I think after Season 6 and the Firefly cancellation, Whedon got a bit didactic in some of his writing, because he got frustrated with his fans inability to grasp his message and meaning. To those of us who are analytical in any way - it feels as if he is preaching to us and hitting us with a sledgehammar. But not everyone thinks the same way, and what Whedon doesn't quite grasp is if people didn't figure it out in the series, they aren't going to get it now. All he's going to do is alienate them in droves. No one likes to be dictated to. Also, I'm not sure he grasps why fans loved Buffy/Angel or Buffy/Spike or Twilight for that matter. It's female fantasy - which much like male fantasy isn't always nice and polite, it's kinky, abusive, and deranged - but it is fantasy. I have a lot of family members who adore the Twilight novels, they are bright women, feminists - they just like the fantasy, they like the idea of being taken care of and protected...but only as a fantasy. They aren't taking it seriously. I don't think a lot of Twilight's critics, particularly male ones - get that. They also forget that they do the same thing - hello, Faith? If a guy can fantasize about bad girl Faith or bad girl Lilah or Darla, then why can't a gal fantasize about Angel or Spike? To dictate to us that we shouldn't or that it is wrong - is a bit offensive and incredibly paternalistic.
And I don't think it's only Twilight but also the mutiplication of such stories or their success through books or films in this moment.
Ah yes. Ironically there's about five different Twilight rip-offs previewed in ads to both comics. This has got to be grating for Whedon - particularly when a lot of the writers state they are "Buffy fans" or inspired by Buffy. And there are a lot of fans out there who are talking about Bangel as being their one true ship. I don't believe he intended that...and he is making fun of them. It's obvious in the Riley one-shot and in this issue.
A Bowie quote :-) seems appropriate: "always crashing in the same car". Did these characters really evolve? As I told Rahirah above, the show answer to the question "do we change", "can we change" beyond appearant evolution is yes and no.
Well, we do and we don't. There are certain traits that are ingrained by DNA and environment - such as being cautious, that we don't ever get over. Other's such as interests and tastes that do actually change over time. I believe Buffy has changed in many ways. But she does still want to let go of it all, to be with that cool guy who will protect her, stare at her dreamy eyed and treat her like a little girl to be cherished, make the decisions and take control. She craves that on some level obviously, a lot of women still do - or Twilight wouldn't be so popular. I'm not sure that's something she'll ever get over...for a lot of reasons - the main one being she has been forced from an early age to take on more responsibility than she was emotionally capable of carrying, and had to lose her father in the bargain - since that period she keeps hunting him but he is elusive and he betrays her. Echo on Dollhouse had similar issues - she was hunting for Daddy, each of her handler's was Daddy - someone she should trust. But what if, you can't, shouldn't trust Daddy? This is a question that he asks repeatedly in his stories.
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I think after Season 6 and the Firefly cancellation, Whedon got a bit didactic in some of his writing, because he got frustrated with his fans inability to grasp his message and meaning. To those of us who are analytical in any way - it feels as if he is preaching to us and hitting us with a sledgehammar. But not everyone thinks the same way, and what Whedon doesn't quite grasp is if people didn't figure it out in the series, they aren't going to get it now. All he's going to do is alienate them in droves. No one likes to be dictated to. Also, I'm not sure he grasps why fans loved Buffy/Angel or Buffy/Spike or Twilight for that matter. It's female fantasy - which much like male fantasy isn't always nice and polite, it's kinky, abusive, and deranged - but it is fantasy. I have a lot of family members who adore the Twilight novels, they are bright women, feminists - they just like the fantasy, they like the idea of being taken care of and protected...but only as a fantasy.
They aren't taking it seriously. I don't think a lot of Twilight's critics, particularly male ones - get that. They also forget that they do the same thing - hello, Faith? If a guy can fantasize about bad girl Faith or bad girl Lilah or Darla, then why can't a gal fantasize about Angel or Spike? To dictate to us that we shouldn't or that it is wrong - is a bit offensive and incredibly paternalistic.
And I don't think it's only Twilight but also the mutiplication of such stories or their success through books or films in this moment.
Ah yes. Ironically there's about five different Twilight rip-offs previewed in ads to both comics. This has got to be grating for Whedon - particularly when a lot of the writers state they are "Buffy fans" or inspired by Buffy. And there are a lot of fans out there who are talking about Bangel as being their one true ship. I don't believe he intended that...and he is making fun of them. It's obvious in the Riley one-shot and in this issue.
A Bowie quote :-) seems appropriate: "always crashing in the same car". Did these characters really evolve? As I told Rahirah above, the show answer to the question "do we change", "can we change" beyond appearant evolution is yes and no.
Well, we do and we don't. There are certain traits that are ingrained by DNA and environment - such as being cautious, that we don't ever get over. Other's such as interests and tastes that do actually change over time. I believe Buffy has changed in many ways. But she does still want to let go of it all, to be with that cool guy who will protect her,
stare at her dreamy eyed and treat her like a little girl to be cherished, make the decisions and take control. She craves that on some level obviously, a lot of women still do - or Twilight wouldn't be so popular. I'm not sure that's something she'll ever get over...for a lot of reasons - the main one being she has been forced from an early age to take on more responsibility than she was emotionally capable of carrying, and had to lose her father in the bargain - since that period she keeps hunting him but he is elusive and he betrays her. Echo on Dollhouse had similar issues - she was hunting for Daddy, each of her handler's was Daddy - someone she should trust. But what if, you can't, shouldn't trust Daddy? This is a question that he asks repeatedly in his stories.