"Michael Ikeda" <mmikeda@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:krudnQIhConbehLanZ2dnUVZ_iydnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> One of the regular posters remarked some years ago about this
> plotline that magic wasn't a metaphor for drugs--drugs were a
> metaphor for magic.
I used that argument in the previous AOQ run through. Alas, it seemed to
get burried in debate about how metaphors work. And there also are people
who don't accept the distinction as meaningful. But I'm with you.
> That is, Willow's problems with magic were
> being fit into the "drug addiction" pattern by herself (and the
> other Scoobies and us) because it was a familiar pattern that fit
> SOME of what was going on.
>
> My general view of this plotline is that some forms of magic
> (likely including what Rack provides) can probably be reasonably
> described as addictive. That it was useful (probably necessary)
> for Willow to stop using all magic for a while. But that
> eventually she needed to start thinking more deeply about when and
> how magic should be used. And that there were hints of all of this
> throughout this particular plotline.
I agree. And I must also congratulate AOQ for finding that line first
time
through and generally being so sensible about this sensitive subject.
Possibly his finest reviewing hour.
However, I do have one problem with M.E.'s choice here - the aftermath.
Recovering addict is a terrible ongoing story, and even when you finesse
that by making Rack's magic different and showing that Willow's "real"
problem is something else, you still have that forever addicted element in
the character that I think drags it down some. It's not awful and doesn't
hurt the end of S6 at all. But I don't think it works very well either.
In
the near term episodes. And a lot of the under current to S7. I can't
stop
thinking that getting Willow to move towards a kind of "white" magic is
lot
like the wino's solution - switch to beer.
But getting back to your point, I think the really big clue to where
things
really are heading is Willow talking about losing herself in the magic.
That will be a huge theme in her season ending flame-out. Which is also
tied into the kind of magic she's using. It's not just Xander that saves
her. It's also the Coven's dose of purer magic that allows her to connect
back to her humanity.
> Note that in the parallel Willow/Buffy scene near the end, Buffy is
> clearly not dealing with the real problem. Perhaps a hint that
> Willow isn't either?
It's funny that you say that. I was thinking of saying something similar,
but left it out for space. But I was coming from the opposite direction.
I
was thinking that since Willow isn't dealing with her real problem, maybe
that's a hint that Buffy isn't either. Evidently you think it's clear
she's
not - and I suppose it's clear to me that her "addiction" to Spike isn't
her
real problem. But what exactly is?
OBS
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