Rules of Engagement: Violence and Hyperreality in the Buffyverse

[lostboy_lj]

rebcake recently posted a poll regarding the onset of Buffy and Spike's sexual relationship in the BtVS episode "Smashed."  I answered "neither" and began to post a comment to explain, but it started to get long-ish, so I thought I'd just do a long-ish blog post instead.  What I wrote turned out to be somewhat off-topic in terms of her poll, and more

Comments

[bone_dry1013]

bil·dungs·ro·man or Bil·dungs·ro·man (bldngz-r-män, -dngks

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks, bonesy.

I wasn't aware that there was this perception of Smashed, but then again I'm out of the fandom loop.

Me too, most of the time. But I duck my head in every now and then, just to give people the chance to smash it with a flying coffee mug.

but Smashed? She initiated that...

Yeah. Buffy initiated it in OMWF, too, when she follows Spike out into the street. The tables keep turning throughout the season in regards who's chasing who, but I think it's fair to say that Buffy is shown to be the main sexual aggressor up until "Seeing Red." In "Gone", for instance, Invisible Buffy even breaks the "No means no" rule herself, prompting Spike to kick her out. It's not Romeo and Juliet, for sure.

[boot_the_grime]

The tables keep turning throughout the season in regards who's chasing who, but I think it's fair to say that Buffy is shown to be the main sexual aggressor up until "Seeing Red.I'm not so sure. There are plenty of instances of Spike being the sexual aggressor - Wrecked, the kitchen scene in Gone, Dead Things (which all constantly get overlooked while the Gone crypt scene get mentioned over and over), plus he spends most of Older and Far Away sexually propositioning Buffy, and he also comes and suggests sex at the front of her house in As You Were. On the other hand, we see Buffy initiating the sex in Smashed, acting sexually aggressive in the crypt in Gone (during the time when she's textually supposed to be acting OOC due to the feeling she can do whatever she wants while invisible) and we see her coming to Spike's crypt and initiating sex in As You Were

[lostboy_lj]

Well, I guess "main" was probably a poor choice of words. I guess I meant "the majority of times that we actually see someone make the first move, it's Buffy."

By my count, she makes a first move in "OMWF", "Tabula Rasa", "Smashed", "Gone", "Dead Things" and "As You Were." That's not to say Spike doesn't make his own share of passes, and, due to the "collapsed time" nature of TV, I think we are supposed to assume (like you say) that they have sex far more often than is actually pictured on the screen.

[rebcake]

comparing something like the battle of "Smashed" to the kinds of physical and psychological abuse we see in reality does a HUGE disservice to victims of the latter

Amen, brother.

This is a piece of gorgeous, from the top. I adore the magical realism hyperviolence of Buffy, the way it's just another part of the vernacular of the show, but it will never translate to real life violence and its consequences. For example, Giles gets a spear to the gut in Spiral, and he's up and fighting a Hellgod 2 episodes later, without the flubotinum of Slayer/Vampire healing. Never was there a clearer sign that "this isn't reality, folks".

I'm working on a violence meta that veers in a slightly different direction, but some of the points I wanted to raise you've covered admirably. I may put it on hold and read more fic instead. ;-)

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks, rebcake.

Giles gets a spear to the gut in Spiral, and he's up and fighting a Hellgod 2 episodes later, without the flubotinum of Slayer/Vampire healing.

It's a good thing Ben shot him up with that dose of Getbetteronol, or else it would have taken at least 3.

(Way to pay him back for that, Giles.)

[beloved4always]

Very well written, very well reasoned. thank you.

[lostboy_lj]

You're welcome. And thanks. :)

[rynogeny]

This is not only the best thing I've read about Buffy and Spike, but one of the best pieces I've seen about BtVS in general.

It makes me a little insane the way people react to one particular episode in a show by changing the rules they've applied to every other scene in the series, and you've nailed why that's a problem.

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks!

Yeah, it comes off like a debating trick, where whoever is doing it can make a scene mean whatever they want it to.

[slaymesoftly]

Well done, J. And hey, I learned a new word! (Although, possibly one I will not be able to pronounce without much coaching...)

Alas, those who most need to read this probably won't.

ETA - because I could never say this as well or as articulately (or with such cool visual aids), I'm going to link to it. 'k?

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks, P.

Alas, those who most need to read this probably won't.

Seems like that's true with everything.

[lostboy_lj]

Yes, you can link. Thanks!