you?” in 2x01, it’s really sucky of her because in the last few scenes, Giles has already told her what’s wrong. So Buffy not talking, the Scoobies not being good friends, something life threateningly dangerous happens as a result. They all blame Buffy. Buffy is incredibly hard on herself, and learns to repress her feelings to focus on the “bigger picture”: protecting everyone else HAS to come before herself. And that pattern always continues (2/2).             

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

We see this pattern in When She Was Bad, we see it in Becoming with Joyce, we see it in Dead Man’s Party, we see it when Buffy is left to claw her way out of her own grave after being dragged out of heaven, then feeling the need to conceal what happened to save her friend’s feelings. Buffy is trapped in a constant state of emotional repression, having to hide her depression and PTSD for the sake of her friends. It say a lot that in season 6 she felt she could only confide in Spike, a soulless mass murdering demon who has tried to kill her at least half a dozen times. That doesn’t reflect well on her support system. 

Really though, as much as my heart aches for this element of the series, it feels very realistic and relatable to me. I mean, how many people with PTSD have isolated themselves from their friends for fear that their illness makes them a burden? How many friends and family of people with PTSD react badly or lose patience with their loved one? How many don’t react at all, finding it easier to pretend not to notice than confront it? I hate that this happens to Buffy, she deserves so much better, but as heart-breaking as it is it feels very authentic to me. 

xoxox

[kleoshe]

Just rewatched buffy s2e19 (the episode where the ghosts of the student and teacher love affair haunt sunnydale high) and oh boy I remember now why I loved it so much upon first watch. The events take place at a time where Buffy has a unique perspective on the monster at hand. She is angry at Angelus for Jenny and angry at herself for Angelus. she very noticeably is displacing some of this anger onto James (the poltergeist guy student), and relates to the story of the tragic lovers. (weather she consciously relates to the teacher or student more could be argued)

First, some scoooby critical food for thought: Buffy is the one to realize that what James wants is forgiveness. She tells the scoobies multiple times that he is a KILLER, who should not be forgiven. They are against her stance for whatever reason:

In the computer lab when they learn about the murder, Buffy states that she thinks James should've had to serve a life sentence (which I think most people would agree with) but Xander hits her with a "Yikes, the quality of mercy is not Buffy" implying that Buffy should for some reason be merciful?

Way later in the episode at Buffy's house (when she realises he needs forgiveness) Giles gently (imo condescendingly) lectures at her "To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's not done because people deserve it. Its done because they need it"

Xander, taking Giles' side "He can't live with it, Buff, hes dead."

Credit to Willow for never directly opposing her this episode! just some wide eyed sorrowful glances tossed.

Buffy proceeds to leave the room which gives us a great wide shot where you can see the cinematographic decision to have everyone literally opposing Buffy, very clearly signaling to the audience that it's Buffy vs the Scoobies once again.

Crazy thing is, the s2e11 episode Ted happens 2 months before this in which Buffy thinks she accidentally kills her physically abusive mom's boyfriend in self defence and the scoobies are fucking FRIGID to her for this. Only being fine again when it turns out he was a robot. Never even going over the fact that they never rlly believed that she was being hit anyways... (Id find quotes but watching that episode actually makes me so upset that I actually can't watch it lmao).

So in Buffy's mind, if she shouldn't be forgiven by her BEST FRIENDS for justifiable homicide, why should this guy be forgiven for First/Second degree murder? Why is she getting held to an impossibly high standard? But she doesn't point out these changing goalposts because this chick gets walked over like crazy by her 'best friends' lol.

Instead, being the embodiment-of-good-protagonist that she is, she internalises this lesson and decides to set forgiveness- for others and not for herself- as her personal motto (within reason) for the series moving onward. Second the absolute ARTISTRY of the episode:

This part is pretty clear already but I want to write it anyways because its just that epic!

Buffy is once again getting her personal slaying mixed up with her professional slaying. "okay, over identify much?" Cordelia our blunt yet insightful Queen C points out. And clearly she's correct (refer to earlier paragraph).

Is Buffy mad at James for killing the thing he loved most because she thinks that's what she did to Angel? or because of what Angelus did to her?

The episode is leading us to believe the later, if not for the obvious gender pattern, than for the extreme violence that both the poltergeist and Angelus bring.

So when Buffy turns out to be the spurned one (in an incredibly addictive scene by SMG and DB), the resolution smacks you in the face. Of course!

Angel(us)/Grace = the way to old and experienced one who thinks they know better and just wants the other to live a so called normal life. Who ends things even though they still have feelings for the other.

Buffy/James = the way to young and passionate one who can't live a normal life. Who believes that "love is forever" and is willing to fight for it. And in breaking the poltergeists hold over the school, Buffy (and by extension the audience) not only learns to somewhat forgive HERSELF in james, but also will understand Angel better when he leaves to LA next season.

[drusillathekiller]

Do you ever think about how slayers - with no salary for the work they do and no real choice in whether they do it - are essentially slaves?

[drusillathekiller]

@theroyalpalmtreeofoz said: I’d debate the black humour around drusilla at all actually? black humour acknowledges the awfulness of the situation i think most of the humour around drusilla happens because the writers forgot how awful her situation was. Most of its people laughing at her as well which black humour or not is still awful    

In regards to this post.

Excellent point. 

I recall reading somewhere (I can’t quite remember the source) that if a man awaiting execution walks up to the gallows and tells a joke at his own expense, that’s gallows humour. However, If the executioner or the crowd there to watch him hang make a joke at his expense, that’s not gallows humour, that’s just sadism.

