In the Willow stories, self-restraint is emphasized. Oz locks himself up. Willow locks her magic up. But it’s a very artificial self-restraint. And it’s doomed to failure. The cage can’t keep Oz closed. Willow can’t hold down her emotions. And they are unwilling to talk: Oz keeps himself caged for Willow, Willow keeps herself caged for Tara. It’s understood, not stated explicitly. In the Buffy stories, one partner restrains the other. Buffy puts Angel in chains, which he breaks free of. Spike manipulates Buffy into staying with him, which she responds to—as you say—by punching him.
That is a great point. You know—I had never thought about it this way before, but Willow is paralleling Warren even in this episode. Warren decides that in order to be with Katrina, he has to become all-powerful. Willow decides that in order to win Tara back, she has to reject her power entirely. We know where Tara got the idea that power = evil –- from her father. She learned that was a lie, but she seems to expect it of Willow. Or, you know: she sees Willow’s power, Willow’s magic, as the real evil, and as long as Willow doesn't have power, she won't be evil anymore. And in the process she both punishes Willow for doing magic when the magic is not a problem – is it really bad for Willow to use magic to do party decorations? is it fair for her to say that Willow's power "frightens her" in Tough Love? – and forgives Willow too easily for her controlling and abuse with magic. Tara is not really correct about Willow: Willow should access that power, she just needs to learn to do so responsibly.
In season seven, after she lets go of Tara, she can access her power again, but the problem is that she is with Kennedy, who encourages her too much to use her power. Perhaps just as Buffy goes too far in trying not to restrain Spike. Or, you know. Willow should use her power, and Buffy is mostly right to let Spike use his. But Kennedy encourages Willow a bit too much, and Buffy is a bit negligent: she doesn't try very hard to make sure Spike isn't still triggerable by the First. The balance is nearly impossible to strike.
The metaphors surrounding Buffy and her lovers restraining each other (often with force) and Willow and her lovers restraining themselves fits with Buffy as ‘hand’ (physical/external) and Willow as the ‘spirit’ (spiritual/internal).
On the shifting metaphors? While I agree that they mirror issues with our own life and make things less black and white. They'd work better if the series was populated with more minority characters who weren't killed off or seen here and there. Unfortunately, the inability to hire minorities in lead roles caused these metaphors to become somewhat offensive. A way to counter-act that would have been to make Buffy not a petite blond, but a black woman. And/or Xander black. Veronica Mars did a better job. But Buffy was also a 1990s/early 00's series...and suffers from that historically racist television climate.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-02-08 06:05 pm (UTC)In the Willow stories, self-restraint is emphasized. Oz locks himself up. Willow locks her magic up. But it’s a very artificial self-restraint. And it’s doomed to failure. The cage can’t keep Oz closed. Willow can’t hold down her emotions. And they are unwilling to talk: Oz keeps himself caged for Willow, Willow keeps herself caged for Tara. It’s understood, not stated explicitly. In the Buffy stories, one partner restrains the other. Buffy puts Angel in chains, which he breaks free of. Spike manipulates Buffy into staying with him, which she responds to—as you say—by punching him.
That is a great point. You know—I had never thought about it this way before, but Willow is paralleling Warren even in this episode. Warren decides that in order to be with Katrina, he has to become all-powerful. Willow decides that in order to win Tara back, she has to reject her power entirely. We know where Tara got the idea that power = evil –- from her father. She learned that was a lie, but she seems to expect it of Willow. Or, you know: she sees Willow’s power, Willow’s magic, as the real evil, and as long as Willow doesn't have power, she won't be evil anymore. And in the process she both punishes Willow for doing magic when the magic is not a problem – is it really bad for Willow to use magic to do party decorations? is it fair for her to say that Willow's power "frightens her" in Tough Love? – and forgives Willow too easily for her controlling and abuse with magic. Tara is not really correct about Willow: Willow should access that power, she just needs to learn to do so responsibly.
In season seven, after she lets go of Tara, she can access her power again, but the problem is that she is with Kennedy, who encourages her too much to use her power. Perhaps just as Buffy goes too far in trying not to restrain Spike. Or, you know. Willow should use her power, and Buffy is mostly right to let Spike use his. But Kennedy encourages Willow a bit too much, and Buffy is a bit negligent: she doesn't try very hard to make sure Spike isn't still triggerable by the First. The balance is nearly impossible to strike.
The metaphors surrounding Buffy and her lovers restraining each other (often with force) and Willow and her lovers restraining themselves fits with Buffy as ‘hand’ (physical/external) and Willow as the ‘spirit’ (spiritual/internal).
On the shifting metaphors? While I agree that they mirror issues with our own life and make things less black and white. They'd work better if the series was populated with more minority characters who weren't killed off or seen here and there. Unfortunately, the inability to hire minorities in lead roles caused these metaphors to become somewhat offensive. A way to counter-act that would have been to make Buffy not a petite blond, but a black woman. And/or Xander black. Veronica Mars did a better job. But Buffy was also a 1990s/early 00's series...and suffers from that historically racist television climate.
Ohhh, yes, I agree with that, definitely.