Comments | the_moonmoth: 55 Days of BtVS: Day 11

the_moonmoth

55 Days of BtVS: Day 11

Mar 28, 2016 17:51

Sorry for the little disappearance, folken. I got a stomach upset and then had a busy Easter weekend. At any rate, back on track now with this...

Day 11: Least Favourite Male Character

As I’ve already done Xander, I guess today is going to be a Riley Finn day.

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fandom: btvs, 55 days of btvs, meta

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thisficklemob March 28 2016, 22:27:54 UTC

Riley's face always bugged me -- it reminded me of a Cabbage Patch doll. But if anything I like him less as time goes by -- like the part where he insulted Buffy when she didn't want to date him, and argued with her about it -- and that's supposed to be romantic? Also his "women need to be protected" bullshit. Like, that's offensive even if Buffy's not the Slayer ( ... )

the_moonmoth March 28 2016, 23:01:10 UTC

it reminded me of a Cabbage Patch doll.

OMG SAME!!!!!! I didn't think they had those in the states though lol. Also the same about liking him less the more time passes -- the more I think about how he treated Buffy, the more pissed I get with him, sefish jerk.

I'd have a whole lot more patience for it if the show didn't take his side.

Exactly this. His whole "you make me crazy" speech is borderline abusive at best and yet we're still supposed to see him as this pure-hearted good guy.

thisficklemob March 28 2016, 23:06:36 UTC

Oh yes! Cabbage Patch dolls were a phenomenon in the U.S. in the mid-80s.

Apparently, Marti Noxon named Riley after her dog. That's a bad sign right there. :p

the_moonmoth March 28 2016, 23:07:47 UTC

Looool! Kinda fitting though *she says as a non-dog-lover*

thisficklemob March 28 2016, 23:27:02 UTC

*gasp* You don't love dogs? *sigh*

S'ok, I don't like cats.

I more meant in terms of the "he can do no wrong" part.

the_moonmoth March 30 2016, 02:17:37 UTC

If you had to live above and share a garden with our neighbours' dog, you too would not love dogs ;)

infinitewhale March 29 2016, 00:08:43 UTC

yet we're still supposed to see him as this pure-hearted good guy.

Yeah. Riley is basically Xander in a lot of ways. They're screwed up characters like the rest, but we're supposed to think they're right. It makes you hate them.

the_moonmoth March 30 2016, 02:18:47 UTC

That's the main thing I dislike, I think. Not the flaws, which I generally appreciate in characters, but the way the narrative fails to condemn them.

spikesjojo March 28 2016, 23:44:53 UTC

The demon-torture thing really bothers me. I see Riley as a low level nazi doing what he is ordered to do. It's just, there's apparently no mechanism for separating demons like Clem and Lorne, and the other human tolerant ones.

No credit for me as far as quitting is concerned - he quit because he knew Oz and Buffy, not because he thought that what they were doing was wrong.

I agree that he was an abusive and controlling boyfriend as time went on. He wanted Buffy to be the little woman who needed to lean on him, and once he lost his mojo it became even worse. There was nothing about helping Buffy in his words and actions - just a demand that Buffy make him feel like a man again by being the damsel in distress!

I kinda liked the character at first run - for at least a few episodes. Now I hate him - on many levels and with great intensity.

thisficklemob March 29 2016, 00:45:51 UTC

I agree about the creepiness of the Initiative. And I think on some level it doesn't matter whether the demons are dangerous to humans or not -- you don't get to conduct vivisection on sentient beings and call yourself the good guys. Buffy joining them and not seeing the bad until they took Oz, and then tried to kill her is seriously problematical.

I agree that Riley's motives in quitting the Initiative were petty, but he did at least quit.

the_moonmoth March 30 2016, 02:24:04 UTC

you don't get to conduct vivisection on sentient beings and call yourself the good guys. Buffy joining them and not seeing the bad until they took Oz, and then tried to kill her is seriously problematical.

This. The hoops you have to jump though to experiment on animals, not least of which is having a point to the research... what the initiative was doing took scientific ethics back a good 100 years.

the_moonmoth March 30 2016, 02:22:16 UTC

There was nothing about helping Buffy in his words and actions - just a demand that Buffy make him feel like a man again by being the damsel in distress!

Yeah, he was not a giving boyfriend, despite all his "niceness". I used to work with someone like that (who was nice, but not kind) and they eventually suck the life out of you.

I was the same as you -- didn't mind him too much on first glance (except for the break up) but the more time goes on, the more I think about, the worse he appears.

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