Buffy was harder to read in S7 - but not impossible to read. But harder. I more or less knew what she was feeling - wrote five essays on it. All of which were more or less in line with the writers views according to interviews and commentaries. (What can I say? I had way too much time on my hands in 2002 and 2003.)
At any rate, I think most of the reactions you are seeing relating to Buffy in S7 (which by the way was amongst my favorite seasons - I prefer it to S2 and S3 which admittedly might have been tighter but were less ambiguous and less experimental, I'm amongst the very few who feel that way and I adored the ambiguos nature of the Buffy/Spike relationship in that season - it fascinated me. I preferred it to the unambiguous/anvil laden B/A romance. Give me a little ambiguity in my romances, please.) - but the people who did not like S7 aren't upset with how Spike was treated. Or how she responded to him. They missed the happy, light, Buffy. One who smiled, joked, laughed - said "Beep me - if it is the apocalypse!" They miss the humor. They also miss the emotion - the Buffy who collasped against the wall, burst into tears, laughed her head off - made the funny quips. Really had very little to do with Spike. In fact, you could easily have switched Spike with Riley or Angel - and people would have felt the same.
I don't dislike the comic. I just think it is flawed and doesn't quite work in places. Some of the dialogue throws me off - and I'm unclear right now how much of it is a dream. Ann1962 posted an interesting theory that everything after the last scene with the General is a dream, including the bedroom sequence with Xander, the slayers, Amy, and the evil dead climbing the walls. Which is actually a theory - I like a great deal. Because it would explain some of the weird inconsistencies - that jarred me while reading it. Read her post - she does a good job of pointing them out. (And Ann1962 is *not* a shipper in any way shape or form or for that matter a Spike fan. In fact most of the critiques I've read about the comic are from non-Spike fans.)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 02:11 pm (UTC)At any rate, I think most of the reactions you are seeing relating to Buffy in S7 (which by the way was amongst my favorite seasons - I prefer it to S2 and S3 which admittedly might have been tighter but were less ambiguous and less experimental, I'm amongst the very few who feel that way and I adored the ambiguos nature of the Buffy/Spike relationship in that season - it fascinated me. I preferred it to the unambiguous/anvil laden B/A romance. Give me a little ambiguity in my romances, please.) - but the people who did not like S7 aren't upset with how Spike was treated. Or how she responded to him. They missed the happy, light, Buffy. One who smiled, joked, laughed - said "Beep me - if it is the apocalypse!" They miss the humor. They also miss the emotion - the Buffy who collasped against the wall, burst into tears, laughed her head off - made the funny quips. Really had very little to do with Spike. In fact, you could easily have switched Spike with Riley or Angel - and people would have felt the same.
I don't dislike the comic. I just think it is flawed and doesn't quite work in places. Some of the dialogue throws me off - and I'm unclear right now how much of it is a dream. Ann1962 posted an interesting theory that everything after the last scene with the General is a dream, including the bedroom sequence with Xander, the slayers, Amy, and the evil dead climbing the walls. Which is actually a theory - I like a great deal. Because it would explain some of the weird inconsistencies - that jarred me while reading it. Read her post - she does a good job of pointing them out.
(And Ann1962 is *not* a shipper in any way shape or form or for that matter a Spike fan. In fact most of the critiques I've read about the comic are from non-Spike fans.)