OT: SPOIL 7.1: More on responsibility

[Jason Rune <winter_herald@xxxxxxxxx>]

Only part of this is actually spoilery, but just in
case, I'm putting it all under space. I don't think
the title is too give-away-ey. It doesn't have *that*
much to do with the ep, really. It's a bit more of a
tangential rant; one part tangent, two parts rant. A
pinch of something bitter.

So, spoils for Buffy 7.1 "Lessons."

If

You 

Can't

See

The

Spoiler,

It

Can't

Eat

You.

Spoiler.

Spoiler.

Chomp.

A while ago, I think mentioned that the scoobs have
avoided telling anybody about the Hellmouth. It's a
Big Secret. But what are the ethical implications of
keeping this kind of thing covered up? If you knew
that there were multiple gas leaks in the school
basement, would you tell someone, or just try to fix
them and hope you got them all? If you knew that a
group of people in your area were planning to go on a
killing spree, would you tell someone? If you knew
that the entire town was built on top of something
really, really deadly, would you tell someone?

It's quite possible that the townsfolk wouldn't
believe the scoobs if they tried. Then again,
everybody seems to know that *something* is going on. 
They saw the Mayor's transformation. They *know* why
the high school was blown up. They packed bows and
flamethrowers under their robes. Are we just supposed
to accept that they all know Bad Things Happen and
have decided to Stay There Anyway? Can they even be
expected to make this decision not knowing the full
extent of the danger, which has been kept from them by
the people supposedly protecting them?

I think that all the people haunting Buffy for not
saving them (in Lessons) had a point, but it wasn't
the one you might think. She should have protected
them? Hell, she should have gotten them to
*evacuate.*

Of course, then we wouldn't have a show.

And Xander re-building the high school on top of the
Hellmouth? Is he insane, or has he simply developed
no sense of responsibility in all these years? What,
pray tell, are the ethical ramifications of exposing a
whole new crop of innocent, mostly helpless children
to the Hellmouth, which you *know* is right under
their feet? Probaby similar to those of willfully
building the thing on top of an unsafe gas main, or
bad ground, or any of a number of other environmental
hazards that I can't think of right now. Except
worse.

Did I hear that he built it so that the Hellmouth is
under the principal's office this time? Oh, hardy
har. That may be good for a cheap laugh, but I don't
think the principal will be laughing when that
tentacly thing comes through. And the principal isn't
even evil this time, far as we know. Reckless
endangerment, at the least.

Yeah, I know. It's just a fantasy show. But for a
show that's supposed to be good about providing role
models, it's got a few holes. And the ones Spike
likes aren't the only ones...

Not to mention that the Gubberment, knowing that all
this stuff exists, decided to *pull out* rather than
just sending in a new project team with a new plan. 
Even if they had no care whatsoever for the personal
safety and well-being of any of Sunnydale's
inhabitants, wouldn't they at least want to try and
cover it up so it didn't leak to the media? Or did
they figure out that the Hellmouth puts a damper on
the intelligence of everyone around it?

This is starting to bug me.

Jason Rune

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