Spike the monster
A post by 
jamalov29 made me ponder what evil Spike did and the sort of vampire he was.
I do think that we can't "understand" vampires in BTVS without keeping in mind that they worked as metaphors, and that the special vampires' journeys told us things about mankind, hence my comments on Caroline's journal. I've always seen Angel as the metaphor of every man.
Because in the Jossverse if girls have the potential to become strong women and must achieve it like "Chosen" showed us, every man has the potential for both good and evil, hence the two personas of the Angel character on screen: Angel the Champion who did remarkable things and Angelus the evil bastard. That personality split was nothing but an allegory. BTW I really liked season 5 because then Angel became really human, a complex human being with shining moments and horrible flaws, and no longer the vessel for two different personalities.
So yes vampires were convenient to tell a story about relationships, about living in a violent world, leaving teenage and accepting adulthood (Spike in BTVS). But that doesn't mean that all vampires are alike or even equal (ok this sounds a bit Orwellian!).
What made of Spike the monster he was, he used to be before Buffy and the chip?
Several things actually.
First off, he became a predator because of blood lust. To survive you have to feed. Instinct of self-preservation is strong, and we learnt that Spike could adapt like nodoby else. It's easier to feed if you don't care about the food, and if it doesn't look like cannibalism. The poet in William must have found a way to see humans as food. We could hear an echo of that in "Becoming", when he referred to people as Happy Meals On Legs. It's a metaphor!
Sometimes poetic licence can turn into licence to kill...
But I would say that his behaviour as a vampire known for his slaughters was partly caused by his life before being sired. Same for Angelus btw.
William was a poet, rather not very orthodox, he lived in a victorian society with rigid social rules, he was loved by his mother and took care of her. The flashbacks from FFL showed us how much the high society mocked him, made him feel like he was not worthy. We could see his pain and his anger. But he couldn't quite unleash those feelings. I say quite because he still walked in the streets crying and moaning.
When he was sired, the vampire he became was a creature that could do everything he could not as a human. He could break the rules and be free. He could have sex while sensuality and sexuality was highly repressed in victorian society. So we got a sensual vampire who just wanted to bring on mayhem. We got a vampire who wanted to destroy the order that oppressed sweet William. He took revenge on the ones who insulted his poetry, he sought brawls, he drank too much, he shagged...and still loved his mamma (the new one aka Dru)and still took care of her. Relatives weren't a source of pain for him, love was important for him. Family was comfort for him. It's the social system he wanted to bugger. And he did.
Darla: (to Spike) Look, we barely got out of London alive because of you. Everywhere we go, it's the same story and now-
Angelus: You've got me and my women hiding in the luxury of a mine shaft, all because William the
Bloody likes the attention. This is not a reputation we need.
Spike takes a deep swig from a wine bottle.
Spike: Oh, I'm sorry. Did I sully our good name? We're vampires.
Angelus: All the more reason to use a certain amount of finesse.
Spike: Bollocks! That stuff's for the frilly cuffs-and-collars crowd. I'll take a good brawl any day.
Even 100 later, Spike was still a rebel and he killed the Annoying One. "less ritual and more fun" was his motto. He wasn't interested in making a new system, he didn' want to rule things. He wanted freedom.
Angelus was never like that. He never became a revolutionary, he never pretended to belong to the lower-class after being sired. It was family that oppressed Liam. He was a young man who felt helpless, who probably drank because he couldn't confront his father and he despised his father so much, calling him a pig who ate with his fingers (cf flashbacks in Becoming part 1). Liam's repressed impulse was to rule, to be top dog, he wanted to be the one in charge but didn't have the power then. He wanted to be the daddy, to control others' life.
First thing he did after becoming a vampire? He killed his human family and became top dog at last. Later he became a father for Drusilla, first by pretending he was a priest and then by turning her.
So Angelus became a vampire who got off from controling the others, torturing them, breaking them. Because torture is the best way to have control over someone. Just killing isn't about control. Fighting isn't about control.
Having said that, the relationships the vampires had after they were turned also explained their behaviour. For instance I'm pretty sure that Angelus' time with Darla explains a lot of his behaviour towards women (when evil I mean).
Also it's probably true that Spike became a monster because of Angelus, Dru and Darla. They taught him stuff for sure,and we saw in "Destiny" that William was eager to please his new family. He probably gave Dru everything she wanted which probably included killing young girls that would be like dolls for her.
Also I think that the more Angelus wanted to control him, the more Spike became a rebel. He had to overdo everything to piss Angelus off, so he probably overkilled while he could have killed innocents in a more discret way. And he killed Slayers.
Yes Spike became a monster and did horrible things but I don't think he was more evil than other vampires.
He certainly has been given more publicity though. And the nickname of William The Bloody must have helped. We know that Spike is a poseur and I think that the Council of Watchers bought it all, swallowing everything.
ETA: I forgot to add somehting...The chip was a fantastic plot device because not only it prevented him from attacking people but also it forced Spike into living with humans again, so he could no longer see them as Happy Meal On Legs. The more he became involved in their lives, the more it changed him. He fell for Buffy of course, but he also had a soft spot for Joyce and probably for Willow and Tara too. He let himself feel compassion for Dawn. He changed.
Yet getting back his soul was necessarily because there were things he couldn't fathom still, things he couldn't prevent. He lacked perspective until "Grave". He gave up his free will when Drusilla sired him, and got it back when he won back his soul.
jamalov29 made me ponder what evil Spike did and the sort of vampire he was.
