In alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer Arbitrar Of Quality <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Paralysis does take a lot of the fun out of Willow. Though if I have
>> to watch anyone lie motionless and mumble without moving her jaw, it
might
>> as well be her.
>
> Dawn?
Dawn is great for posing. But if anyone can keep me watching while she
just lies there like a board, it's Willow.
> She's not a "typical" angsty teen, probably specifically for the
> reason that she's a one-off guest character whom the writers want us
> to like. It seems like she's had time to assimilate the idea of dying
> - do we ever find out how long she's known?
Not for certain. There is a hint, though, in the simple fact that Cassie
got sent to Counselor Buffy because she stopped doing her homework. I
figure that must have been going on for at least a week, more likely two,
before it seemed like a counselor type of problem. And it probably hasn't
been three weeks or more, since school just started three weeks ago. So I
figure she realized she was going to die sometime around Beneath You. Of
course this isn't definite -- another possibility is that Cassie has known
for years, and just stopped bothering with homework when the fatal day
drew close.
> In this particular case, it's a bit of a mix, since on one level, this
> particular story has no final victory. On another, though, I do think
> a lot of the purpose of asking quesitons like this in S7 is to lay the
> background for Buffy to change the rules at the end. Maybe people
> like Buffy use the ATS approach to last long enough until a BTVS
> solution can happen? It's true that the two shows have different
> philosophies in that regard (and allegory-fy different periods of
> life), but I've never been able to go too deeply into how compatible
> they are or aren't.
I would say, provisionally (a good counter-argument could change my mind),
that the two series are mostly compatible. They differ in focus and tone,
but is the underlying philosophy that much different? BtVS allows Buffy
to change the world, but she doesn't actually banish all evil or destroy
the First. It's a big win, but not THE big win. On his series, Angel has
no faith in final victory, but his whole approach is based on the struggle
for one minor victory over another. So they both just do what they can,
without any expectation that the struggle will ever end. Maybe Buffy
changing the world is just one really, really big example of "if nothing
we do matters, then all that matters is what we do"?
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
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