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Post by Patti - S'cubie Cutie on Feb 22, 2004 22:31:29 GMT -5
Alexandra posed the question: Outside of Spike/JM or Buffy/SMG who would you want to date from BtVS.
Vlad's response:
13. dating game-my choice(s) 2/22/2003 Vlad I
well, I thought and thought. If you'd asked me from season 1-4, I'd have said Willow. She always seemed so real. I actually knew girls like Willow in school and I think in the long run they make the best life partner choices.
However...I lost interest once she turned gay...*sigh* I don't have a problem with gay people, but for me losing Willow... well just imagine that either JM or Xander came out of the closet and started dating Andrew. All of you poor women would jsut be so...let down. And I was never fond of Tara in the beginning. In fact, it wasnt til after they broke up, that I began to see things about her that I really liked. She truly did have the kindest soul.
So, losing Willow, I would have to say next on my list would have been Jenny. Jenny is what I thought Willow was going to become, more or less early on in the series. And she was very attractive. I liked her playfulness and the way she enjoyed ribbing Giles. Unfortunately, she's dead.
After Jenny it would have to be...*drum roll* Kennedy! Okay, okay... pipe down and listen to me on this. I really don't understand everyone's dislike for this gal. She's got some spunk..good taste in life partners, a sense of humor and is very attractive. OKay.. she's young and impetuous, occasionally makes a social gaffe and can seem a bit...preoccupied with herself....Hmmmmmm, come to think of it, sounds similar to a certain blonde headed slayer that we've been watching for the last 7 years. Really, I like Kennedy, she's just young and out of her place. She's latched onto Willow for both right and wrong reasons. However, I think that as she matures, she would be quite the partner for Willow. She likes Willow for Willow...not for power, or magic, or anything else. Even Tara started off in the magic envy area.
*Blows a raspberry to all the S'cubies* So there! I like Kennedy. And since it looks like a breakup may be on the horizon, maybe the young impressionable Kennedy might decide that this whole lesbian thing was jsut a phase and take the keys off her belt loop. *wink* I know a single TechnoPagan that wouldn't mind grabbing a cup o' joe and talking...heck, I'd even rent Moulin Rouge for her.
Vlad
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Post by Patti - S'cubie Cutie on Feb 23, 2004 11:30:54 GMT -5
Joshua's very interesting ideas back in the day...
85. BtVS and Female Empowerment 2/23/2003 I believe Wonder Woman, and many other female super heroines emerged in the fifties or shortly there after, on the printed page. Even with four different huge blockbuster movies coming out this year based on comics, however, I doubt they would qualify as the mainstream. Which makes me wonder how mainstream BtVS is. If I mention it to any non-Buffy fan (ie. everyone I know in real life) there typical reaction is "Huh? Oh, that show. Is that still on?" or "Yeah, man, SMG is hot."
So assuming they have even watched the show before, what they mostly get away from it is that SMG is hot. And that's a good starting point for this: there is arguably nothing prominent in the show that challenges traditional gender roles. A viewer can tune in and not have one preconcieved close minded notion of women challenged. Even the title heroine is what would be expected of a female: beautiful. It's as if beauty and heroism were some how interlinked. You could say that casting an model-type female lead is a neccesary evil of the Hollywood system, and you'd be right, but Buffy certainly isn't trying to break that idea. Gender roles are about more than just the actual gender. Some would argue that if the only way in which a heroine is accepted is by taking on traditional male characteristics, and abondoning female ones, then it's really not saying anything new about gender. Buffy's strenght comes not from her feminimity but from her willingness to "be" a man. The idea, and this is where I was starting to have issue with some of the themes of this season, seems to be that traditional brute strentgh, traditionally male power, is truly the most valuable thing there is. Time and time again Buffy shuts herself down emotionally, starts dominating her friends, grabs a sword (or stake) and trys to save the world herself, as the typical lone male hero. Even when a conflict is shown between Buffy Summers (feminine) and the Slayer (masculine) the show still aligns the juxtaposed ideas with being just a normal girl, Buffy, female on one side and Slayerdom, masculine assertion, and being a Hero on the other.
