Thoughts about betrayal in the Buffyverse

[lostboy_lj]

To help with a new fic I'm writing, I've been doing a re-watch of both "Buffy" and "Angel" lately.  It has inspired a few random thoughts.  One of the thoughts that struck me is that the bad guys in the Buffyverse (and perhaps in all plays, films and TV shows) are largely marked by their instinct to betray. This is especially true amongst the show'

Comments

[lostboy_lj]

Secrets and lies and betrayal and trust are very prominent in BtVS, but with some noticeable differences: while lifted secrets often lead to short-term explosions (and long-term trust), outright betrayal leads to downfall (and sometimes uplifting to a new level: Andrew, Spike, Faith).

Yes! I was reading the rest of your note, and was thinking the exact same thing. There are secrets, lies and minor "betrayals" littered throughout the series, and they include human characters as well as Big Bads. But you've hit upon the key difference of outcomes. The outright betrayals have different motivations, and lead to different results.

What I thought was cool about BtVS was that doesn't the mistake of presenting humans as infallible moral paragons and monsters as merely people who do bad things. The difference is that the monsters don't just "do" evil, they "are" evil. Their motivations are purely selfish and their goals are purely destructive, and they never learn how to be better people because they don't want to be better people. That's why I think Spike is an "unusual" monster, and why Willow becomes one.

Also: Don't (re-)watch AtS. ;-)

Hahahaha... it's surprising how much I really LIKE it on re-watch. It's a very different show than "Buffy", and in many ways an inferior show, but it's got its own interesting rhythms and charms that I am digging.

Also, my new favorite Angel line is now, ""Can everyone just notice how much fire I'm not on?" :-)