(no subject)
Jul. 19th, 2009 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatBeautiful weekend, cool and pretty, even though I have the ac on - because otherwise it would be ninety degrees in my apartment, at the moment it is a nice 79/80.
During the week I finished watching Spiral through The Gift for Buffy S5, which I think I can safely say is still my favorite season of any television series. I adore that season. It still after all this time resonates for me in a way the others did not. And while I am aware that not everyone online feels this way, in fact quite a few people feel vehementally the opposite, I find that...in the long and short of it? It doesn't really matter. We are different, after all. And there are far more important things that we agree and disagree on.
While watching the Gift, I was struck by the similarities and differences to Prophecy Girl. In both episode's - Buffy dies. Also in both seasons (1 and 5) she flirts with a vampire, but is not in love with him, even though he is obviously in love with her. Both deal with a villain who is attempting to free itself from a prison at the sacrifice of innocence souls, and whose escape has to do with the shedding of Summer's blood. Both are episodes that deal with prophecies. Also how Spike and Angel are depicted in both...one as the cryptic potentially distrustful helper who will turn ironically into the villian the next season - causing the very thing they are trying to prevent, and the other as the formerly distrustful villian trying to be heroic because he has fallen madly in love with the hero. They are like mirror opposites of each other..or dopplegangers. They more or less serve the same purpose in each tale, just in a different manner. The best things about The Gift is the Spike/Willow arcs that are about to take off, along with the critique of romantic love that is about to be examined via Anya and Xander. Anya is absolutely right regarding Xander's proposal - when she states, "you are only doing this because you think we are going to die." Xander flees into the comfort of a sexually pleasing relationship with a woman that if he were truly honest with himself - he does not like very much and does not respect. It is an echo of his parents, he fights with Anya and degrades Anya, in the same manner that his father degrades his mother. And Anya, as is depicted in the song in S7, Mrs, goes by whomever she is with. This is who I am. I am a vengeance demon because that is who you tell me that I am. I am Xander's girlfriend. I am Gile's employee. I am Giles' girlfriend. I am Xander's wife. It's not until she breaks up with Xander that she finally figures out who she is. And it goes without saying that I am loving Spike's arc. Fell in love with the character all over again in Intervention through Afterlife. And it is in character...he's very Pavolvian in some respects. Just as Angel is quite a bit like a string Puppet. Lots of puppet imagery with vampires. It's an on-going theme with Whedon - the idea of people being manipulated by forces outside of them, or rather, in the case of Dollhouse and Angel, choosing to be manipulated by forces outside of them - thus relieving them of any responsibility or guilt. I can't be blamed. It was not me. Someone or something else was controlling me at the time.
Looking forward to two tv shows this coming week - Monday starts the five day "Torchwood:Children of Earth" minseries that people have been raving about online for the last four weeks. Or at least it has felt like four weeks - of attempting to avoid all spoilers. Thankfully the folks on my flist are kind enough to keep their enthusiasm beneath the lj-cut tag. I don't know if I'll like it as much as they do, we don't always agree on stuff like this and from what I've seen of the spoilerfree reviews the series is very political and scary. The other tv show is Moonshot - yet another flick about the first astronauts with James Marsters playing Buzz Alprin. I sort of enjoy these...although my favorites continue to be Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff ( I read the book, which was in some respects better and funnier).
Am currently watching S4, Disc 3 of Weeds, which I have mixed feelings about. I know this is supposed to be a comedy, but outside of the "Shiva" episode, it has not been funny. Mildly amusing maybe, but funny? Also a bit underwhelmed by Burn Notice and the Closer this year. Eureka, Leverage, and In Plain Sight however do not disappoint. Most of the tv shows I admittedly am just DVRing and not really watching. I've had Ugly Betty's Season Finale on my DVR for three months now and still have not watched it. Also The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Warehouse 13, Diamonds, Wallbender - from Masterpiece Theater, and Mental. This is ridiculous, I should just delete them. Watched last night's Dirty Sexy Money this morning - which would have made more sense and been more amusing if it had aired when it was supposed to as opposed to six or seven months after it's proposed air date. As a result, it made little sense and was beyond boring.
During the week I finished watching Spiral through The Gift for Buffy S5, which I think I can safely say is still my favorite season of any television series. I adore that season. It still after all this time resonates for me in a way the others did not. And while I am aware that not everyone online feels this way, in fact quite a few people feel vehementally the opposite, I find that...in the long and short of it? It doesn't really matter. We are different, after all. And there are far more important things that we agree and disagree on.
