Thank you, you've managed to articulate rather well what bothered me about the Pop Matters essay and essayist's apparent world-view.
What troubles me is the idea that killing a teenage girl is somehow required for good storytelling (and a good coming of age story). You aren't a real grown up until you accept and execute child murder for the greater good. Uh-huh. I think I associate it with the problem of the US/the West (I know I'm Canadian, but I am taking responsibility as part of the West rather than trying to point fingers as if I am part of a different culture) where you have Donald Trump saying we need to go after terrorist's families or the Obama administration sending drone strikes which kill children by accident in a way that suggests indifference. The casual acceptance that it's just a part of adulthood to accept child murder is a little ingrained right now. (And I'm not necessarily saying that it is different outside the West.) And that's sad, because I think it breeds indifference and cynicism, to believe that this is so necessarily part of the world that there's no point trying hard to stop it.
Our fictional media has grown increasingly dark in tone since 9/11, with anti-heroes killing their enemies with barely a backward glance. Although there are dire consequences. It's gotten so that I don't watch a lot of television any longer.
The essayist's view that the story would have been better or more interesting if Buffy killed Dawn, and that was the only choice or logical choice, deeply troubles me. And like you say, it appears to miss the point of the story being told. Or the heart of it.
And, it reflects our troubling times - the whole worship/rallying behind Donald Trump, who preaches hate and sounds a lot like Buffy's Watcher Council, and the continuous wars being waged around the globe, often against the innocent. Look at Syria, where children are barely escaping with their lives. It reminds me of Suzanne Collins's final statement at the end of Mockingjay - where she says that a society that continues to sacrifice its children for its own survival and/or entertainment, should not survive. The whole point of that story -- is Katniss, like Buffy, sacrifices herself for her sister, who is innocent and unmarked by violence.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2016-08-14 09:28 pm (UTC)What troubles me is the idea that killing a teenage girl is somehow required for good storytelling (and a good coming of age story). You aren't a real grown up until you accept and execute child murder for the greater good. Uh-huh. I think I associate it with the problem of the US/the West (I know I'm Canadian, but I am taking responsibility as part of the West rather than trying to point fingers as if I am part of a different culture) where you have Donald Trump saying we need to go after terrorist's families or the Obama administration sending drone strikes which kill children by accident in a way that suggests indifference. The casual acceptance that it's just a part of adulthood to accept child murder is a little ingrained right now. (And I'm not necessarily saying that it is different outside the West.) And that's sad, because I think it breeds indifference and cynicism, to believe that this is so necessarily part of the world that there's no point trying hard to stop it.
Our fictional media has grown increasingly dark in tone since 9/11, with anti-heroes killing their enemies with barely a backward glance. Although there are dire consequences. It's gotten so that I don't watch a lot of television any longer.
The essayist's view that the story would have been better or more interesting if Buffy killed Dawn, and that was the only choice or logical choice, deeply troubles me. And like you say, it appears to miss the point of the story being told. Or the heart of it.
And, it reflects our troubling times - the whole worship/rallying behind Donald Trump, who preaches hate and sounds a lot like Buffy's Watcher Council, and the continuous wars being waged around the globe, often against the innocent. Look at Syria, where children are barely escaping with their lives. It reminds me of Suzanne Collins's final statement at the end of Mockingjay - where she says that a society that continues to sacrifice its children for its own survival and/or entertainment, should not survive. The whole point of that story -- is Katniss, like Buffy, sacrifices herself for her sister, who is innocent and unmarked by violence.