feminist community in BtVS

[heresluck]

Every now and then I have thoughts about things. Sometimes I post them. This is one of those times.

While I'm on the subject of thoughts: azdak has written an interesting post about morality in the Buffyverse. faith_delivers, check it out! (And join mutant_allies! *g*)

Credits and disclaimers: This post is a version of the Buffy paper I gave recently. It is thus considerably

Comments

[azdak]

I think it's true for most of the episodes in every season that the plot works as long as you don't look too closely. There's a lot of finessing and sleight of hand that goes on to distract the viewer from the fact that the plot doesn't always make sense. But S7 left so many plot points dangling, and had so many devices emerge from thin air, that it was impossible to overlook the sleight of hand - a bit like the difference between being cheated by a good card shrap and being cheated by a bad one; the cheating goes on in both instances, but in the latter case you can see it happening. I also think that repetition got overused as a device for addressing themes, so that there were some really dull episodes that pretty much trod water, going over the same old ideas (Buffy's relationship to the Potentials) without changing anything, and that got very wearisome. On the other hand, as you say, the themes are present right from the start and continue to be addressed throughout the season, so that when you adopt a broader view it all ties together in a coherent fashion.

[aycheb]

It’s so true, the lack of signposts was a big problem watching the season first time around. And it wasn’t just the main theme that didn’t really ‘click’ until the end. When Caleb appeared, I remember thinking ‘duh’, they’ve been showing us different forms of patriarchy ever since Dumbledore!Giles. When everything fell apart after Xander got eye-gouged, ‘duh’ he’s been the one person keeping the house from falling down. When Buffy found the Scythe, ‘duh’ they’ve been talking about weapons all this time but Buffy’s never had one work for her.

I sometimes think the main thing that kept me interested during the first run was the sheer weight of online criticism. Being naturally counter-suggestible.