100% agreement on Giles there. I was talking to Molly about it after reading her Giles meta, and as far as either of us could tell the people who insist Giles was OOC in S7 were seeing who they wanted to see. Or at least that's my guess. Again, there's a difference between "they presented this awkwardly" vs "he never would have done that". I mean, I love Giles too, but if "Helpless" happened in a RL situation we'd be calling child protective services. He's in full-on Watcher mode there and he is again in S7. He can't intergrate the two (his head and heart) so he chooses one or the other, often to the detriment of Buffy and the Scoobs.
It was never about any kind of democracy--Kennedy is shut down immediately and they go with Faith/Giles plan.
I actually liked that scene quite a lot, because it gets to what is, to me, part of the point - you can play chess with the people, shuffle the names and faces, but nothing is going to change as long as the same paradigm is in place. That's pretty much the series-long journey Buffy takes. And I liked the sense that the Potentials represented the "neo-feminists" (as I saw the term used in the 1990's by some women at the time) who assume that all the work has been "done" and equality has been achieved, and often don't appreciate what the generations of women before them had to struggle to achieve. With Kennedy it especially makes sense because she's also got class privilege; and any privilege can blind us to what other people don't have. (Anya's accusation that Buffy is "lucky" actually applies very well to Kennedy, who is the potential most like Buffy IMO.)
*shrug* I don't think they did make her an uberbitch in S7. To me, she's perfectly in character given what just came before it. She just paid the price for *not* listening to her instincts and took the girls to the Vineyard
I had forgotten that she got that advice from Wood - but no one in fandom ever talks about that either. I really should do a complete rewatch of the season; I remember how much I cringed at what Buffy said about Chloe and her "everyone sucks but me" speech the first time I heard it, but when I rewatch that episode I have more sympathy for her. Ok, saying Chloe was stupid was harsh, but that's the point - Buffy is stripped of resources, exhausted, (does she dig the grave herself because she doesn't know anymore how to delegate - surely Xander could have done it - or is it because she feels personally responsible? Now I think the latter.) I actually love her argument with Spike - somebody had to kick his ass into gear. Its tough love.
I think kicking her out in EP was likewise meant as an act of tough love but it went too far? Again, part of the point of the season - they are trapped in a closed system, taking their cues from one another.
Of course the Scoobs and Potentials had reason to be scared, so it's not quite so simple to label them as horrible bad guys (though I am of the opinion that if they didn't like it, they should have been the ones to leave).
Definitely agree. I do find Mark Field's analysis of this episode on his blog very interesting - he takes a very metaphorical view of the show: http://unpaidsophistry.blogspot.com/2013/02/empty-places.html#more So why did they kick her out, instead of just getting up and leaving en masse? I think that the metaphor is driving the plot here. All of Sunnydale is now deserted, but Buffy’s house is crowded with her hopes, her dreams, her thoughts, her confusion, her insecurities. She needs to get away from all that in order to regroup.
I don't always agree with his analysis on other things but his take on EP is one I appreciate because it can be hard seeing that one past my own emotional reaction to it.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-04-18 02:25 pm (UTC)It was never about any kind of democracy--Kennedy is shut down immediately and they go with Faith/Giles plan.
I actually liked that scene quite a lot, because it gets to what is, to me, part of the point - you can play chess with the people, shuffle the names and faces, but nothing is going to change as long as the same paradigm is in place. That's pretty much the series-long journey Buffy takes. And I liked the sense that the Potentials represented the "neo-feminists" (as I saw the term used in the 1990's by some women at the time) who assume that all the work has been "done" and equality has been achieved, and often don't appreciate what the generations of women before them had to struggle to achieve. With Kennedy it especially makes sense because she's also got class privilege; and any privilege can blind us to what other people don't have. (Anya's accusation that Buffy is "lucky" actually applies very well to Kennedy, who is the potential most like Buffy IMO.)
*shrug* I don't think they did make her an uberbitch in S7. To me, she's perfectly in character given what just came before it. She just paid the price for *not* listening to her instincts and took the girls to the Vineyard
I had forgotten that she got that advice from Wood - but no one in fandom ever talks about that either. I really should do a complete rewatch of the season; I remember how much I cringed at what Buffy said about Chloe and her "everyone sucks but me" speech the first time I heard it, but when I rewatch that episode I have more sympathy for her. Ok, saying Chloe was stupid was harsh, but that's the point - Buffy is stripped of resources, exhausted, (does she dig the grave herself because she doesn't know anymore how to delegate - surely Xander could have done it - or is it because she feels personally responsible? Now I think the latter.) I actually love her argument with Spike - somebody had to kick his ass into gear. Its tough love.
I think kicking her out in EP was likewise meant as an act of tough love but it went too far? Again, part of the point of the season - they are trapped in a closed system, taking their cues from one another.
Of course the Scoobs and Potentials had reason to be scared, so it's not quite so simple to label them as horrible bad guys (though I am of the opinion that if they didn't like it, they should have been the ones to leave).
Definitely agree. I do find Mark Field's analysis of this episode on his blog very interesting - he takes a very metaphorical view of the show: http://unpaidsophistry.blogspot.com/2013/02/empty-places.html#more
So why did they kick her out, instead of just getting up and leaving en masse? I think that the metaphor is driving the plot here. All of Sunnydale is now deserted, but Buffy’s house is crowded with her hopes, her dreams, her thoughts, her confusion, her insecurities. She needs to get away from all that in order to regroup.
I don't always agree with his analysis on other things but his take on EP is one I appreciate because it can be hard seeing that one past my own emotional reaction to it.