30 Days of Buffy Meme - Day 8
Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Hottest scene
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
Favorite Friendship:
Friendship is sooo important on the show. I am sad about the characters on Buffy that don't have important friendships. Even Cordelia is keenly aware of the utter shallowness of her relationships:
CORDELIA: Bummer for her. It's awful to feel that lonely.
BUFFY: Hmm. So you've read something about the feeling?
CORDELIA: Hey! You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say.
BUFFY: Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?
CORDELIA: Well, it beats being alone all by yourself.
-Out of Mind, Out of Sight
And look what a lack of friends does to Marcie! And Jonathan! Fer crying out loud, it drives him into the clutches of Warren!
That said, friendship isn't exactly without its pitfalls. Most of the friendships on the show have their breaking points, as well as their triumphant moments. The Buffy/Willow friendship is really central, but also fraught with problems due to their matching superiority/inferiority issues. Willow/Xander is probably my favorite at the point where it alone saves the world, but is very disturbing at other points along the way. People rightly give Xander a hard time for the way he tries to control Buffy's love life, but the same could be said of Willow regarding Xander's relationships, exactly zero of which she accepts. The Buffy/Xander friendship is even more up and down. He struggles for years over his "friend-zone" status with her and constantly switches between "supporto-guy" and "attacko-guy".
There are interesting relationships outside the Core Three. Dawn/Tara, Dawn/Spike, Buffy/Giles all have strong familial overtones, which I enjoy, but that doesn't allow for a fully equal exchange. Buffy/Giles especially ends up breaking when he can't accept her autonomy. Spike/Clem is a huge hoot. Giles and Ethan's ex-friendship is incredibly interesting to me, if not exactly healthy. Workplace friendship Anyanka/Halfrek makes me wish better friends for Anya. Riley's friendship with Graham pretty much saves his life, so I think it's under-appreciated. Forrest, on the other hand, is exactly the kind of controlling friend nobody needs.
I really appreciated the all-too-short Buffy/Tara friendship. Having Buffy accept her as her own person allowed Tara to come just a bit more out of her shell, and Tara's understanding and non-judgmental attitude was exactly what beleaguered, depressed Buffy needed.
But the Spike/Buffy friendship was probably my favorite, even if it was fated to be just one iteration of their tumultuous story. He accepts her as she is, she brings him into a more meaningful life. They share humor, strength, and a love of the fight. It's what Xander once described as "a solid foundation for future bliss". That future may never materialize anywhere outside of fanfic, but it's still a foundation. I'm guessing this is a minority "favorite".
This entry was originally posted at http://rebcake.dreamwidth.org/36009.html. Please comment here or there using OpenID.
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Hottest scene
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
Favorite Friendship:
Friendship is sooo important on the show. I am sad about the characters on Buffy that don't have important friendships. Even Cordelia is keenly aware of the utter shallowness of her relationships:
CORDELIA: Bummer for her. It's awful to feel that lonely.
BUFFY: Hmm. So you've read something about the feeling?
CORDELIA: Hey! You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say.
BUFFY: Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?
CORDELIA: Well, it beats being alone all by yourself.
-Out of Mind, Out of Sight
And look what a lack of friends does to Marcie! And Jonathan! Fer crying out loud, it drives him into the clutches of Warren!
That said, friendship isn't exactly without its pitfalls. Most of the friendships on the show have their breaking points, as well as their triumphant moments. The Buffy/Willow friendship is really central, but also fraught with problems due to their matching superiority/inferiority issues. Willow/Xander is probably my favorite at the point where it alone saves the world, but is very disturbing at other points along the way. People rightly give Xander a hard time for the way he tries to control Buffy's love life, but the same could be said of Willow regarding Xander's relationships, exactly zero of which she accepts. The Buffy/Xander friendship is even more up and down. He struggles for years over his "friend-zone" status with her and constantly switches between "supporto-guy" and "attacko-guy".
There are interesting relationships outside the Core Three. Dawn/Tara, Dawn/Spike, Buffy/Giles all have strong familial overtones, which I enjoy, but that doesn't allow for a fully equal exchange. Buffy/Giles especially ends up breaking when he can't accept her autonomy. Spike/Clem is a huge hoot. Giles and Ethan's ex-friendship is incredibly interesting to me, if not exactly healthy. Workplace friendship Anyanka/Halfrek makes me wish better friends for Anya. Riley's friendship with Graham pretty much saves his life, so I think it's under-appreciated. Forrest, on the other hand, is exactly the kind of controlling friend nobody needs.
I really appreciated the all-too-short Buffy/Tara friendship. Having Buffy accept her as her own person allowed Tara to come just a bit more out of her shell, and Tara's understanding and non-judgmental attitude was exactly what beleaguered, depressed Buffy needed.
But the Spike/Buffy friendship was probably my favorite, even if it was fated to be just one iteration of their tumultuous story. He accepts her as she is, she brings him into a more meaningful life. They share humor, strength, and a love of the fight. It's what Xander once described as "a solid foundation for future bliss". That future may never materialize anywhere outside of fanfic, but it's still a foundation. I'm guessing this is a minority "favorite".
This entry was originally posted at http://rebcake.dreamwidth.org/36009.html. Please comment here or there using OpenID.