To me in this case the loss seemed rather inevitable - it was a story of a basically nice (if misguided) guy becoming a supervillain. Story-wise, there were two paths for him: being redeemed by love of a good woman and sacrificing/compromising his career as a supervillain, or becoming truly Evil through losing her with maximum irony. I will not try to argue which path is makes for a more interesting or satisfying story.
Absolutely. I agree that the loss was inevitable. It is Joss Whedon after all.
Whedon's work churns my world, and part of me loves it (which is why I watch and will continue to watch his stuff) and part seriously doesn't.
I keep banging my head against the fact that there are truly awful things happening in the real world. And yet, do I/we feel about them as immediately as I/we do when watching Whedon's work? Am I somehow becoming inured to the real tragedies out there while simultaneously caring so very much about what happens to Tara, Wash, Fred, etc.? Are we being outraged/sickened/disheartened about the right things? I know, I know, it's a work of fiction. But, it still forces me to think along those lines if you see what I mean.
Quite frankly, though, if he had made it a "redeemed by love" kind of story, we wouldn't have believed it was his work. That's just not what he does and his fans know it and (I believe) should expect it.
Agreed entirely on that last point. I'm just extremely surprised and puzzled that so many people on my friends list reacted to the ending with complete surprise and indignation
( ... )
As Stalin said: a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic.
Stories where we come to know the [fictional] characters, even if briefly -- can accomplish what news headlines about a thousand real-but-faceless strangers cannot. It appears to be the way that most human beings are put together.
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Whedon's work churns my world, and part of me loves it (which is why I watch and will continue to watch his stuff) and part seriously doesn't.
I keep banging my head against the fact that there are truly awful things happening in the real world. And yet, do I/we feel about them as immediately as I/we do when watching Whedon's work? Am I somehow becoming inured to the real tragedies out there while simultaneously caring so very much about what happens to Tara, Wash, Fred, etc.? Are we being outraged/sickened/disheartened about the right things? I know, I know, it's a work of fiction. But, it still forces me to think along those lines if you see what I mean.
Quite frankly, though, if he had made it a "redeemed by love" kind of story, we wouldn't have believed it was his work. That's just not what he does and his fans know it and (I believe) should expect it.
Reply
Reply
Stories where we come to know the [fictional] characters, even if briefly -- can accomplish what news headlines about a thousand real-but-faceless strangers cannot. It appears to be the way that most human beings are put together.
Reply
Reply
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