I do think that we can't "understand" vampires in BTVS without keeping in mind that they worked as metaphors, and that the special vampires' journeys told us things about mankind, hence my comments on Caroline's journal. I've always seen Angel as the metaphor of every man.
Because in the Jossverse if girls have the potential to become strong women and must achieve it like "Chosen" showed us, every man has the potential for both good and evil, hence the two personas of the Angel character on screen: Angel the Champion who did remarkable things and Angelus the evil bastard. That personality split was nothing but an allegory. BTW I really liked season 5 because then Angel became really human, a complex human being with shining moments and horrible flaws, and no longer the vessel for two different personalities.
So yes vampires were convenient to tell a story about relationships, about living in a violent world, leaving teenage and accepting adulthood (Spike in BTVS). But that doesn't mean that all vampires are alike or even equal (ok this sounds a bit Orwellian!).
What made of Spike the monster he was, he used to be before Buffy and the chip?
Several things actually.
First off, he became a predator because of blood lust. To survive you have to feed. Instinct of self-preservation is strong, and we learnt that Spike could adapt like nodoby else. It's easier to feed if you don't care about the food, and if it doesn't look like cannibalism. The poet in William must have found a way to see humans as food. We could hear an echo of that in "Becoming", when he referred to people as Happy Meals On Legs. It's a metaphor!
Sometimes poetic licence can turn into licence to kill...
But I would say that his behaviour as a vampire known for his slaughters was partly caused by his life before being sired. Same for Angelus btw.
William was a poet, rather not very orthodox, he lived in a victorian society with rigid social rules, he was loved by his mother and took care of her. The flashbacks from FFL showed us how much the high society mocked him, made him feel like he was not worthy. We could see his pain and his anger. But he couldn't quite unleash those feelings. I say quite because he still walked in the streets crying and moaning.
When he was sired, the vampire he became was a creature that could do everything he could not as a human. He could break the rules and be free. He could have sex while sensuality and sexuality was highly repressed in victorian society. So we got a sensual vampire who just wanted to bring on mayhem. We got a vampire who wanted to destroy the order that oppressed sweet William. He took revenge on the ones who insulted his poetry, he sought brawls, he drank too much, he shagged...and still loved his mamma (the new one aka Dru)and still took care of her. Relatives weren't a source of pain for him, love was important for him. Family was comfort for him. It's the social system he wanted to bugger. And he did.
Darla: (to Spike) Look, we barely got out of London alive because of you. Everywhere we go, it's the same story and now-
Angelus: You've got me and my women hiding in the luxury of a mine shaft, all because William the
Bloody likes the attention. This is not a reputation we need.
Spike takes a deep swig from a wine bottle.
Spike: Oh, I'm sorry. Did I sully our good name? We're vampires.
Angelus: All the more reason to use a certain amount of finesse.
Spike: Bollocks! That stuff's for the frilly cuffs-and-collars crowd. I'll take a good brawl any day.
Even 100 later, Spike was still a rebel and he killed the Annoying One. "less ritual and more fun" was his motto. He wasn't interested in making a new system, he didn' want to rule things. He wanted freedom.
Angelus was never like that. He never became a revolutionary, he never pretended to belong to the lower-class after being sired. It was family that oppressed Liam. He was a young man who felt helpless, who probably drank because he couldn't confront his father and he despised his father so much, calling him a pig who ate with his fingers (cf flashbacks in Becoming part 1). Liam's repressed impulse was to rule, to be top dog, he wanted to be the one in charge but didn't have the power then. He wanted to be the daddy, to control others' life.
First thing he did after becoming a vampire? He killed his human family and became top dog at last. Later he became a father for Drusilla, first by pretending he was a priest and then by turning her.
So Angelus became a vampire who got off from controling the others, torturing them, breaking them. Because torture is the best way to have control over someone. Just killing isn't about control. Fighting isn't about control.
Having said that, the relationships the vampires had after they were turned also explained their behaviour. For instance I'm pretty sure that Angelus' time with Darla explains a lot of his behaviour towards women (when evil I mean).
Also it's probably true that Spike became a monster because of Angelus, Dru and Darla. They taught him stuff for sure,and we saw in "Destiny" that William was eager to please his new family. He probably gave Dru everything she wanted which probably included killing young girls that would be like dolls for her.
Also I think that the more Angelus wanted to control him, the more Spike became a rebel. He had to overdo everything to piss Angelus off, so he probably overkilled while he could have killed innocents in a more discret way. And he killed Slayers.
Yes Spike became a monster and did horrible things but I don't think he was more evil than other vampires.
He certainly has been given more publicity though. And the nickname of William The Bloody must have helped. We know that Spike is a poseur and I think that the Council of Watchers bought it all, swallowing everything.
ETA: I forgot to add somehting...The chip was a fantastic plot device because not only it prevented him from attacking people but also it forced Spike into living with humans again, so he could no longer see them as Happy Meal On Legs. The more he became involved in their lives, the more it changed him. He fell for Buffy of course, but he also had a soft spot for Joyce and probably for Willow and Tara too. He let himself feel compassion for Dawn. He changed.
Yet getting back his soul was necessarily because there were things he couldn't fathom still, things he couldn't prevent. He lacked perspective until "Grave". He gave up his free will when Drusilla sired him, and got it back when he won back his soul.