Re: Mad Hamlet's post

["ebailey140" <ebailey140@xxxxxxx>]

--- In buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "sharp_nosed_fish"
<g.nisbet@c...> wrote:
> --- In buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "ebailey140" 
> <ebailey140@a...> wrote:
> > Why does B/F inspire more
> > stories than W/T?  Pretty simple.  Who's the more interesting couple
> > to write about?  While I love both Willow and Tara, as a couple
> > there's not really a lot to explore that the show didn't.  
> Willow/Tara
> > had the burden of being a Big Social/Political Statement.  They had 
> to
> > be The Ideal Perfect Couple, once the subtext became text.  
>
> This is about the most concise and astute clarification of slash 
> dynamics I've read. (Not that I'm well versed in this kind of thing, 
> you understand -- first actual posting to the list here, in response 
> to MH's entirely justified rant.) Where's the trauma?
>
> "Oh Willow, you know I love you!"
> "Oh Tara, you know I love you too!"
> <kiss kiss, blow out a patchouli candle>
> THE END
>
> A recalled line from 'Jerry Springer: the Opera':
> "What do we want?"
> "LESBIANS FIGHTING!" -- and W/T doesn't get there until they break 
> up; and Tara's being written by then as too smart and grounded to 
> have the messy, traumatic breakup and post-breakup sex we crave.

Well, it's not just for slashy dynamics, but fictional romantic
relationships, in general.  There's a reason the two most popular
romances on the show were B/A and B/S, besides involving the lead (And
B/R was one of the LEAST popular, until W/K came along). 
> > So, it's not a matter of Faith being more popular than Willow (She's
> > not), but Faith being more popular than Tara and, especially, 
> Kennedy.
> >  And, that's where we run into our other problem, who Willow got
> > saddled with.  Yes, there is a romantic fate worse than Riley Finn. 
>
> Kennedy always seemed kind of (a) annoying and (b) an afterthoughty 
> semi-apology to the audience for the really big mistake of killing 
> off Tara; yes, we screwed up, but at least we didn't stick Willow 
> back in the closet, we gave her a moving-on consolation prize. But I 
> also wonder if she falls into that small, Riley-centred category of 
> BtVS characters whom Joss clearly felt were *wonderful ideas*, and 
> never mind how they panned out in terms of existing series dynamics. 
> With the Riley/Initiative stuff, I often had a kind of Babylon 5 
> feeling -- Joss as overambitious GM, losing sight of the actual cool 
> stuff because he was fixating on his high-concept story arc. Scarily, 
> I suspect that Joss thought Riley Finn was a great character that we 
> fans just didn't 'get'.

Riley was miscast, I think.  The character as a concept had enough
going for him, and shouldn't have come off as bland.  In both cases,
though, it was Joss forcing a romance where one wasn't really needed.
  Given that Joss knew this would be the last season, I think the
dynamic between Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles was what needed the
attention, as that was the heart of the entire series.  Not that I'm
saying Willow's sexual orientation wasn't an important part of her
character, but it wasn't the MOST important, to me.  I never got why
she couldn't have especially close friendships with guys or another
girl she wasn't sleeping with.  It's as though being especially close
to Buffy was somehow a threat to her lesbianism.

E  





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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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