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

[kikimay]

Can I marry this post?
Really, it's just perfect. It can be used also towards those who think that Spike is the victim. Both Spike and Buffy aren't innocent and scared victims and that's the logic of the show.

[lostboy_lj]

Can I marry this post?

Hah! Thanks. :)

It can be used also towards those who think that Spike is the victim. Both Spike and Buffy aren't innocent and scared victims and that's the logic of the show.

Yeah, exactly. They are scared of certain things, but not of each other (at least, not physically).

[seapealsh]

Well done. You hit the nail on the head.

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks.

[ms_scarletibis]

First, thanks for writing the post and for having it open to the public.

I do agree. However, I think part of the dichotomy in fandom is, to whom are these actions directed at and how? Anyway, I was shocked, frankly, that this ep was used under the context of "violent" or that there was a "beating"... At any rate, Buffy likes to get her whale on, and that's been true long before s6.

As for a scene that's comparable for characters who don't fight, perhaps this one?

Starting at the 3 minute point:

Or this:

Sorry if they are double posts--haven't looked at the reviews ^_^

As in "OMWF" and "Tabula Rasa", she temporarily resolves this question (or delays it, depending on your point of view) with a romantic overture, first kissing Spike, then making love to him . In the absence of answers, she gravitates toward feeling and fire. This is because the physical violence on display in this scene is a metaphor for how they can hurt each others feelings, not an dialectic about the evils of stalking.Well said, though I'd call it

[lostboy_lj]

First, thanks for writing the post and for having it open to the public.

No problem! My pleasure.

As for a scene that's comparable for characters who don't fight, perhaps this one?... or this:

Yeah these are both very good examples, and a great way to show how the moods of these romantic conflicts can vary widely, even though they contain many of the same fears and desires.

Another one that I think is very analogous in mood (and even in theme) to the Buffy/Spike "Smashed" scene is Deckard and Rachael's first kiss in "Blade Runner":

Well said, though I'd call it fucking, or "smashing" as is the slang term for sex (I've learned recently) as opposed to "making love."

Awww, well. I guess I'm just old-fashioned. :)

(But yes, they were totally ramming, thrusting, smashing, schtupping, etc.)

[boot_the_grime]

"Smashed","Wrecked" and "Gone" are also slang terms for being drunk, which was the metaphor they were going for, according to the writers themselves - addiction ([a bit too] literally with Willow, a little less literally with Buffy).

BTW, I think that making a distinction between "fucking" and "making love" is a load of bull. It's all the same thing. It's just whether people want to call it by a more fancy name or not.

[poshcat]

That was without a doubt the best essay I've ever read regarding BtVS, and most especially the relationship between Buffy and Spike. Excellent, insightful, and oh-so logical! I definitely think every person who ever commented on Mark Watches Buffy (including Mark) should read this STAT.

[lostboy_lj]

Thanks, poshcat.

I wasn't trying to start a war, though. There's been lots similar criticism of "Smashed" over the years, whether followed by an ugly ban-fest of not.

[blackfrancine]

Dude. Nicely done. Not only do I completely agree, but you've once again added dimensions and layers of meaning that I hadn't really contemplated before to a scene that I've contemplated A LOT. A lot a lot.

Whether Buffy is duking it out with nameless mooks, sparring with college boyfriends, or having a knockdown, drag-out brawl with a B.F.F. who has crossed over to the dark side, it's almost as if their acrobatic slugfests are analogs to our world's less direct conflicts, more akin to bickering, arguing and debating than to literal punching and kicking.This is so true. I hadn't ever really thought to articulate it like this, but you're dead on. I feel like post-Angel, all of the ~real~ violence is stripped down in a way that makes it utterly shocking (even in a show as violent as BtVS)--most notably Seeing Red--Tara's death and Spike's assault of Buffy. But also Andrew's murder of Jonathan. Those moments are intimate and real in a way that is truly rattling. They make it impossible to ignore the violent act that just

[infinitewhale]

it seems like it completely ignores the fact that the violence is supposed to be there--that Buffy is acting as the abuser to Spike to subvert certain ideas surrounding male/female relationships

That is hardly a fact. That's an interpretation, one that the writers discounted on a few occasions. If that's the argument, then the uproar is perfectly justified by fandom. It's not really fair to pick and choose which is just a metaphor and which is the social commentary.

[lostboy_lj]

Just wanted to say that, yeah, you are right that it's not a fact. All of Buffy's relationships seem to be subversive in various ways, but seeing Buffy and Spike and a straight-up gender-swap seems to be begging the question ("it's true because... it's true")

Good spot there.

[infinitewhale]

I've never understood it, to be honest. The writers specifically gave Spike the ability to hurt her and fight back. Her and her only. It doesn't jive with setting it up as some kind of role reversal. I mean, Whedon himself called the relationship mutually abusive and ultimately misogynist. So...I don't see how to read it that way.

The story sets them up as equals.