Bullets flew. Tara died. The end.
I wasn't planning on posting again today cause...stuff to do. But I ran across this interesting essay: The Needless Murder of Tara Maclay
Okay, you get three guesses to figure out what it's about. ;)
I agree with some of what he discusses. Some I really do not agree with, though. Cause you know what? Much as it saddened me, I don't have a problem with Tara's death.
Let me address some key points from the original essay.
1. The Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliche
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely Tara's death is a textbook example of the cliche. You really can't deny that. And, yes, that does need to be recognized and viewed as problematic in the larger context of the fact that lesbians are almost never granted happy endings in fiction.
However, this is a case where, if this cliche didn't exist in society-at-large, this example would not be a problem. It's because of the cliche that this is problematic.
And I am a member of the queer community, for what it's worth (see me pull out my creds?).
There is one question that I, personally, ask when considering cliches and stereotypes in representations of minorities: Does the potential good for the minority outweigh the bad with this overall depiction?
And, yes, I do think the Willow/Tara couple is, without a doubt, one of the most fantastic portrayals of a lesbian couple we've seen on TV.
- They are not saccharine-sweet and perfect, or put aside in a "Token Gay Couple" bubble
- They are shown as physically affectionate
- They both have more to them than "Hey! I'm gay!"
- They are integrated into the show, which means that they have problems and conflicts
It is a Joss show. No couple is immune from the Romance Angst that is his specialty. And I'd consider it an insult to think that the lesbian couple should be. I want to see lesbian couples going through conflict, having grand storylines, and being treated like the other characters.
So, yes, it's problematic that Joss played into the cliche. Really, it is. I would have been happy if he could have avoided it somehow. However, I still believe that the positives from the Willow/Tara relationship far outweigh the negative.
2. The magic addiction arc sucked
This part I agree with wholeheartedly. And I've discussed it elsewhere, and I don't feel like discussing it again. I find the portrayal of magic post-Wrecked to be inconsistent with how it was depicted previously, and I find the shift to be unsatisfying in terms of the narrative and just plain bad storytelling.
However, I would note that the Dark Willow arc is mostly a return to the previous portrayal of magic, and has very few "addict-y" points. So I would not consider the Dark Willow arc to be problematic in this regard.
3. Willow's torture of Warren was gratuitously over-the-top for shock value
I'm sure there was an element of shock value in there. However, I think Willow's torture was quite appropriate from the girl who felt she commanded authority over life and death. Also from the girl whose vampire alter-ego is notoriously playful and sadistic. Dark Willow purposely mirrors a lot of the traits of Vamp Willow. This is not a coincidence.
The vampire represents a more hedonistic, primal version of an individual. It is that individual stripped of any moral guidelines or inclinations. By playing up Dark Willow's similarities to Vamp Willow (Which is made explicit with the "Bored now" line), they are indicating to the audience that Dark Willow is Willow in a more uninhibited, immoral state caused by the loss of her anchor, Tara (see next section).
4. That it's a poor narrative choice to kill Tara
I...don't really think so.
Tara becomes Willow's anchor. This is established even as far back as S4, when Tara literally "anchors" Willow during the spell in Who Are You? This is also seen consistently, from New Moon Rising where Willow automatically turns to Tara when she's in distress to Tough Love where Willow goes a bit off the deep end when Tara gets hurt. Tara is, almost literally, the one who keeps Willow together. Think back to Restless and Willow's dream. The first scene where she's with Tara. "I'm safe here."
Willow was due for a downfall, though. This had been heralded since S2, when Giles warns her of the dangers of performing hardcore magic. This had been a constant, repeated storyline that Willow continues to grow more and more confident and reckless in both herself and her magic use (Lovers Walk, Wild at Heart, Something Blue). The interim between S5 and S6 gives Willow the opportunity to become the leader of the gang in Buffy's absence. And the season begins with her performing a pretty damn hardcore, dark spell to resurrect Buffy.
Willow's over-confidence and arrogance made her downfall an inevitability. It's the classic tragic scenario ("It's exactly like a Greek tragedy. There should only be Greeks." Anya in Restless. Foreshadowing FTW!).
Tara had to be killed to prompt that downfall.
There's no way around this. For the story and character arcs that had been set up, Tara had to die to get to Dark Willow. This was pretty much set in stone since S4, when Tara was introduced.
Okay, I love Tara. I know she's not a favorite of everybody's, but I think she's fab. I hate that she died. I cry when Willow visits her grave in S7. But as I watched the end of S6, nothing pinged me as being off in the narrative structure. I'll admit, I knew Tara was going to die. I knew a lot of spoilers about the show before I actually saw it. So I was expecting it. Perhaps that influences my opinion, because I was able to see and recognize everything that happened as leading up to that event.
Anyway, it is a highly emotional event that is problematic in that it follows the Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliche to the letter. However, as far as the narrative structure of the event and its place in the character arcs of both Willow and Tara...well...it makes sense to me. I have no problems with it.
