Rules of Engagement: Violence and Hyperreality in the Buffyverse

[lostboy_lj]

rebcake recently posted a poll regarding the onset of Buffy and Spike's sexual relationship in the BtVS episode "Smashed."  I answered "neither" and began to post a comment to explain, but it started to get long-ish, so I thought I'd just do a long-ish blog post instead.  What I wrote turned out to be somewhat off-topic in terms of her poll, and more

Comments

[rahirah]

I think that's always been one of my main problems with Seeing Red: it's not that I think it's out of character, necessarily, but that for one scene, the show drops out of metaphorical hyperviolence mode and into a hyperrealistic depiction of real-world violence. (Compare to the scene in The Pack where Buffy fends off Hyena!Xander - in theory, the exact same scene; Buffy fends off a rape attempt from a man for whom she has feelings of some kind. In practice, utterly different.) The transition is not handled well. And then forever after, Spike and Buffy have to drag around the real-world connotations of that one scene, making all their future interactions awkward and fraught in ways that Buffy's interactions with, say, Faith or Angel are not.

[lostboy_lj]

For one scene, the show drops out of metaphorical hyperviolence mode and into a hyperrealistic depiction of real-world violence.

I disagree; it's not just for that one scene. There are other incidences of this happening in season six. Warren's murder of Katrina is becomes chillingly realistic from the moment Katrina says, "It's rape" onwards. When they cut to the shot of the "goofy, funny" Trio, they don't look quite so funny anymore. The brief series of events that follows is more horrifying for how mundane it is, as the conversation that follows wrenches the real-world of crime and prison onto the Trio's fantasy trip. And when Warren shoots Buffy (and, unintentionally, Tara), he sort of becomes the real world in that moment, as though it were a character violently intruding on the abstracted mythos of the Buffyverse

[rahirah]

True, there are other instances in S6. But the attempted rape is the one which has long-term consequences. I don't think that the writers intended those consequences; everything I've heard about what went on behind the scenes points to Joss and Marti being convinced that the fans wouldn't attach disproportionate weight to the incident - and that only after some of the other writers tried to warn them; initially they didn't seem aware that the possibility existed.

You can say that because the writers didn't intend it that way, the fans who assign it that weight are Doing It Wrong. But the fact remains that for a very large segment of fandom, and one by no means limited to people who are anti-Spike, Spike will always be The Guy Who Tried to Raped Buffy. As for dragging it after them in the fictional world... well, there's a reason for that fade to black scene in Chosen. And if Buffy and Spike ever end up in an explicitly sexual relationship again, I will Paypal you a quarter. The writers miscalculated the audience reaction, and

[lostboy_lj]

True, there are other instances in S6. But the attempted rape is the one which has long-term consequences.

Not sure what you mean by "long-term." I'll assume you're including post-series stuff ("seasons" 8 and 9), which I'm not realy familiar with, and don't take into account. As far as I'm concerned, it's a derivative form, not a continuation of show. Not that this has anything to do with their actual quality; I've heard both good and bad things. But they are a separate animal. Different medium, different structure, different formal language. *shrugs back*

As for dragging it after them in the fictional world... well, there's a reason for that fade to black scene in Chosen.Only one? And you know exactly what it is? That's some power you've got, there

[rebcake]

would the main themes of the show, or Buffy and Spike's individual arc on it together, have changed markedly for you if he capped off that scene with one of those annoying, gauzy, semi-nude "romance" shots (or some similar "explicit" cue)?Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely. Though I prefer a "cut to fireworks exploding in mid-air" to "fade to black" OR "gauzy romance shots" on general principles. ;-) I would have been pretty upset if Joss had done the voice-over moaning as he did in Surprise/Innocence, however

[lostboy_lj]

Though I prefer a "cut to fireworks exploding in mid-air" to "fade to black" OR "gauzy romance shots" on general principles. ;-)

Ooh, or how about a rocket blasting off into space? Or maybe something like this:

The lack of poetry in my soul means I just can't see the FTB containing anything new in their relationship without further evidence, much as I'd love to.But isn't the gentleness new? Isn't the fact that when we see them together earlier, she is lying there, "in (her) dead lover's arms" as The First puts it, a fairly new thing? Even if FTB Spike didn't park his dragon in her dungeon, I don't think these moments between them count as "nothing

[rebcake]

Hitchcock, you dirty dog. ;-) (I was thinking of "To Catch A Thief" of course.)

But isn't the gentleness new?

It's been there for a few episodes, probably since LMPTM, and definitely from Touched onward. And it's great, really. But without something concrete, such as a morning after shot, I can't assume there was more than that in the FTB.

That's not a bad point, I guess, in a "I want this character to be happy" sort of way.

It's sadly true that I want Buffy to be happy, and the probability of that lasting is slim. But I also have a big appetite for female empowerment, which is a separate issue, although related. Unlike some fans, I really like the we're-all-bleeding-together-and-sharing-the-primal-power-source aspect of Chosen. And we see that Buffy is open to and gains power from intimacy, before the end. That's big.

But the last time we see her in a sexual situation, it's Seeing Red, the perfect(ly awful) bookend to her experience in Innocence. As a feminist message, it's a pretty bleak place to leave it, and isn't helped by

[lostboy_lj]

Well, I said the gentleness was "fairly new." The seventh season gradually shows it becoming a part of them, and the first time they are shown snuggling in "Touched" isn't exactly shrugged off. It's all about making a different connection, and the EOD scene between them in the kitchen is all about trying to figure what it means.

But the last time we see her in a sexual situation, it's Seeing Red, the perfect(ly awful) bookend to her experience in Innocence. As a feminist message, it's a pretty bleak place to leave itWell, Joss has said before that the show isn't a polemic. I tend to think that the fact Buffy falls short of an idealized propaganda poster or some sort of feminist version of a Platonic Form is a feature, not a bug. Art-as-propaganda is usually stilted and boring, dragging you towards its meaning on a set of railroad tracks. The Buffyverse never felt like that; it was way more expansive

[rebcake]

I absolutely agree about art eclipsing the polemic in a good story, and also that sex positivity is not a universally held feminist tenet. Although there is an explicit feminist message in the blood-soaked power sharing of the finale, the writers are under no obligation to provide any more of that than they wish. The requirement that there be a "message" is counter to the original (brilliant) point of this post. Woo hoo!

But in answer to your question would the main themes of the show, or Buffy and Spike's individual arc on it together, have changed markedly for you if their purported sexual relationship at the end had been made more explicit, I still say yes. Buffy making peace with her sexuality would have been a marked change. Not having her last sexual experience on the show be SR would be a marked change. For me