Buffy had an additional problem that daytime serials did not in that it had a much broader audience and embraced multiple genres. Most of the viewers of Buffy - had never watched a daytime serial. Quite a few hadn't read a romance novel. And were coming at the series from a more male-centric fictional genre perspective.
That said, in a sense, Jane E, was right about how times had changed - GH had revisited the Luke/Laura rape in a completely different way 20 years later. All you have to do is watch those two videos.
You can also see from the first video, which is unfortunately a bit on the scratchy side, how similar the Luke/Laura rape is to the Spike/Buffy one.
That said, if you go back to the 18th Century, you'll notice that many fans responses to Spike are similar to Samuel Richardson's response to the same trope, with Clarissa.
In short? Both responses have existed since at least the 1700s. We really haven't evolved or changed as much as we like to think we have.
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That said, in a sense, Jane E, was right about how times had changed - GH had revisited the Luke/Laura rape in a completely different way 20 years later. All you have to do is watch those two videos.
You can also see from the first video, which is unfortunately a bit on the scratchy side, how similar the Luke/Laura rape is to the Spike/Buffy one.
That said, if you go back to the 18th Century, you'll notice that many fans responses to Spike are similar to Samuel Richardson's response to the same trope, with Clarissa.
In short? Both responses have existed since at least the 1700s. We really haven't evolved or changed as much as we like to think we have.