Re: OT: Joss has NO point - my rant

[Pedder <pedder@xxxxxxxx>]

Okay, so I'm actually a little scared to get into this, but I kind of 
have to agree with some of what Mudrat said. When the show could be 
canelled without notice between seasons, it kind of makes you not take it 
for granted. And lets face it, despite the many talented fic writers out 
there, actually writing for the show must be a damn hard job. Everybody 
screws up occasionally. They can't make everybody happy (and don't 
say 'how about anybody?', please), and they do make mistakes. And we, as 
viewers, have the right to critize. 

That being said, critism and well... being 'really really mean' are two 
very different things. I'm not going to mention anyone (since I like my 
head where it is thankyou), but seriously, it's just a show. Lighten up. 
Personally, I'm a huge fan. I love the show, and sure, sometimes I 
haven't liked some of the directions they've taken, but take the good 
with the bad, right? Being an Aussie, I've only actually seen up to DMP 
(not a fan, really), but I'm basically spoiled up to Villans. I'm 
desperately avoiding details on the finale, so I'm really unqualified to 
comment (doesn't mean I won't) on the message of the season and even the 
pointlessness (apparently) of Tara's death. It's just, don't you think, 
that with all the experience that Joss and the other writers have, they 
would have considered their options carefully? It's not like the only 
motivation for Tara's death was that 'she's gay so people don't think we 
can kill her'. I think it was very necessary to send Willow over the 
edge, being gay had nothing to do with it.

Actually, I think any one of the group would have been enough. Buffy, 
certainly. Personally, I think Willow's always been quick to turn to the 
easy solution when it comes to magic. It started off all fine, good 
intentions, give Angel back his soul, all that's fine. But then, Will and 
Xander liplock, and can't control themselves, so Willow turns to magic to 
try and get rid of their lust. Just because they were interrupted doesn't 
mean she hadn't tried. Then there was the Oz incident in S4 where Willow 
tried to curse him but backed down at the last moment, because despite 
everything, she still loved him, and she's still a good person. After 
that, there's the spell in 'Something Blue' to get rid of her pain. Never 
mind the normal way, let's just use magic.

And then there's the real biggie. Tara gets brainsucked in S5, and Willow 
lies to Buffy and goes to find the most powerful and dark magic she can 
get her hands on. Someone she loved had effectively had their life taken 
away, and she snapped. She didn't care that she shouldn't be using that 
type or magic, or that she would probably die. She would have, if Buffy 
hadn't saved her (on advice from Spike, but I'll let that slide). And 
there's the parallel. Tara got hurt, and Willow got angry. Tara got 
killed (in a pointless, completely unexpected (by them) way), and Willow 
was consumed by grief and rage. Who wouldn't want revenge if their lover 
was murdered? Granted, not a lot of people kill the murderer, but this 
isn't the real world. Willow's still on the edge, recovering from the 
dark magic kick, and one of her main anchors and reasons to stay clean 
dies in front of her eyes. She snaps, fair enough, and turns to the one 
thing she knows will allow her revenge.

Okay, so a lot of people are pissed off that they killed Tara, and that's 
their right. I'd be pissed off too if my favourite character was killed 
just because the writers wanted Willow to go dark. But it was one of the 
worst things the writers could do to Willow, and absolutely garranteed to 
send her over the edge, especially considering her easy turns to magic in 
the past.

I should probably point out that I'm not belittling Willow's character. I 
love Will, hell, I'm on a B/W list here aren't I? Admittedly though, I 
think I liked her character more in the earlier seasons, but the only 
real change is that she's more confident and there's less of a B/W 
friendship going on. And notice that when I say 'real change', there's no 
mention of her being gay? (except now). That didn't change who she is, 
and once again I agree with Mudrat, it's not something that defines her 
character. She's not there because the network thought the show was 
homophobic so they made them have a gay charcter. She just grew up, and 
worked a few things out.

Dan, I read your last post in the middle of writing this, and yes, you're 
right. Fighting for your life and the fate of the world on a regular 
basis would have made them grow up rather fast, but throughout the show 
they still attempt to live normal lives. Granted, it doesn't really work, 
but they try. They're all still human (except Spike, but once again, not 
going there), and as humans, they're still subject to human frailties. 
Buffy got ripped out of heaven, and she was all mixed up about it. Xander 
walked out on his own wedding when he should know that love is hard to 
comeby in the world, let alone on the Hellmouth. Dawn felt neglected and 
acted out to get attention (never mind that the entire last season Buffy 
was trying to save her life), even knowing that going out after dark 
alone could get her killed, or that doing anything drastic could get her 
taken away from Buffy. And Willow, well, I don't want to go into the 
magic thing again, but she's in a crisis, and then her stability and 
support is ripped from underneath her in such a real way (but that I mean 
the bullet, rather than a vampire, or something of the like). I think I 
got off track there, but what I was basically trying to say was that 
despite it all, they're still human, and they're entitled to periodic 
bouts of immaturity.

I had no intention of writing this much, but it just sort of came out, so 
I think I'll quit before I offend anyone else. Looking back at this I 
think I really got off the topic (I swear I had a point when I started), 
but since I just spent all this time writing it, I may as well post it 
anyway, right? There must be someone who'll find it interesting.

Pedder
*ducking for cover*




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