Buffy sleeps with a man, and tragedy occurs. Willow is a lesbian, so of course she is going to go crazy try to kill everyone. Hello, lesbian. Faith is the character most open with her sexuality, and she is also totally evil. A basket case. And somehow, Willow is justified calling her a "cleavagy slut-bomb," although when she said that, Faith has only been seen to sleep with one guy, one time, and that was Xander. It would not be remotely hard to support the arguement that BtVS stands firmly against any sort of open sexuality and encourages monogamous heterosexual relationships inside of marriage, anything else leads only to pain and suffering.
*The views expressed herein, besides being poorly articulated, are not neccesarily those of the author (although semester after semester of Film Semiotics and Structuralism have eroded my ability to know what thoughts are actually my own). I merely play devil's advocate. I would say, however, that BtVS is much better at breaking down gender stereotypes using Spike than it has with any other character.*
Joshua Adams
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Post by Patti - S'cubie Cutie on Feb 24, 2004 14:17:55 GMT -5
THE FINALE!! Just like any celebration, this one goes out with a bang - not one but an explosion of posts - all having to do with something almost unimaginable...Spring's INNOCENCE... 121. What's New on S'cubie Website 2/24/2003 WOW!!! That's all I can say after reading Spring's analysis of "Innocence" - one of my fave Buffy episodes ever for its gut-wrenching portrayal of love, betrayal and all the stuff Spring covered (only I could never express my thoughts as eloquently as Spring did). Spring, I congratulate you on another wonderful analysis. As always, you bring up so many interesting ideas that it makes want to rush home and re-watch the episodes (which I do when I get off work). You really get to the heart of the episdoe and explore all its hidden meanings, themes, implications, etc. I absolutely love them! Please, please keep them coming!!! Lee Hollins 131. Found it! 2/24/2003 Nan Dibble Thanks, Vlad--I found the review of Innocence this time. Don't know why it wouldn't appear for me before. A particularly good one, with the references to Shakespeare's As You Like It! Thanks, Vlad! Thanks, Spring! Nan 129. Behold the power of Spring 2/24/2003 I loved your review of Innocence. Being Xander-centric I was particularly impressed with the way you drew his relationship with Cordy. Their attraction was physical and nothing more, and they pretty much used each other. Cordy was honest enough to recognize it for what it was...at least in this episode. I also have a sense of relief that Xander didn't pursue anything like this with Willow right on the heels of Buffy's rejection. He didn't really notice Willow in that way until he began working his way toward acceptance of Buffy's decision to remain friends. Cordy, however, was disposable to him and he to her. When I look back at Xander and Cordy's pseudo-relationship now, I look back at it fondly because they verrry slowly developed respectful feelings toward one another, no matter how much they pain they caused. They parted friends, and did a lot to help each other grow up. Rob Sorenson 137. The analysis 2/24/2003 Spring Summers NAN: So glad you found my Innocence. You're not the first person who has had trouble locating it. ;-) That really is quite an episode. It has a lot of foreshadowing for "Once More With Feeling," which is pretty amazing when you think about it. Next one to work on is Passion, where Angel kills Jenny - another gut-wrencher! LEE & ROBERT: So glad you enjoyed my Innocence. You're not the first persons who have . . . wait. Where am I going with that? Seriously, I appreciate the encouraging words. I am having fun writing the analyses and sharing them. ROBERT: I do think that Cordelia & Xander grew to care for each other under all the snarking. And I think we see some genuine caring from Cordelia's end of things in this episode. She is so sweet and happy and smiling when she kisses Xander in the stacks. They did have some real chemistry and Nick and Charisma were just so funny together - really played off each other well. Note: That's it folks....thanks for taking part in our celebration of S'cubie History Month... Patti and Erin
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