(no subject)

[rusty_halo]

Looking on the bright side: flashbacks! And really good flashbacks. We get to see the first time Spike meets Angelus! And it couldn't be slashier! That's a very good thing. I'd have hated to see it purposely deconstruct the fanon that has created such a slashy vibe between Spike and Angelus early on. Instead the show is playing into it. That's nice of them.

Umm ... Spike and Harmony. See, I don't mind Spike moving on with Harmony. It's consensual, he hasn't had sex in two years, what's the problem? But what worries me is the way that it will be presented. For example, I always felt that there was nothing wrong with Spike/Anya in Entropy; it was two damaged people finding comfort and helping each other move on. Instead the show presented it as something that they should be ashamed of, and that Spike should feel guilty for, and that Buffy had a right to be upset about. And most upsetting was that Spike was shown as "improved" in S7 because he rejected Anya's advances; I would've thought it much healthier for him and Anya to develop a relationship and for him to move on. But the show seemed to want us to think that Spike should be chaste and wait for Buffy, her pathetic little puppy dog, not allowed to be equal with her, but not allowed to move on either.

So basically, I'm fine with Spike/Harmony if it's just to show that Spike's got his rocks back. But if they're trying to make us think that it's bad and wrong and icky and a betrayal of Buffy, well, then I'm pissed. And if they want us to feel bad for Harmony, who is a remorseless, soulless vampire, when at the same time they expected us to sympathize with Buffy in S6 (who did the exact same thing, used a soulless creature for sex, plus threw in some violent and unprovoked physical and mental abuse) ... well, that pisses me off. What a perfect example of the ME gender divide. It's wrong to use Harmony, even though she doesn't have a soul, because she's a woman. And women are always poor pathetic victims that we have to feel sorry for. Whereas using Spike is perfectly okay, because he's just an icky nasty (male) soulless vampire.

Anyway. But if they don't push the value judgement, it could be okay. He really does hit her out of self defense. And it's not like he's forcing her to have sex.

Stupid ME and their stupid sexual prudery.

Umm ... other good things. Oh! The thing about Angel trying to mold Spike in his own image. That's cool. And the hands in the sunlight--very cool.

Oh yeah, and Spike's corporeal! That's good. He's competing for the stupid fucking shanshu which I hate with a passion, and he's behaving like a sociopathic three year old, and it's done in the lamest way possible, but hey! At least he's corporeal, and still a vampire. It could be worse.

Can you tell I'm procrastinating on the whole "studying for midterms" thing?

Off to get one hour of sleep before I have to get up for work. Pray the jackhammers don't start up before I can get a full hour in.

Comments

[paratti.livejournal.com]

I'm taking the view that maybe now he's on the boys show he's allowed at least some casual sex without being hung up to dry. And the poor boy does need to get laid. Hell, he's been so starved for any physical contact one of the first things he does is hug Gunn - and we're back in the slashy place.

There is also the amazing fact that he's allowed to beat Angel in a fight at least once. This is I will enjoy. Popcorn maybe involved. That has me gobsmacked - and I put that down to SDK - who fucking owes Spike something.

And there's a major player outside the on-screen cast sending the deus-ex machina coughLilahcough (ok only part of that is wishful thinking, the rest of it is pure logic).

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

There is also the amazing fact that he's allowed to beat Angel in a fight at least once.

That is true. Hee!

[http://users.livejournal.com/automatedalice_/]

i apologise for posting a one-liner, but it's 7:30am. ;)

Stupid ME and their stupid sexual prudery.

i'd argue that it's stupid ME & their stupid understanding of feminism. the wacked-out gender things (abusing men is OK! girl power!) is classic of elementary views on feminism. it's what i encountered, almost without fail, every time a man walked into a women's studies class & tried to figure out everything in 3 hours or less. i think joss is guilty of this. & it's squicky. ME is not feminist. buffy is not a feminist character. she's not given enough agency to be a feminist character, & spike is the victim of that pseudo-feminism. & i'm afraid that harmony will be as well. =P

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Well yes, that. ITA -- have you read miggy's great essay on the topic?

I was sort of hoping AtS wouldn't be so constrained by it, though, since they're less with the "girl power" and explicit attempts at feminism than BtVS was.

[shapinglight]

I have been trying not to be totally thrown by this, and it's hard reading it through the filter of Bubonic on Sparklies. I am going to enjoy the slashy flashbacks, but apart from that - enh! I don't like the way Spike tells Angel that the PTB's (whoever) don't know which side he's on, whereas it's obvious which side Angel is on. Obviously, Spike means that Angel has chosen Evil, but I can't help thinking that ME are going to do yet another Will Spike Go Evil? plot, and I'm so sick of them! And I don't like Angel saying that he didn't make Spike into a monster but instead just allowed the monster within to come out. I feel that's Fury yelling about how Spike even with a soul is not a good guy, yet again. Oh, and getting in a few of those Spike As Misogynist digs again.

Joss wasn't kidding when he said that Spike wasn't going to be the same guy he was in BtVS. It's like that person never existed, as if all the colours that made up his character have become grey (hey, a Lilah reference!)

And, yes, that's twice that things to do with Spike have mysteriously arrived in the mail. Who is sending them?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I don't know ... maybe I'm just bitter because of the soul. There aren't even words for how much I hated the whole soul plot and "Spike has to have a soul to be good" blah blah blah essentialist bullshit.

But now that he has a soul, and I had to endure the whole stupid trite patronizing story around it -- I want that respected. After everything he went through (and I went through as a Spike fan), I want it acknowledged. Wacky vampire neighbor just isn't doing the job.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

We used to talk about this in chat last season... in order to fully achieve redemption in the Jossverse, you've got the have Breasts of Redemption (which is why Willow was welcomed back with open arms even after jumping headlong into the Evil end of the pool with soul intact). And of course, that would also explain why Angel is apparently on the redemption fasttrack. ;-)

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

that would also explain why Angel is apparently on the redemption fasttrack

LMFAO!

Yes, totally agree on the breasts of redemption thing. Could it be any more blatant?