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Jan. 29th, 2004 12:09 amI think that one of my biggest problems with this season isn't even directly tied to Spike. It's just the whole "morality should be black and white" theme in general.
Like, I don't get what's wrong with Angel taking over Wolfram and Hart. If he hadn't, really seriously evil people would've taken it over, and used it to do many horrible evil awful things. By being there and preventing even 1/10th of those things, Angel is doing more good than he'd ever manage to do in his tiny, broke little detective organization.
And now, when he wants to do something good, he has immense resources to do it. He can accomplish so much more from this position than he ever could have before.
Should he have lied and erased his friends' memories to get them there? Of course not. But the actual being there, trying to change the system instead of just striking against it ... that's the right thing to do. That's the adult thing to do. Morality is not black and white; it's all shades of grey. Trying to change something is going to be a lot more successful than trying to tear it down. (This isn't to say there isn't a place for those who do fight the injustices of the "system," but it's not inherently wrong to try to change the system from inside, either.)
Now this doesn't mean that it's not dangerous. Yes, Angel and his friends are running the risk of becoming corrupted. But this is their own fault; Gunn, apparently, has given in to the evil that surrounds them, and perhaps others are leaning in this direction too. This is because of their own decisions; it's not the inevitable outcome of working at Wolfram and Hart (though apparently we're supposed to think it is?)
Last week we saw Angel longing for black and white, and Spike, of all people, arguing for it. (Which is probably the largest reason this Spike makes absolutely no sense to me.) To me, this is a weakness in both of them, a longing for childish simplicity instead of a decision to live in the real world, where things are complicated and easy answers aren't always just spelled out for you.
But apparently, we're just supposed to be longing for the black and white along with Angel? I just completely don't get it.
( more bitching about Spike specifically (and the end of grey-area Spike) )
Like, I don't get what's wrong with Angel taking over Wolfram and Hart. If he hadn't, really seriously evil people would've taken it over, and used it to do many horrible evil awful things. By being there and preventing even 1/10th of those things, Angel is doing more good than he'd ever manage to do in his tiny, broke little detective organization.
And now, when he wants to do something good, he has immense resources to do it. He can accomplish so much more from this position than he ever could have before.
Should he have lied and erased his friends' memories to get them there? Of course not. But the actual being there, trying to change the system instead of just striking against it ... that's the right thing to do. That's the adult thing to do. Morality is not black and white; it's all shades of grey. Trying to change something is going to be a lot more successful than trying to tear it down. (This isn't to say there isn't a place for those who do fight the injustices of the "system," but it's not inherently wrong to try to change the system from inside, either.)
Now this doesn't mean that it's not dangerous. Yes, Angel and his friends are running the risk of becoming corrupted. But this is their own fault; Gunn, apparently, has given in to the evil that surrounds them, and perhaps others are leaning in this direction too. This is because of their own decisions; it's not the inevitable outcome of working at Wolfram and Hart (though apparently we're supposed to think it is?)
Last week we saw Angel longing for black and white, and Spike, of all people, arguing for it. (Which is probably the largest reason this Spike makes absolutely no sense to me.) To me, this is a weakness in both of them, a longing for childish simplicity instead of a decision to live in the real world, where things are complicated and easy answers aren't always just spelled out for you.
But apparently, we're just supposed to be longing for the black and white along with Angel? I just completely don't get it.
( more bitching about Spike specifically (and the end of grey-area Spike) )