In terms of "overreliance on the metaphor" - maybe it depends on which metaphor or lens someone relies on?
I think that was a bad choice of words on my part. Maybe overreliance on the archetype would be a better way to say it.
How so, and who did the ball-dropping?
I just don't like how it's never mentioned again. At all. Arguably, it's the biggest betrayal on the whole show and yet there are no long term repercussions to it, at least not explicitly stated ones anyway.
which supposedly isn't as well-loved, and you can use nearly all the same phrases to describe S3 as people generally do S4, honestly. I actually find S4 more interesting, in hindsight at least, because it marks a shift in the show to a more psychological, inward journey for Buffy. But that's just me.
Heh, I'd definitely agree. I don't really like to rank seasons because I don't think any one season, with the possible exception of S4, is a standalone season. 1-3, 4, 5-7 is how I tend to look at them. I just have seen so much 'S3 is the pinnacle of the series' when pretty much all the critiques I've seen leveled at the later ones, and even the early ones, apply to S3, if not moreso.
Heck I've become more mean - or jaded, whatever - just in the past year. At the same time, there's a line that can be drawn, but it's a fine distinction or maybe none at all, "laughing with" vs "laughing at". And then how you achieve that makes a difference too. (Tearing down beloved characters to make your point - you know what I'm talking about, right? - still seems unnecessarily mean-spirited.
Oh, I'm never for tearing down any character to prove a point. I mean, I pretty much loathed Angel while the shows were running, but I've come to defend the guy thanks to the comics. TGIQ doesn't really mock fans directly, just fanwanks, really. Thing about doing that is, some people take it as confirmation of their beliefs. You'll see Spike fans take him claiming S2 as his when it's pretty clear that he's in the same boat as Angel; just posturing. After all, all you need to do is watch the DVD to see Spike shrug his shoulders and leave when it looks like Angelus has her down for the count.
But again, just a few months in this fandom and reading a lot of fanfic and conversations etc in which it's "all about the boys" and Buffy's just a footnote, helps to that end, whereas I couldn't see it just coming fresh from Chosen.
Yeah. :( Sort of related, I read a post on tumblr of all places wondering if, looking at the fandom in which it is all about the boys, Buffy was at all successful at what it was attempting to do--give the girl a story rather than be a footnote in the male-driven narrative.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-04-23 05:40 pm (UTC)In terms of "overreliance on the metaphor" - maybe it depends on which metaphor or lens someone relies on?
I think that was a bad choice of words on my part. Maybe overreliance on the archetype would be a better way to say it.
How so, and who did the ball-dropping?
I just don't like how it's never mentioned again. At all. Arguably, it's the biggest betrayal on the whole show and yet there are no long term repercussions to it, at least not explicitly stated ones anyway.
which supposedly isn't as well-loved, and you can use nearly all the same phrases to describe S3 as people generally do S4, honestly. I actually find S4 more interesting, in hindsight at least, because it marks a shift in the show to a more psychological, inward journey for Buffy. But that's just me.
Heh, I'd definitely agree. I don't really like to rank seasons because I don't think any one season, with the possible exception of S4, is a standalone season. 1-3, 4, 5-7 is how I tend to look at them. I just have seen so much 'S3 is the pinnacle of the series' when pretty much all the critiques I've seen leveled at the later ones, and even the early ones, apply to S3, if not moreso.
Heck I've become more mean - or jaded, whatever - just in the past year. At the same time, there's a line that can be drawn, but it's a fine distinction or maybe none at all, "laughing with" vs "laughing at". And then how you achieve that makes a difference too. (Tearing down beloved characters to make your point - you know what I'm talking about, right? - still seems unnecessarily mean-spirited.
Oh, I'm never for tearing down any character to prove a point. I mean, I pretty much loathed Angel while the shows were running, but I've come to defend the guy thanks to the comics. TGIQ doesn't really mock fans directly, just fanwanks, really. Thing about doing that is, some people take it as confirmation of their beliefs. You'll see Spike fans take him claiming S2 as his when it's pretty clear that he's in the same boat as Angel; just posturing. After all, all you need to do is watch the DVD to see Spike shrug his shoulders and leave when it looks like Angelus has her down for the count.
But again, just a few months in this fandom and reading a lot of fanfic and conversations etc in which it's "all about the boys" and Buffy's just a footnote, helps to that end, whereas I couldn't see it just coming fresh from Chosen.
Yeah. :( Sort of related, I read a post on tumblr of all places wondering if, looking at the fandom in which it is all about the boys, Buffy was at all successful at what it was attempting to do--give the girl a story rather than be a footnote in the male-driven narrative.