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Date Posted: 09:02:33 04/25/07 Wed
Author: Age
Subject: Re: Long Winded Look at 8.1 (Spoilers) Part Two.
In reply to: Age 's message, "Long Winded Look at 8.1 (Spoilers) Part One." on 09:00:45 04/25/07 Wed

Of course, from an outsider’s point of view, the destruction of Sunnydale could be construed as a bomb attack and a pretty huge one at that. However, reminding the reader of 9/11 is the intention, not equating it, as anyone who is familiar with the end of last season understands; nor is this Voll’s perspective, in my opinion. He’s sees the huge hole in the ground as something much worse than a mere bomb attack and Buffy more dangerous than any Bin Laden. He’s sees it as the future of America, where all the structure, all the institutions, all morals have been razed to the ground; it is a symbol of the anarchy that he will save America from by taking out these hard line radicals who are so well organized that he refers to them as an army. To Voll then Buffy is, I assume, a monster worse than any demon or vampire.

Note here in passing that this re-invention, at least by Voll, of Buffy’s saving the world reminded me of the change in perspective from season five to six in which Buffy’s world saving swan dive to close the portal was refashioned from act of sacrifice to grandiose adolescent suicide. Just as it wasn’t over for her then, the activation of the potentials hasn’t diminished her work as slayer now. The difference is Buffy’s reaction: then, she longed for the good old days of youthful heaven and was understandably depressed; now, she has a more a more adult perspective, and is getting on with what’s needed and is sucking it up (and unable at least at present to open to others because she has a role to play in the formation of the new slayers.) However, looking back at the final episode of the TV series, I believe that the struggle Buffy and the slayers will now have was already envisioned. The very positive tone of the finale and the supposed promise of Buffy having a more normal life were only of the moment because Buffy’s speech in that episode was a call to be strong. The activation of the potentials was not an ending, as the end of the TV series implied, but a suggestion that women do have the strength to control their own lives, but they have to choose to be powerful and act on that choice. The strength and power that Buffy bestows on the others by changing a patriarchal rule implies the need to have them: the fight goes on. Buffy as a cultural icon has shown how the rules can be changed, but there’s no illusion about the condition of the world that requires such power. It’s just that now women do not have to feel alone and marginalized as was the meaning behind the one and only slayer.

Okay, back to the imagery of the two halves. The following paragraph shows the reversed order of the similar images as a means of illustrating how one half is the antithesis of the other.

Buffy’s mission begins with the four slayers, including herself, acting together on their choice, jumping down from a helicopter, tethered to it, but then letting go to have faith in an experienced leader who is teaching them to have courage and face their demons literally and figuratively; then, there is a respectful and informal conversation back at command central between the boss, Xander, and one of the assistants, leading to the fairly easy success of the mission because it’s been well planned and executed with thorough back up in order to keep ALL the slayers alive, hence valuing them as persons; whereas, Voll’s mission begins with a conversation in a helicopter that he overpowers and ends with a single guy, lowered into the Sunnydale crater, but left tethered and alone to face his doom, to be matched further on by the view of Amy alone, mad and on her knees. The order of the similar but significantly different elements of both halves are reversed with Buffy’s meant to show a movement forward based on the thematic meaning behind the activation of the potentials, the inclusion of both women and men as persons of value, human beings the world over, and not just as American (or any national identity) men; while Voll’s is meant to show a reaction against this ‘hard-line’ ideology with the one guy left to his fate (it seems; although he does survive) referring back to the patriarchal structure that used to send in one expendable girl to do the slaying, with plans, I would imagine, to use Amy just like that.

Note in passing a few other differences: Buffy’s heading the mission is hands on; Voll’s is not. Buffy and Xander, a woman and a man, share the responsibility of leadership; whereas there’s only Voll so far. Buffy looks very young; whereas Voll looks old. Buffy’s mission is to kill those creatures that would prey literally on human beings; while Voll’s is to kill a human being, Buffy. (Originally, as we all know, the activation of only one slayer at a time would have dealt with any power the woman might have gained through her death at an early age. Slayers used to really only be decoys, bright shiny scrumptious-looking female targets, but packing an unseen and watcher controlled punch. Their value came only in their outward appearance as vampire fodder; their power as watcher council agents from being demon soul vessels.)

One last thing before I start the page-by page. Wouldn’t it make sense that Buffy’s slayer organization could be seen as a threat by more established authorities? We the viewers and now readers are familiar with her; we trust her motivations due to seven years of experience. Others have not been so privy to her life. How realistic is the current story? Here is an organization dedicated to exercising power and putting down creatures that don’t really exist. How does this translate into the real world where the only creatures you can put down are actually human beings? How does a super strong slayer relate to the real world? How does a Superman or a Spiderman relate? Can they be related or are these characters simply comic book creations that we read for entertainment and wish fulfillment? Certainly having a powerful woman as a comic book heroine sends a valuable message out to women and men, changing culture, and giving permission, as it were, to women that they can be just as physical as men. But Buffy’s literal mode of operation is thus violence, as is that of other superheroes. While there is a metaphorical emotional dimension to her slaying, what kind of message is really being delivered here?

End of Part Two.

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