Buffy rewatch: 3.01. Anne
Just like the season 2 opener, this season premiere is about dealing with the emotional fallout of the previous season’s events rather than introducing the themes and characters for season 3 (which only happens in episode 3). But at the same time, some of the themes introduced here do turn out to foreshadow some of the themes and characters
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Here's some thoughts i had some time ago on Maggie's LJ when she was doing her reviews:
It shows Whedon's obsession with symmetry nicely (which we'll revisit most obviously in season 6 - mirroring the first episode with the last one, albeit with much less success -> declining audience numbers in season 6). "Anne" mirrors/sets up "Graduation Day" in the way You most successfully fight (back) against Evil ("Solidarity").
This is maybe the most political episode of BtVS, with clear references and paralleling of concentration camps (hell on earth, but also completely removed from everyday life), their real purpose (accumulation of capital) and their inner workings (annihilation through labour).
And, indeed, fascism is the "ultima ratio" of capitalism.
I really like Buffy's comment about Ghandi to Ken - because it is true: That is exactly what Ghandi would have done. The audience laughs, because within the western culture Ghandi is a stand-in for the ultra pacifist, while in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. (Tangent: Ghandi was very clear on his stance on violence and armed combat: First, try without active violence, if that doesn't succeed - take up arms. For anyone interested, go read south african liberation theory - eg. Mandela - , which heavily builds up on Gandhi and his stance on freedom and how to achieve it. Mandela's active role in building up the armed forces "Spear of the Nation" of the south african liberation movement are all build on Gandhi's theoretical groundworks).
I also like how it plays that Buffy is actually (like) Gandhi: She wants to live a peaceful life (at this point in the series), alas, Evil won't let her. She has to take up arms and fight (back).
For anyone interested, read up on the liberation of the concentration/death camp "Buchenwald", where the prisoners freed themselves in an armed revolt led by imprisoned communists (-> Buffy's Hammer and Sickle).
"Anne" is also the name of a young jewish girl who perished in the concentration camp Bergen Belsen, one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust (Anne Frank).
There's also the very interesting tattoo (which you point out above): Buffy identifies Ricky with that tattoo - like a death camp inmate. Also: Did Ricky really "remember" Lily - or did he just read what was inked onto his arm, the last link to his human life?
And the Gils - Joyce scene: Powerful commentary on how men take away women (girls) from their mothers (female teachers) to mold them to their liking.
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It seems surprising at first that someone wild and rebellious like Faith ended up deferring to his authority and working for him, but when you start thinking about this in political terms, it makes perfect sense. I've thought about it before, but your post made me start thinking about Faith in terms of violent young delinquents who end up in right-wing movements and get used by politicians and men in power as muscle. This is something you see a lot with football hooligans in Serbia, they start off as boys who want to drink beer and start fights, but then they become a part of organized "football fan groups" which were, during the 1990s, the regime itself. In the early 1990s, the notorious gangster and later warlord Arkan took control over the Red Star supporters, and recruited them as paramilitaries to fight in the war. (Arkan himself used to be, in the time of socialist Yugoslavia, a young gangster who got recruited for his 'talents' by the state security/secret police as their main assassin.) These days the football hooligans or fan groups (which in fact have very little to do with football) are connected to various right wing movements, and they participate in activities such as beating up and threatening LGBT people and trying to prevent the Gay Pride from happening, or are used against NGO organizations and parties that they consider "unpatriotic".
The movie "Lost Boys" had some of that dynamic, with the young gang of vampires, who are later revealed to be deferring to their middle-aged, fatherly, family-oriented vampire leader.
Faith fits the role of young men in that comparison, and just like them she's used as a muscle (though she's also occasionally used for her "feminine wiles" as when she was supposed to seduce Angel). Slayers in general fit some of the roles of the young men at the time of war - despite being still teenagers, they're drafted and expected to fight and give their lives, obeying the orders of older men. The difference is that they are many young soldiers, and there is just one Slayer at a time.
Did Ricky really "remember" Lily - or did he just read what was inked onto his arm, the last link to his human life?
Well, Ken said he remembered her name. You're right that he had the tattoo, but Ken and the other demons presumably heard him mention her name (or why else would Ken say that), and names were strictly forbidden. Like you said, he must've clung to her as the one last trace of humanity and individuality, until he lost that, too. Ken implies that at some point he forgot her name, too. In the end the only thing he repeated was not "Lily" but "I am no one" and he committed suicide because there was nothing left in him.
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Forgive me, but i have to sleep right now. Will come back to this tomorrow!
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