55 Days of BtVS: Day 2
Day 2: Least Favourite Character
Sorry to any of his fans but... Xander Harris.
I tried so hard to like Xander. Big, funny, warm-hearted Xander, that steadfast and loyal friend… right? Well, not exactly. He polices Buffy’s behaviour, he slut-shames, he constantly sexualizes his friendships with Buffy and Willow, and he objectifies Willow and Tara’s relationship. He treated Cordelia (the girl who gave up all her friends to be with him) horribly, and then cheated on her. And when Buffy was up against it with Angelus, barely holding it together under the emotional strain, was Xander a supportive and understanding friend? Nope. He guilt-tripped her, blamed her and then lied to her about Willow’s plan to restore Angel’s soul. In fact, Buffy felt so alone in her grief and guilt over that whole situation that she ran away from home. Poor show, Xander.
But all of that was in the early seasons, and I could’ve (eventually) gotten over it with some good character development.
Noooooooooope. Throughout season 6 he fails Buffy on practically every level, needlessly compounding her guilt and shame re her relationship with Spike by, oh, guilt tripping her and shaming her. Then he removes Buffy’s right to her own disclosure of the AR by spilling to Dawn in a bout of petty one-upmanship.
Let’s not even get started on the whole leaving Anya even after the visions were shown to be fake thing, because my head might just explode.
So yeah, I did try hard to like Xander, and he had his moments, but ultimately the writers didn’t try all that hard to make him actually likable.
Index of 55 Days
Link to original tumblr post
Sorry to any of his fans but... Xander Harris.
I tried so hard to like Xander. Big, funny, warm-hearted Xander, that steadfast and loyal friend… right? Well, not exactly. He polices Buffy’s behaviour, he slut-shames, he constantly sexualizes his friendships with Buffy and Willow, and he objectifies Willow and Tara’s relationship. He treated Cordelia (the girl who gave up all her friends to be with him) horribly, and then cheated on her. And when Buffy was up against it with Angelus, barely holding it together under the emotional strain, was Xander a supportive and understanding friend? Nope. He guilt-tripped her, blamed her and then lied to her about Willow’s plan to restore Angel’s soul. In fact, Buffy felt so alone in her grief and guilt over that whole situation that she ran away from home. Poor show, Xander.
But all of that was in the early seasons, and I could’ve (eventually) gotten over it with some good character development.
Noooooooooope. Throughout season 6 he fails Buffy on practically every level, needlessly compounding her guilt and shame re her relationship with Spike by, oh, guilt tripping her and shaming her. Then he removes Buffy’s right to her own disclosure of the AR by spilling to Dawn in a bout of petty one-upmanship.
Let’s not even get started on the whole leaving Anya even after the visions were shown to be fake thing, because my head might just explode.
So yeah, I did try hard to like Xander, and he had his moments, but ultimately the writers didn’t try all that hard to make him actually likable.
Index of 55 Days
Link to original tumblr post