(no subject)

[butterfly]

Note to self: People like metaphor.

I mean, I have more to say on the AI crew as parts of Angel (I didn't even mention the Doyle-Cordy-Wesley tango of faith and humanity). Plus, I could go on about how everyone in Buffy is a representation of a part of her. Metaphor is fun, after all. As is the word of the season -- last year's word was 'champion' but this year's word was definitely 'team'. Interesting shift.

Anyway, here's a big wave to the new people. I'm very flattered that you like my style. I don't always post so much, though. Only when I feel inspired.

Comments

Re: difference in how Fred & Cordelia are regarded

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I guess that's the crux--not only did I never like Fred, I think she's one the worst character Joss ever created, a total Mary Sue. I never understood why she went from victim Angel rescued in Pylea to resident indispensible science geek.

Because Joss adores crazy-brilliant (which Fred started out as and Wesley developed into) characters, mostly. The culmination of that obsession was possibly River in Firefly, but he probably still enjoys that kind of character. I thought it made sense that she'd work her hardest to be indispensible -- her big talent is survival, and to accomplish that, she needed to be able to handle quite a few other talents. But her big talent was survival. Her power was not to let them take her, as she put it.

Whereas with Cordelia, annoying and shallow as she could be at times, I think her character showed real growth over the first three seasons of Angel. (Let's not talk about the Pylea-Groo and Connor-Jasmine arcs; I thought Joss was on crack to approve those plots.)

Oh! I can't explain Pylea and Groo (because it's been a bit since I watched the episodes -- once I rewatch, I'll let you know what I think -- well, let lj know, most likely), but I've always thought that the Connor-Jasmine arc was the culmination of the negative side of Cordelia Chase. Jasmine is the most extreme that Cordy could be, in any world (and I'd say the same of Fred and Illyia). I adored the Connor-Jasmine arc. Plus, that was when I fell in love with Fred. I wasn't a fan of her until she reminded me that she was, above all else, a survivor, but that she'd developed into a hero.

No matter how lame the Angel/Cordelia storyline got, it was realer to me than than Wes/Fred. I always considered Wesley's infatuation with Fred to be creepy-stalkery, and a sign of his all-too-obvious (and quite serious) Issues. The triangle with Gunn and Fred actually made sense--unrequited interest in a woman he romanticizes meshes with how Wesley's character is presented. I don't deny Wesley had feelings for her, or that Fred didn't care about Wesley as a friend. But to have Fred decide she feels the same made no sense.

I never bought A/C -- though, in some of my rewatching, it's felt more real, but that's mostly because I know how it ends. Always liked Wesley's feelings for Fred, even before I liked her. I agree about the issues, but I've always felt that was the point -- this is the ultimate tragic love story, where even in death, the lovers aren't reunited. It's twisted and lost and broken, this love, yet for all that, when they did get together, for me, it shined so much the brighter for the darkness.

And Fred's side made sense to me. First, she fell for Angel, because he saved her. Then, she fell for Gunn, who treated her like a girl (I mean that in both good and bad ways). Finally, she fell for Wesley, who always, for all his obsessions, treated her as an equal. And at the end, Illyria loved Wesley again, but this time, with grief and pain and unfulfilled longing. It's a progression of relationships, from child to girl to woman to a step beyond. Fred always moved forward, step by step.