9.06 from my motherly perspective
Someone else made a comment on their journal in regards to the recent Buffy issue that I started to respond, but my post was starting to get out of control so I'm putting it here. Hope that's okay.
.........from a storytelling perspective it's weird to set up something this big and then resolve it so quickly."
I've read this particular comment several times and I'm not sure that the whole point of the story wasn't that there are choices in this situation. On reflection they have really gone out of their way to put Buffy in the most desperate of situations - drunken/faceless sex, threatened livelihood and possible homelessness have been included in the lead up stories. What amounts to a 'media blitz' (well in comic book terms *g*) by the leading writers upon the publication seems to support this:
Chambliss:
"Given the specifics of Buffy's life at this point in the season - facing a new kind of vampire threat, barely able to keep a job - it seemed like it would be dishonest for Buffy to not at least entertain the question of whether she should keep or end the pregnancy"
Whedon:
"It offends me that people who purport to be discussing a decision that is as crucial and painful as any a young woman has to make won't even say something that they think is going to make some people angry."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-02-08/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-comic-book-series/53002192/1
It wouldn't be the first time that Whedon and co have used a big smashing mallet approach to get a point across, so it doesn't seem unreasonable that the crucial idea that there are choices - all of which are valid and in there own way brave, responsible and mature - is the point of their storytelling.
If this is the case and soap boxing or no, I've got to say I'm pretty much on Whedon's side in this particular debate. He and I are contemporaries and although I'm unsure of the age of his children (damn you Google - give me information) I have been more than a little horrified by the growth of shows like "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant". More so when one of my teenagers feels these kids are cool and kinda right - this is the one who thinks emptying the dishwasher is a chore. Worse still she tells me that there are incidences of girls deliberately getting pregnant to become eligible for the shows. This could be a beat up, but as a parent the terrified mutterings of "Oh my God, oh my god" and some fairly pointed discussion on exactly what being a parent entails - emotionally, physically and financially have followed.
I don't know exactly what is going on in the US regarding this topic but, we are around 60 years on from the contraceptive pill and 40 odd years on from legalised terminations. One would think it was clear that we all own our biology and should know our choices. Evidently Whedon thinks we need to be reminded - I agree.
.........from a storytelling perspective it's weird to set up something this big and then resolve it so quickly."
I've read this particular comment several times and I'm not sure that the whole point of the story wasn't that there are choices in this situation. On reflection they have really gone out of their way to put Buffy in the most desperate of situations - drunken/faceless sex, threatened livelihood and possible homelessness have been included in the lead up stories. What amounts to a 'media blitz' (well in comic book terms *g*) by the leading writers upon the publication seems to support this:
Chambliss:
"Given the specifics of Buffy's life at this point in the season - facing a new kind of vampire threat, barely able to keep a job - it seemed like it would be dishonest for Buffy to not at least entertain the question of whether she should keep or end the pregnancy"
Whedon:
"It offends me that people who purport to be discussing a decision that is as crucial and painful as any a young woman has to make won't even say something that they think is going to make some people angry."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-02-08/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-comic-book-series/53002192/1
It wouldn't be the first time that Whedon and co have used a big smashing mallet approach to get a point across, so it doesn't seem unreasonable that the crucial idea that there are choices - all of which are valid and in there own way brave, responsible and mature - is the point of their storytelling.
If this is the case and soap boxing or no, I've got to say I'm pretty much on Whedon's side in this particular debate. He and I are contemporaries and although I'm unsure of the age of his children (damn you Google - give me information) I have been more than a little horrified by the growth of shows like "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant". More so when one of my teenagers feels these kids are cool and kinda right - this is the one who thinks emptying the dishwasher is a chore. Worse still she tells me that there are incidences of girls deliberately getting pregnant to become eligible for the shows. This could be a beat up, but as a parent the terrified mutterings of "Oh my God, oh my god" and some fairly pointed discussion on exactly what being a parent entails - emotionally, physically and financially have followed.
I don't know exactly what is going on in the US regarding this topic but, we are around 60 years on from the contraceptive pill and 40 odd years on from legalised terminations. One would think it was clear that we all own our biology and should know our choices. Evidently Whedon thinks we need to be reminded - I agree.