>he torpedoed his own point by denouncing his regular bete noire Buffy the >Vampire Slayer, and as usual completely misreading the show's ethical >content
Your opinion. My opinion, still, is that some BTVS episodes suggest choices made by protagonists are reasonable or "righteous" -- when the choices are only "righteous" in the context of the rigged universe created by the scriptwriters. In the example I cited at the panel, I made the point that it's no wonder Buffy preferred jumping out a window to fight monsters to taking a school test. Her school and her world are hell, all the teachers are clueless or evil (excepting Jenny Calendar, diehard fans always point out). The reply to this from another audience member was that Buffy later had to pay for her decision to jump out the window. Her choice had consequences, therefore the writers were playing fair and showing how the world really works.
My feeling is that the Buffy writers often glamorized impulsive actions that are kind of unglamorous in the world we actually live in. Mileage varies. Some fans may argue that "seemingly glamorous" actions of Buffy protagonists (things we think about doing in our world and discard as wrong or unwise) are later shown to be sordid or unwise in the Buffy world, too. My feeling is that the Buffyverse is rigged to make some unwise (and immoral) actions look like they make sense. Some viewers see through this and consider the distortion to be a deliberate, artful component of the show. I feel like the writers are trying to jerk me around. I don't enjoy seeing moral dilemmas distorted in the Buffyverse to make impulsive responses look more attractive or reasonable than they actually are in the real world.
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Date: 2007-03-15 06:51 am (UTC)>Vampire Slayer, and as usual completely misreading the show's ethical
>content
Your opinion. My opinion, still, is that some BTVS episodes suggest choices made by protagonists are reasonable or "righteous" -- when the choices are only "righteous" in the context of the rigged universe created by the scriptwriters. In the example I cited at the panel, I made the point that it's no wonder Buffy preferred jumping out a window to fight monsters to taking a school test. Her school and her world are hell, all the teachers are clueless or evil (excepting Jenny Calendar, diehard fans always point out). The reply to this from another audience member was that Buffy later had to pay for her decision to jump out the window. Her choice had consequences, therefore the writers were playing fair and showing how the world really works.
My feeling is that the Buffy writers often glamorized impulsive actions that are kind of unglamorous in the world we actually live in. Mileage varies. Some fans may argue that "seemingly glamorous" actions of Buffy protagonists (things we think about doing in our world and discard as wrong or unwise) are later shown to be sordid or unwise in the Buffy world, too. My feeling is that the Buffyverse is rigged to make some unwise (and immoral) actions look like they make sense. Some viewers see through this and consider the distortion to be a deliberate, artful component of the show. I feel like the writers are trying to jerk me around. I don't enjoy seeing moral dilemmas distorted in the Buffyverse to make impulsive responses look more attractive or reasonable than they actually are in the real world.