"William George Ferguson" <wmgfrgsn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:2ovsq39jfbh62vm2s4km5lsl5n47ir8753@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Fri, 8 Feb 2008 20:28:39 -0800 (PST), Arbitrar Of Quality
> <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>On Feb 8, 9:12 am, William George Ferguson <wmgfr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>wrote:
>>> On Thu, 7 Feb 2008 21:49:57 -0800 (PST), Arbitrar Of Quality
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <tsm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> >On Feb 1, 11:19 pm, "One Bit Shy" <O...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> >> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
>>> >>
messagenews:0c5f3a63-7e17-47d7-8a81-37aff6dce7a2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>
>>> >> > Yet whether it's on screen (Dawn comparing Xander to
>>> >> > our favorite rapist vampire in "Him")
>>>
>>> >> I don't see any indication that Dawn considered the two morally
>>> >> equivalent
>>> >> or comparable in degree. She was just pointing out that
>>> >> relationships make
>>> >> people lie and act stupid. I'm not terribly fond of Him, but
that's
>>> >> one of
>>> >> the good parts.
>>>
>>> >Well of course she thinks they're comparable, given that she's
>>> >comparing them. It's distasteful, but I'm more interested in the way
>>> >it makes no fucking sense. Since the show never challenges her
>>> >interpretation, it's another piece that makes it harder for me to
>>> >conclude that the writers don't intend us to agree with the
characters
>>> >that Xander's decision was wrong, and that the wedding fiasco is
>>> >fundamentally his fault.
>>>
>>> Xander's decision was wrong. Not the decision to call off the wedding
>>> (that was right), the decision to then walk away into the rain and
leave
>>> Anya swinging in the wind to face her friends and Xander's friends and
>>> family, by herself. You'll have to explain to me how That decision
was
>>> not
>>> wrong, hopefully slowly and in words of one syllable, because I'm
having
>>> a
>>> great deal of difficulty understanding it.
>>
>>I'm not sure if I've heard that interpretation before. Are you
>>suggesting that the method Xander chose for leaving her was more
>>painful/damaging to her than the rejection itself? If so, I can't
>>agree. It certainly wasn't the best way to handle it, but everything
>>I remember Anya saying afterward focuses on the fact that Xander
>>decided not to marry her, not that she had to face the family
>>afterward.
>
> I wasn't talking about Anya's motivation, or the precedence of causes
for
> Anya returning the Vengeance Demon status. I wasn talking about
Xander's
> action looked at from outside (as a viewer). It wasn't wrong because of
> what it did, or didn't do, to Anya, it was wrong beacause it was wrong.
> It's about taking responsibility for yourself and your actions.
>
> I had a very similar discussion on the group, back in the day, about
Buffy
> playing 'bobbing for tonsils' with a cross on that female vampire in
When
> She Was Bad. I consider torture to be wrong, and it doesn't become okay
> just becasue Buffy is doing it to a vampire.
>
> I'm not a big fan of 'this is worng, except if womeone we like does it
to
> someone we don't like'.
>
> (Oh, and Anya is responsible for returning to being a Vengeance Demon.
> Xander's actions do not excuse her from being responsible for her own
> decisions)
I think I mostly agree with that. I don't think the walk down the aisle
especially hurt Anya for the public humiliation of it - she seemed pretty
oblivious - wandering that direction for no particular reason. But the
impression on the people seeing it would be extremely anti-Xander. In
large
part justified. If you're going to cause that kind of trouble than you
should face the consequences.
OBS
|
