"What? There's no subtext, you're imagining things". But then he sat down and watched the episodes again, and light dawned and he was, "Oh. That subtext. Oops."
Oh, Joss...was his attention already wandering to other projects? I guess I shouldn't blame him too much; I was in a workshop in college about women in the movies once and they showed a clip from Friend Green Tomatoes where Idgie woos Ruth by quoting from the Book of Ruth ("Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.") and they stare long and longingly at one another, all the litlte markers of "romantic scenario" except for any overt declarations or kisses.
And a roomful of very intelligent (presumably straight) white women DID NOT see the subtext until I pointed it out.
Personally, I've always seen Buffy/Faith as a trial run for Willow/Tara the following year. It's hard to remember now how controversial and daring that was back in the day; I do wonder if they looked at the reaction of the fans and (more importantly) their own network executives to Buffy/Faith hints, saw that the sky didn't fall, and decided it was safe to do a lesbian relationship storyline 'properly' and openly instead of only through subtext.
Probably so. Watching W/T now I am very aware of the cultural context of the day. And in some ways Buffy & Faith's rivalry is a trial run for S6's Dark Willow - women competing for the limited "prizes" and goodies (attention, power, praise, responsibility, etc) handed out sparingly by the patriarchy represented by the WC and Giles. Both emphasize the need to break out of the system (or find a way inside of it, however you want to read it.)
Also - girl fights.
I know about the outcry over the tropes in SR when Tara was killed, but I also find it interesting that the episode that most strongly hints at B/F subtext, and in which Buffy responds to Faith's encouragement to "let loose", is also the episode in which Faith accidentally kills Allen and begins to "go bad". It could be read as a much more subtle use of the "lesbianism/bisexuality = badness" trope - And I am NOT saying it's meant to be homophobic or done intentionally. We all have unexamined prejudices and cultural tropes that we're not really aware of (myself included!), Joss & Co being no exception to that.
In your icon #8, it's the end of the fight scene in 'Revelations'
Thanks!
If Faith had appeared in a later season instead, after Willow came out to Buffy and forced her to re-evaluate her thoughts on sexuality, I can imagine things going differently. But in S3 Buffy really hadn't ever had to think about such matters.
I agree. (I didn't come out until my late twenties in part because I didn't "have to think about it" when I was younger - loving women was never talked about or shown as a possibility except in terms of it being something shameful.) And of course Buffy still has strong feeling for Angel and wants to be with him. I don't tend to think in numbers on a scale because to me it's a continuum, a sliding scale, but Kinsey was the first, and he had to start somewhere.
Faith I definitely see as conflicted - so many layers to that, as Ryan (lj user=wickedbish>) spells out downthread. She envies Buffy's life, a loving mother and good home - how could she not? - and wants that for herself, to be the "#1 son" to a devoted Watcher; she wants to both "be" Buffy and "be with" Buffy. Faith literally "gets inside" Buffy in TYG/WAY (the only other person to do so is Willow in TWotW. Possibly Tara if you see that as Tara's actual spirit and not a projection in a dream.)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-11-22 07:01 pm (UTC)Oh, Joss...was his attention already wandering to other projects? I guess I shouldn't blame him too much; I was in a workshop in college about women in the movies once and they showed a clip from Friend Green Tomatoes where Idgie woos Ruth by quoting from the Book of Ruth ("Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.") and they stare long and longingly at one another, all the litlte markers of "romantic scenario" except for any overt declarations or kisses.
And a roomful of very intelligent (presumably straight) white women DID NOT see the subtext until I pointed it out.
Personally, I've always seen Buffy/Faith as a trial run for Willow/Tara the following year. It's hard to remember now how controversial and daring that was back in the day; I do wonder if they looked at the reaction of the fans and (more importantly) their own network executives to Buffy/Faith hints, saw that the sky didn't fall, and decided it was safe to do a lesbian relationship storyline 'properly' and openly instead of only through subtext.
Probably so. Watching W/T now I am very aware of the cultural context of the day. And in some ways Buffy & Faith's rivalry is a trial run for S6's Dark Willow - women competing for the limited "prizes" and goodies (attention, power, praise, responsibility, etc) handed out sparingly by the patriarchy represented by the WC and Giles. Both emphasize the need to break out of the system (or find a way inside of it, however you want to read it.)
Also - girl fights.
I know about the outcry over the tropes in SR when Tara was killed, but I also find it interesting that the episode that most strongly hints at B/F subtext, and in which Buffy responds to Faith's encouragement to "let loose", is also the episode in which Faith accidentally kills Allen and begins to "go bad". It could be read as a much more subtle use of the "lesbianism/bisexuality = badness" trope - And I am NOT saying it's meant to be homophobic or done intentionally. We all have unexamined prejudices and cultural tropes that we're not really aware of (myself included!), Joss & Co being no exception to that.
In your icon #8, it's the end of the fight scene in 'Revelations'
Thanks!
If Faith had appeared in a later season instead, after Willow came out to Buffy and forced her to re-evaluate her thoughts on sexuality, I can imagine things going differently. But in S3 Buffy really hadn't ever had to think about such matters.
I agree. (I didn't come out until my late twenties in part because I didn't "have to think about it" when I was younger - loving women was never talked about or shown as a possibility except in terms of it being something shameful.) And of course Buffy still has strong feeling for Angel and wants to be with him. I don't tend to think in numbers on a scale because to me it's a continuum, a sliding scale, but Kinsey was the first, and he had to start somewhere.
Faith I definitely see as conflicted - so many layers to that, as Ryan (lj user=wickedbish>) spells out downthread. She envies Buffy's life, a loving mother and good home - how could she not? - and wants that for herself, to be the "#1 son" to a devoted Watcher; she wants to both "be" Buffy and "be with" Buffy. Faith literally "gets inside" Buffy in TYG/WAY (the only other person to do so is Willow in TWotW. Possibly Tara if you see that as Tara's actual spirit and not a projection in a dream.)