Notes on Buffy 3.07: Revelations, part 2

Mar 14, 2011 00:06


Part 1 can be found here
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season 3, notes

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norwie2010 March 14 2011, 11:07:43 UTC
On Faith:

This continues a pattern of Faith being left outside the Scoobie brain trust. However appealing she may have been when she arrived,...There is a lot of objectification going on, concerning the Scoobie's view of Faith. Xander objectifies her as a sex symbol, Willow as "the other", Giles as "a slayer" (which becomes ever more clear when discussing Buffy's future after school: He (wants to) see(s) a future for Buffy away from her duty by installing Faith as the slayer-on-the-hellmouth but doesn't stop to think for one second that maybe Faith is a person, too, with dreams and a possible future, too). Oz and Cordelia ar indifferent (Oz because he follows Willow's lead and Cordy because Faith is just another "lowlife" in her eyes). Indifference = not taking fully into account (as a person ( ... )

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Re: Strudel here local_max March 14 2011, 22:15:03 UTC
The healthy thing would have been to invite Faith into the scoobies and Buffy and Faith forming a subgroup for their special burdens.

Yes, exactly. The dream....

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 14 2011, 22:25:19 UTC
Plus, writing Angel out of the script!

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 14 2011, 22:41:12 UTC
Hr hr :D

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Re: Strudel here 2maggie2 March 15 2011, 00:44:03 UTC
Yet I tend to think it's Buffy, specifically who doesn't want Faith invited in. If slayer-human relations is an underlying tension, then having two slayers in the mix invites an unseemly jockeying for position. We got that in Faith, Hope and Trick. And it can be read as part of what's driving Faith here.

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 08:09:12 UTC
I think it is all of them. Giles wants to use Faith, Willow wants to hate Faith, Xander wants to fuck Faith, Buffy is at least torn (sometimes wanting her as a friend, sometimes wanting her gone).

I mean, don't get me wrong: a more healthy or positive relationship between Buffy and Faith would probably give us some "interesting times" a la Buffy'n'Spike (because, it would play to a similar tune, minus romance). So, no roses and puppies.

And, Buffy and Faith "need" different things, from life, people and each other. So, plenty of reason to trainwreck anyways. ;)

It is also why i call this storyline "tragic":

At this point in the narrative, Buffy and Faith cannot be for each other what would be healthy. (Buffy needs a ressurrection to acknowledge her own darkness/Faithness; Faith needs a breakdown to recognize her will to do good ( ... )

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Re: Strudel here 2maggie2 March 15 2011, 15:51:51 UTC
I agree with all of this!

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 16:59:17 UTC
I do too, except for the blanket statement that Buffy and Faith need different things from people. I think at bottom they need the same thing: connection, support. On the surface it would appear that Buffy has that and Faith doesn't, but it becomes clearer and clearer each time I go through the series how appearances deceive and how little connection and support Buffy has by the time Faith arrives.

To me (ever the Angel basher), the core problem at this juncture is Angel. Just as his arrival tubed whatever potential Buffy may have had with a normal boyfriend, it has given Buffy a refuge at precisely the wrong moment. Faith could have been an ally, but Buffy picks door number two -- Angel -- and winds up alienating Faith, slamming door number one forever.

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 21:31:46 UTC
Oh, of course! I meant that they both need different approaches to connection and support (and love). That's what i meant.

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Re: Strudel here 2maggie2 March 15 2011, 00:42:35 UTC
But we shouldn't be Sie's, we should be du's! (Americans -- always informal.)

In any case, it looks strange in English. Imagine someone capitalizing Ich when writing in German. :-)

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 07:21:14 UTC
Granted, Americans tend to be informal with each other, but that's because we're all part of the club.

Now, go past the borders a bit then take a look back. What do you see? Not casual, casually friendly people. Nope, you see us for what we are: Hegemonic Cultural Imperialists.

So, Sie it is (and take off your hat when addressing us, and don't look us right in the eye). ;)

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 08:17:31 UTC
So, Sie it is (and take off your hat when addressing us, and don't look us right in the eye).

But, but we Germans have the patent on that one! (Well, a lost war can sometimes change people - just not the Germans...)

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Re: Strudel here norwie2010 March 15 2011, 08:11:49 UTC
But we capitalize "Du", too. :-P

Okok, i'll stop. (And it is totally different from capitalizing "Ich" - that would be narcistic! ;-))

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Re: Strudel here 2maggie2 March 15 2011, 15:59:35 UTC
Huh, I forgot that. Haven't read German recently enough. Of course You Guys capitalize Everything! Except Ich.

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Re: Strudel here angearia March 20 2011, 20:45:09 UTC
Okok, i'll stop.

Now that I know why you do it, I kinda like your way of capitalization. It's kinda like how the French, when posting in English, always add a space before the final punctuation with the exclamation mark. It's interesting. I say carry on. No need to become one of "us" -- your language style is about transforming American English to a special form of Norwie communication.

That's far more interesting to me than you speaking "properly".

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