OT: Seeing Red Comments Counterpoint [SPOILER]

[Phoen Dusk <Dusk@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since not everyone has seen the episode yet...

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Goddess Above, I'd swear nearly all of you lived in a fucking cave! Mad
Hamlet was the first voice of reason I found in a sea of insanity over
this latest episode... which is a VERY disturbing concept, now that I
think about it. Also, Jolie... consider Prozac.

Tara dies from a gunshot wound. Lots of people have a problem with this,
and I'm going to address all the complaints.
First, the homophobic aspect. Folks, listen up. Tara is an innocent
bystander that gets killed when a bullet not meant for her comes
streaking through a window and lodges itself in her heart. This is not a
"gays are unnatural" comment; if they had wanted that, they could have
made Tara a demon instead of the compassionate human being she was
(overlooking the "blind to demons" spell she did).
Next, we have the angle of the fifth bullet that hits Tara. Could it
have been a little high? Absolutely. Was the trajectory wrong for the
angle of incident? Yup. Going from when she was standing to the window,
it should have impacted the back of her skull. I'm sure THAT would have
been much more pleasant to look at.
Then is the "Your shirt." comment. Her death is almost instantaneous;
she has the last breath she inhaled available before the shock to her
system shuts everything down. Not all deaths are drawn out, where
someone is allowed to express how they feel before finally giving up in
the arms of their loved ones. That is unrealistic and has been
romanticized by the movie industry for years. I actually applaud Joss
for not giving in to it - like he did with Faith being stabbed in the
stomach.
Some are asking if Willow and Tara heard the gunshots or not. Let me
explain my neighborhood. On a good week, you are not awoken by gunfire
at four in the morning. In a good month, someone within a three block
radius is not shot in the back of the head at point blank range while
sitting in their car. In a good year, the per capita murder statistic
does not make the top five in the nation (where I live has been in that
bracket for the past six years - which is why I keep trying to
relocate).

Did ME do a bad thing in killing Tara? No. Is it justified? No. Gun
violence never is. Other than the Initiative (who mostly used tranqs and
high-powered tasers), name the last villian or group therein to actually
have hardware on BtVS... oh, wait, forgot - Ethan Rayne in "Band Candy."
And Ripper ended up with the gun. A good example is actually Seth Green
as Scott Evil in the first Austin Powers movie. "Dad, I'll go to my
room, get my gun, and shoot them in the head." Joss and Co. have these
fantastic villains with super powers so you tend to forget about the
real world dangers. Think to "The Zeppo;" Xander has to deal with a bomb
in the basement of the school while the rest of the Scoobs battle the
Hellmouth critter above. Which was the greater threat? The bomb; had it
gone off, the baby would have really been free. Of course, they end up
blowing the school to bits anyway, but that's another story.

Spike tries to rape Buffy. Was the camera work kind of hard to follow?
Absolutely. If you know someone who has been forcibly raped (passive
rape is STILL rape, don't think otherwise), ask them what it felt like,
then show them the scene. Ask them if it compares. The answer should
scare you.

Xander gets punched in the jaw. It should have been broken, I think most
of us can agree on that. So, why IS Xander so hard to inflict permanent
damage to? Has he ever worn a cast/sling? Someone want to do the leg
work on this one, because I don't recall and I have fic to write. It
could be that why Xander is so hard to put down may be coming to light
at some point; we just don't know.

Dawnie... she's looking out for her big sister when she goes to the
crypt. Honestly, I don't think she's pulling for the B/S 'ship, but she
has never found a reason to not trust the wannabe Billy Idol. I think
they left her out of the whole "Doctor" discussion afterwards. Spike
hurt Buffy; Dawn let him know. She's happy for Willow and Tara... um,
does anyone know if Marti Noxon had anything to do with the character of
Dawn coming into play? We know how Tara's death affects Willow; has
anyone wondered how it will affect Dawn? No? I don't recall reading
anything like that in ANY of the posts.


Look, bottom line here people, Mad Hamlet has a point. This storyline
has gotten everyone talking... which means BtVS will AGAIN be looked
over for any sort of Emmy nomination. Three episodes to go, and there is
one question from years ago we have yet to see answered.


Phoen Dusk
























Can Buffy save those she truly loves? So far, the answer has been "No."
She couldn't save Angel during the Acathla saga (Willow had to), then he
came back for the spin-off. She couldn't save her mother (brain tumor...
nothing could be done, though she begged Willow for a magical remedy).
She couldn't save her sister - Glory took her (Willow brought her out of
the comatose state). So how does the Slayer save the one person who has
always been there for her? The odds are not in Buffy's favor here,
folks. Do I think she can save Willow from herself? Maybe... if she can
finally forgive her for ripping her from Heaven, and find a REAL reason
to live.