"mariposas rand mair fheal" <mair_fheal@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:mair_fheal-BE294C.01171407042008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> The First as an archvillain is still full of, er, potential. It has
>> the chance to be truly worse and more dangerous than Glory, or any of
>> the other apocalyptic monsters because it comes from within the main
>> characters themselves and is quite literally generated by them. Alas,
>> as the season progressed, this idea proved too hard to sustain, and
>> The First became a Big Baddy in the Basement, with the usual army of
>> orcs and a taste for cross-dressing.
>
> the idea is the only real power the devil has
> is the power you give it
>
> Jareth: *Everything*! Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked
> that the
> child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I
> have
> reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it
> all for
> *you*! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't
> that
> generous?
>
> buffy cant destroy it
> but once she rejects it and tells it get out of her face
> it has no power over her
>
> death evil fear etc are always going to be here
> but whether they control you or not is your coice
The First's power also manifests as an army of surrogates threatening to
force their will upon Buffy and her army. And with Caleb, we also see the
First bestowing power upon somebody. (The first ubervamp probably got the
same kind of power boost too.)
Your theory is good - and probably accurate to a point. But I don't think
the concept of the First is that singular.
If you look at the greater power metaphor, and it's connection to feminist
theory, then yes, granting the power to others is part of it. I think
self
empowerment is definitely part of the story. But another part of the
story
is forced enslavement - doling out power to the selected few according to
slavemaster's choice. Or, put another way, wanting the power and refusing
to grant it to others is necessary, but insufficient in itself. You also
need access to the tools of power, which can be forcibly held from you and
used against you.
The First worked actively to get Buffy and others to hand their power over
to it. But it also acted coercively. And indirectly to withhold power.
You'll note that it took a while for the First to approach Buffy directly.
It's primary approach appears to be through others in order to separate
Buffy from the people around her - her true source of power. (Or perhaps
more properly, "their" true source of power. They overcome as a group.)
Another more oblique aspect is the influence of cultural norms. (I think
it's harder to see because it's harder to represent through the First.)
Especially in how it brings pressure through weight of numbers. In the
Sunnydale sense of evil brought to life so that it can be slayed, that
would
probably be represented by the ubervamp army, whose size alone is so
intimidating. They're the lynch mob that won't tolerate acts of
independence. The greater impact, however, is within her own circle of
friends, who resist personal empowerment, and who turn against her in
various ways.
Returning to your notion that "the only real power the devil has is the
power you give it," which I don't mean to diminish, that regains
prominence
when combined with the leader****p theme of the season. A leader's true
power is drawn from the consent of his/her followers. Buffy can't succeed
without her army. The First is nothing without its mob. With them they
can
engage in the coercive exercise of ****d power.
That returns us to "Big Baddy in the Basement." I always liked Caleb,
leading up to the great battle of armies. I think Malsperanza is right
that
the late season move diminishes somewhat the sense of battle within each
character, replacing it with the more traditional external foe. But I
approve of that for a couple of reasons. First is that this is conclusion
of the series, and I think it's im****tant that it remain true to its core
concept of internal battles manifested as physical monsters that can be
slain. Secondly, as explained a few ways above, there's an im****tant
external component to this struggle for empowerment. Those external
forces
will indeed seek to repress through the brutal exercise of physical force.
I believe the story necessarily eventually devolves into a physical clash
of
cultures where the Slayer army wins its independence from the oppression
of
the evil overlord and its mob. (To the victor goes the framing.) Season
7
ultimately is less about an introspective kind of liberation than it is
about revolutionary triumph.
OBS
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