The former is self-deprecating humour from someone trying to glean some comfort from their situation through levity. The latter is people deriving pleasure from someone else’s misfortune. 

I remember thinking that analogy summed up perfectly why dark humour doesn’t usually hit the right notes for me. The former can work for me, the latter simply can’t. 

In the case of Drusilla’s arc, it was rarely Dru finding some respite in joking about her misfortune. It was almost always other characters making fun of her misfortune (for example, Angel’s ‘fickle’ jab in Lover’s Walk or pretty much any time Spike mentions his sire after the events of Crush).

As for the writers more or less forgetting Drusilla’s backstory...Honestly that wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve long since accepted that the writers didn’t particularly care for Drusilla, and in their defence, as a minor character maybe that’s to be expected in the grand scheme of things. It makes me sad because personally I adore Drusilla’s character and think she had a lot of unfulfilled potential, but at least there’s always fanfiction.

[buffy-the-identity-slayer]

Band Candy

This episode of Buffy shows what happens when adults act like their younger, teenage selves, and children are given free reign without their parents to supervise them. As the town of Sunnydale descends into chaos, we as viewers are able to interpret the message that everyone has aspects of their past identity their embarrassed by.

This episode significantly affected the identities of the adults in the show, namely Joyce, Giles, and Snyder, while also showing how the identities of the teenagers, mostly Buffy, reveal themselves when adult supervision is removed. One important lesson in the episode is that Buffy, when not being told what to do by her mom or Watcher, still steps up and proves herself an adult. Although initially eager to take advantage of the lax rules, she shows maturity that we as viewers have already seen in her identity, but is somewhat surprising to Joyce and Giles, who have seen her recent behavior as childish. The message here is that our identities reveal themselves in important situations.

Joyce’s identity has been established as the worrying, protective mom who stresses over Buffy spending too much time training or slaying and not enough time at home. When she’s changed by the candy, she becomes irresponsible, reckless, impressed by Giles’ bad-boy antics, and develops a “live in the moment” attitude. These changes are shown first by how she speaks, then by how she dresses and the decisions she makes, and finally in how she behaves, specifically going out and acting wild. Her behavior is made more signifcant because many of these things are what she’s reprimanded Buffy for. Her interest in Giles is especially ironic because she’s shown before she doesn’t want Buffy seeing a ‘bad boy’. Joyce is later embarrassed by her actions, specifically having sex with Giles, showing the underlying message that everyone’s embarrassed by their past identities, and in their new identities work to prevent their children from making the same mistakes.

The other significant change is Giles. Like Joyce, Giles worries about Buffy; he wants to maximize her time training so she is capable and stays alive. He’s also upset when he learns Buffy’s bene lying about her whereabouts and sees it as childish. His first confrontation shows the beginning of his de-maturation- he uses the term “freak-out” and sits with his legs spread wide. This stands out because we as viewers are used to his proper behavior. Giles’ regression is more pronounced because he returns to his ‘Ripper’ identity. Giles’ identity throughout the series has been static- he is the wise, patient mentor. However, the knowledge and now evidence that in his younger years Giles’ was a rebellious hellion is a stark contrast. The strength of Giles’ identity is reinforced by Oz’s assumption that even as a teenager Giles’ would be calm. Despite how strongly his identity is known to himself and those around him, Giles still went through the process of finding himself- it was just done before the shows premiere. Giles identity as an adult and embarrassment at the end of the episode also suggest the underlying message that he is ashamed of aspects of his identity as a teenager. His story is significant because it shows how much you can change as you grow up, and despite his embarrassment parts of Giles’ identity then contribute to the grounded, intelligent Watcher he became.

Less significant but notable in the case of identity is also Principal. Principal Snyder’s behavior as a teenager is identical to the annoying, mischievous, and immature behavior he punishes students for. The message of being embarrassed of your past is present here as well, but for Snyder it is probably that he is an extreme example of not wanting kids to act like him, or even more likely that he’s forgotten what it was like to be a teenager and can’t excuse such behavior.

The characters of Buffy have all experienced some sort of identity growth, whether on screen or off. Showing this episode highlights through the characters already comfortable in their identities the importance of growth, because no one is ever comfortable with how they were when looking back on their teenage years. It serves to convince viewers and characters alike to let the teenagers grow, because when they are finally settled in their identities they will cringe to look back on their teenage identities.

[drusillathekiller]

Small brain: in the Buffyverse, the soul is the self. This makes Angel and Angelus two separate characters and means that the former doesn’t have to take responsibility for the crimes of the latter.

Bigger brain: the soul is merely the capacity for empathy and guilt. Angel may feel deep remorse for his actions while soulless, but this does not make him a separate character to Angelus. If it did, then why would he have to atone for his crimes while soulless in the first place, his search for penance being his main motivation in the series? Spike does not have a Spikelus to deflect responsibility for his actions while soulless. Neither does Darla have a Darlalus. Angel falsely crafted a different persona for his soulless self to help process and rationalise the terrible things he did. 

Giant brain: nobody in the Buffyverse really knows for certain what the soul is. Buffy says that when a vampire sires a person they die and a demon merely takes over their body (Lie to Me), but Angel himself seems to disagree with this sentiment (Doppelgangland), as does Darla (The Prodigal). Humans see the soul as the self, but most vampires clearly do not. Much like in real life, the soul is ambiguous in nature and there are many conflicting beliefs as to what it is. 

Galactic brain: the soul is a plot device of the writers, described in deliberately vague and contradictory terms so that it can serve whatever narrative function is most convenient at the time. You can find textual evidence for any of the above arguments in the series, but above all else the soul is there to move the plot forward, even at the expense of being a consistent, clearly defined concept.