Central Ideas (and Angel)
May. 7th, 2004 02:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyI adore central ideas, and I adore things that Change Everything -- at least, perspective-wise. I love the Julian Bashir genetic enhancement retcon on DS9, because it's amazing how well it works with his character. I love the Dawn retcon, because it's fascinating to think about how things were different yet fundamentally the same.
And I love central ideas, love recasting the entire show from that central idea. That's what makes it central, after all -- it has to be something that's present in every episode, the prime mover of the show. Buffy is about the change from 'girl' to 'woman', due South is about Fraser's emotional growth, and Angel is about, I'm more and more certain, the conflict between the big picture and the little picture. Angel is about finding the balance -- which seems so obvious, considering the dual nature of the protagonist, yet it was something that I've had a hard time putting my finger on. Coming closer and closer to the end, however, is making things feel very clear. I might yet get surprised in the finale, but everything I've seen before is telling me that this is what it's about.
It's about how the glass is viewed, about every step being the Next Step, about taking each moment as its own entity. Finding balance.
"She is our next step."
"Don't play their game -- make them play yours."
"Heroes don't accept the world the way it is."
"Live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be."
"So you just treat it all like it was up to you -— the world in the balance -— 'cause you never know when it is."
"If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."
"You know how you're always trying to save, oh, every single person in the world? Did it ever occur to you you were one of them?"
"The good fight, yeah? You never know until you've been tested. I get that now."
"I'll tell them that I'm different. I'll tell them it's... actually a good thing."
And I love central ideas, love recasting the entire show from that central idea. That's what makes it central, after all -- it has to be something that's present in every episode, the prime mover of the show. Buffy is about the change from 'girl' to 'woman', due South is about Fraser's emotional growth, and Angel is about, I'm more and more certain, the conflict between the big picture and the little picture. Angel is about finding the balance -- which seems so obvious, considering the dual nature of the protagonist, yet it was something that I've had a hard time putting my finger on. Coming closer and closer to the end, however, is making things feel very clear. I might yet get surprised in the finale, but everything I've seen before is telling me that this is what it's about.
It's about how the glass is viewed, about every step being the Next Step, about taking each moment as its own entity. Finding balance.
"She is our next step."
"Don't play their game -- make them play yours."
"Heroes don't accept the world the way it is."
"Live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be."
"So you just treat it all like it was up to you -— the world in the balance -— 'cause you never know when it is."
"If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."
"You know how you're always trying to save, oh, every single person in the world? Did it ever occur to you you were one of them?"
"The good fight, yeah? You never know until you've been tested. I get that now."
"I'll tell them that I'm different. I'll tell them it's... actually a good thing."