*is done*
Okay, you get three guesses to figure out what it's about. ;)
I agree with some of what he discusses. Some I really do not agree with, though. Cause you know what? Much as it saddened me, I don't have a problem with Tara's death.
Let me address some key points from the original essay.
1. The Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliche
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely Tara's death is a textbook example of the cliche. You really can't deny that. And, yes, that does need to be recognized and viewed as problematic in the larger context of the fact that lesbians are almost never granted happy endings in fiction.
However, this is a case where, if this cliche didn't exist in society-at-large, this example would not be a problem. It's because of the cliche that this is problematic.
And I am a member of the queer community, for what it's worth (see me pull out my creds?).
There is one question that I, personally, ask when considering cliches and stereotypes in representations of minorities: Does the potential good for the minority outweigh the bad with this overall depiction?
And, yes, I do think the Willow/Tara couple is, without a doubt, one of the most fantastic portrayals of a lesbian couple we've seen on TV.
- They are not saccharine-sweet and perfect, or put aside in a "Token Gay Couple" bubble
- They are shown as physically affectionate
- They both have more to them than "Hey! I'm gay!"
- They are integrated into the show, which means that they have problems and conflicts
It is a Joss show. No couple is immune from the Romance Angst that is his specialty. And I'd consider it an insult to think that the lesbian couple should be. I want to see lesbian couples going through conflict, having grand storylines, and being treated like the other characters.
So, yes, it's problematic that Joss played into the cliche. Really, it is. I would have been happy if he could have avoided it somehow. However, I still believe that the positives from the Willow/Tara relationship far outweigh the negative.
2. The magic addiction arc sucked
This part I agree with wholeheartedly. And I've discussed it elsewhere, and I don't feel like discussing it again. I find the portrayal of magic post-Wrecked to be inconsistent with how it was depicted previously, and I find the shift to be unsatisfying in terms of the narrative and just plain bad storytelling.
However, I would note that the Dark Willow arc is mostly a return to the previous portrayal of magic, and has very few "addict-y" points. So I would not consider the Dark Willow arc to be problematic in this regard.
3. Willow's torture of Warren was gratuitously over-the-top for shock value
I'm sure there was an element of shock value in there. However, I think Willow's torture was quite appropriate from the girl who felt she commanded authority over life and death. Also from the girl whose vampire alter-ego is notoriously playful and sadistic. Dark Willow purposely mirrors a lot of the traits of Vamp Willow. This is not a coincidence.
The vampire represents a more hedonistic, primal version of an individual. It is that individual stripped of any moral guidelines or inclinations. By playing up Dark Willow's similarities to Vamp Willow (Which is made explicit with the "Bored now" line), they are indicating to the audience that Dark Willow is Willow in a more uninhibited, immoral state caused by the loss of her anchor, Tara (see next section).
4. That it's a poor narrative choice to kill Tara
I...don't really think so.
Tara becomes Willow's anchor. This is established even as far back as S4, when Tara literally "anchors" Willow during the spell in Who Are You? This is also seen consistently, from New Moon Rising where Willow automatically turns to Tara when she's in distress to Tough Love where Willow goes a bit off the deep end when Tara gets hurt. Tara is, almost literally, the one who keeps Willow together. Think back to Restless and Willow's dream. The first scene where she's with Tara. "I'm safe here."
Willow was due for a downfall, though. This had been heralded since S2, when Giles warns her of the dangers of performing hardcore magic. This had been a constant, repeated storyline that Willow continues to grow more and more confident and reckless in both herself and her magic use (Lovers Walk, Wild at Heart, Something Blue). The interim between S5 and S6 gives Willow the opportunity to become the leader of the gang in Buffy's absence. And the season begins with her performing a pretty damn hardcore, dark spell to resurrect Buffy.
Willow's over-confidence and arrogance made her downfall an inevitability. It's the classic tragic scenario ("It's exactly like a Greek tragedy. There should only be Greeks." Anya in Restless. Foreshadowing FTW!).
Tara had to be killed to prompt that downfall.
There's no way around this. For the story and character arcs that had been set up, Tara had to die to get to Dark Willow. This was pretty much set in stone since S4, when Tara was introduced.
Okay, I love Tara. I know she's not a favorite of everybody's, but I think she's fab. I hate that she died. I cry when Willow visits her grave in S7. But as I watched the end of S6, nothing pinged me as being off in the narrative structure. I'll admit, I knew Tara was going to die. I knew a lot of spoilers about the show before I actually saw it. So I was expecting it. Perhaps that influences my opinion, because I was able to see and recognize everything that happened as leading up to that event.
Anyway, it is a highly emotional event that is problematic in that it follows the Dead/Evil Lesbian Cliche to the letter. However, as far as the narrative structure of the event and its place in the character arcs of both Willow and Tara...well...it makes sense to me. I have no problems with it.
*is done*