While watching the Gift, I was struck by the similarities and differences to Prophecy Girl. In both episode's - Buffy dies. Also in both seasons (1 and 5) she flirts with a vampire, but is not in love with him, even though he is obviously in love with her. Both deal with a villain who is attempting to free itself from a prison at the sacrifice of innocence souls, and whose escape has to do with the shedding of Summer's blood. Both are episodes that deal with prophecies. Also how Spike and Angel are depicted in both...one as the cryptic potentially distrustful helper who will turn ironically into the villian the next season - causing the very thing they are trying to prevent, and the other as the formerly distrustful villian trying to be heroic because he has fallen madly in love with the hero. They are like mirror opposites of each other..or dopplegangers. They more or less serve the same purpose in each tale, just in a different manner. The best things about The Gift is the Spike/Willow arcs that are about to take off, along with the critique of romantic love that is about to be examined via Anya and Xander. Anya is absolutely right regarding Xander's proposal - when she states, "you are only doing this because you think we are going to die." Xander flees into the comfort of a sexually pleasing relationship with a woman that if he were truly honest with himself - he does not like very much and does not respect. It is an echo of his parents, he fights with Anya and degrades Anya, in the same manner that his father degrades his mother. And Anya, as is depicted in the song in S7, Mrs, goes by whomever she is with. This is who I am. I am a vengeance demon because that is who you tell me that I am. I am Xander's girlfriend. I am Gile's employee. I am Giles' girlfriend. I am Xander's wife. It's not until she breaks up with Xander that she finally figures out who she is. And it goes without saying that I am loving Spike's arc. Fell in love with the character all over again in Intervention through Afterlife. And it is in character...he's very Pavolvian in some respects. Just as Angel is quite a bit like a string Puppet. Lots of puppet imagery with vampires. It's an on-going theme with Whedon - the idea of people being manipulated by forces outside of them, or rather, in the case of Dollhouse and Angel, choosing to be manipulated by forces outside of them - thus relieving them of any responsibility or guilt. I can't be blamed. It was not me. Someone or something else was controlling me at the time.
Looking forward to two tv shows this coming week - Monday starts the five day "Torchwood:Children of Earth" minseries that people have been raving about online for the last four weeks. Or at least it has felt like four weeks - of attempting to avoid all spoilers. Thankfully the folks on my flist are kind enough to keep their enthusiasm beneath the lj-cut tag. I don't know if I'll like it as much as they do, we don't always agree on stuff like this and from what I've seen of the spoilerfree reviews the series is very political and scary. The other tv show is Moonshot - yet another flick about the first astronauts with James Marsters playing Buzz Alprin. I sort of enjoy these...although my favorites continue to be Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff ( I read the book, which was in some respects better and funnier).
Am currently watching S4, Disc 3 of Weeds, which I have mixed feelings about. I know this is supposed to be a comedy, but outside of the "Shiva" episode, it has not been funny. Mildly amusing maybe, but funny? Also a bit underwhelmed by Burn Notice and the Closer this year. Eureka, Leverage, and In Plain Sight however do not disappoint. Most of the tv shows I admittedly am just DVRing and not really watching. I've had Ugly Betty's Season Finale on my DVR for three months now and still have not watched it. Also The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Warehouse 13, Diamonds, Wallbender - from Masterpiece Theater, and Mental. This is ridiculous, I should just delete them. Watched last night's Dirty Sexy Money this morning - which would have made more sense and been more amusing if it had aired when it was supposed to as opposed to six or seven months after it's proposed air date. As a result, it made little sense and was beyond boring.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 12:47 am (UTC)but I agree, he only proposed because he thought they would die (or be sucked into hell)
Pretty much we are loving the same shows (In Plain Sight & Leverage) ....
and I think you might be interested in Kenneth Branagh's BBC mystery show 'Wallander'
no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 01:53 am (UTC)What he tells Buffy before making that declaration is interesting:
"If you love him go to him, if you don't? Make it a clean break, do it now. Don't lead him on."
And Buffy lets Riley go more or less. But Buffy's words to Xander are real: "Aren't you doing the same thing with Anya? Aren't you with her because she's convienent?"
Upset by Buffy's words and worried he'll lose Anya, he goes and gives this lovely speech. Then by his actions the following season makes it meaningless. Also by his words to Anya constantly in each episode that follows, he undoes the speech.
I think Eliza in My Fair Lady sings it best to poor Freddy and his lovely love song: "Words, words, words! Show ME! If you love me, show me!"
Xander by his actions pretty much demonstrates that while he meant well by his words, they were in the end only words.
That's not to say he didn't love Anya. I think he cared for her, I think he loved her. But he was not capable of standing by her, showing her that he loved her. And that is something he has to live with. In the end his fear of becoming his father...caused him to become his father.