Rules of Engagement: Violence and Hyperreality in the Buffyverse

Jul 27, 2012 21:15

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 ( Read more... )

thinky thoughts, meta, buffy the vampire slayer, btvs

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Comments 166

relurker July 29 2012, 10:13:06 UTC
Excellent.
(I wish I could have said it that well! You're good.)

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 17:13:59 UTC
Thanks!

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desdemonaspace July 29 2012, 13:59:31 UTC
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more.

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 17:14:12 UTC
Thank you.

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rahirah July 29 2012, 14:21:58 UTC
I think that's always been one of my main problems with Seeing Red: it's not that I think it's out of character, necessarily, but that for one scene, the show drops out of metaphorical hyperviolence mode and into a hyperrealistic depiction of real-world violence. (Compare to the scene in The Pack where Buffy fends off Hyena!Xander - in theory, the exact same scene; Buffy fends off a rape attempt from a man for whom she has feelings of some kind. In practice, utterly different.) The transition is not handled well. And then forever after, Spike and Buffy have to drag around the real-world connotations of that one scene, making all their future interactions awkward and fraught in ways that Buffy's interactions with, say, Faith or Angel are not.

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 18:28:04 UTC
For one scene, the show drops out of metaphorical hyperviolence mode and into a hyperrealistic depiction of real-world violence.

I disagree; it's not just for that one scene. There are other incidences of this happening in season six. Warren's murder of Katrina is becomes chillingly realistic from the moment Katrina says, "It's rape" onwards. When they cut to the shot of the "goofy, funny" Trio, they don't look quite so funny anymore. The brief series of events that follows is more horrifying for how mundane it is, as the conversation that follows wrenches the real-world of crime and prison onto the Trio's fantasy trip. And when Warren shoots Buffy (and, unintentionally, Tara), he sort of becomes the real world in that moment, as though it were a character violently intruding on the abstracted mythos of the Buffyverse ( ... )

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rahirah July 30 2012, 18:37:17 UTC
True, there are other instances in S6. But the attempted rape is the one which has long-term consequences. I don't think that the writers intended those consequences; everything I've heard about what went on behind the scenes points to Joss and Marti being convinced that the fans wouldn't attach disproportionate weight to the incident - and that only after some of the other writers tried to warn them; initially they didn't seem aware that the possibility existed.

You can say that because the writers didn't intend it that way, the fans who assign it that weight are Doing It Wrong. But the fact remains that for a very large segment of fandom, and one by no means limited to people who are anti-Spike, Spike will always be The Guy Who Tried to Raped Buffy. As for dragging it after them in the fictional world... well, there's a reason for that fade to black scene in Chosen. And if Buffy and Spike ever end up in an explicitly sexual relationship again, I will Paypal you a quarter. The writers miscalculated the audience reaction, and ( ... )

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 19:26:15 UTC
True, there are other instances in S6. But the attempted rape is the one which has long-term consequences.

Not sure what you mean by "long-term." I'll assume you're including post-series stuff ("seasons" 8 and 9), which I'm not realy familiar with, and don't take into account. As far as I'm concerned, it's a derivative form, not a continuation of show. Not that this has anything to do with their actual quality; I've heard both good and bad things. But they are a separate animal. Different medium, different structure, different formal language. *shrugs back*

As for dragging it after them in the fictional world... well, there's a reason for that fade to black scene in Chosen.Only one? And you know exactly what it is? That's some power you've got, there ( ... )

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 18:32:09 UTC
Yes, I agree. I think it diminishes the real violence of rape.

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frelling_tralk July 29 2012, 17:44:55 UTC
Excellent post :)

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lostboy_lj July 30 2012, 18:32:26 UTC
Thanks :)

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