Very interesting and entertaining article, thank you. I don't completely agree with it all, and I confess it has been a while since I've seen many of the episodes, so I may not be remembering things correctly, but still a very interesting piece. A few thoughts:
I'm curious to know more about why you think Xander treats women in general so poorly, though I'm also a little afraid. Your article definitely comes off as Xander-hate to me. :) But, I think Buffy is an Other not because she's a woman, but because she's the slayer, particularly in the first couple of seasons.
At the same time (and this is slightly contradictory to what I just said) I always thought of Xander as the Other, because he is so "normal"; he's the only one who doesn't have some special power (slayer, vampire, witch, former demon, etc), which made him, in the context of the Scoobies, the odd one out. Hmm... perhaps that's why he can't sympathize with Angel when the others can...
I also agree with some of the other replies, such as Citizenjess, A2ZMOM, and Youngest_One, that Xander isn't that bad a guy and didn't necessarily do these things for spite, to best Angel, or to win back Buffy. True, Xander has never really trusted Angel, even when he was a good guy, but I can't completely fault Zander for that, and he was always open with them about feeling that way. I felt that Xander had gotten over his feelings for Buffy (though perhaps more so after season 2, I don't really remember now), but still cared deeply for her as a friend. And I agree that people (both characters and posters to this list) were certainly easy to overlook all the murdering and torturing Angel did just in the episodes leading up to "Becoming." I want to see the good in people as much as anyone (which is also why I'm defending Xander), but I certainly can't blame Xander for doing what he did. There are lots of people (in real life) who break up with a person simply because they cheated on them, and their friends immediately vilify that person; why shouldn't Buffy's friends vilify Angel for treating her so poorly (never mind the fact that he's a murderer)? I definitely feel that Xander did what he did solely because he had Buffy's best interest at heart, as well as the gang's and his own. Whether he really knows what's in Buffy's best interest is another question, but I think that is what governed his choices, not wanting her as his "prize."
Perhaps his thinking he was behaving with Buffy's best interest at heart is the reason he was never punished -- though I agree with Youngest_One that having his eye gouged out was pretty severe punishment.
Anyway, thanks much for the thoughts.
PS. I recently posted a survey about "Once More, With Feeling" and Musicals. I hope you'll respond.
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Date: 2008-09-14 01:37 am (UTC)I'm curious to know more about why you think Xander treats women in general so poorly, though I'm also a little afraid. Your article definitely comes off as Xander-hate to me. :) But, I think Buffy is an Other not because she's a woman, but because she's the slayer, particularly in the first couple of seasons.
At the same time (and this is slightly contradictory to what I just said) I always thought of Xander as the Other, because he is so "normal"; he's the only one who doesn't have some special power (slayer, vampire, witch, former demon, etc), which made him, in the context of the Scoobies, the odd one out. Hmm... perhaps that's why he can't sympathize with Angel when the others can...
I also agree with some of the other replies, such as Citizenjess, A2ZMOM, and Youngest_One, that Xander isn't that bad a guy and didn't necessarily do these things for spite, to best Angel, or to win back Buffy. True, Xander has never really trusted Angel, even when he was a good guy, but I can't completely fault Zander for that, and he was always open with them about feeling that way. I felt that Xander had gotten over his feelings for Buffy (though perhaps more so after season 2, I don't really remember now), but still cared deeply for her as a friend. And I agree that people (both characters and posters to this list) were certainly easy to overlook all the murdering and torturing Angel did just in the episodes leading up to "Becoming." I want to see the good in people as much as anyone (which is also why I'm defending Xander), but I certainly can't blame Xander for doing what he did. There are lots of people (in real life) who break up with a person simply because they cheated on them, and their friends immediately vilify that person; why shouldn't Buffy's friends vilify Angel for treating her so poorly (never mind the fact that he's a murderer)? I definitely feel that Xander did what he did solely because he had Buffy's best interest at heart, as well as the gang's and his own. Whether he really knows what's in Buffy's best interest is another question, but I think that is what governed his choices, not wanting her as his "prize."
Perhaps his thinking he was behaving with Buffy's best interest at heart is the reason he was never punished -- though I agree with Youngest_One that having his eye gouged out was pretty severe punishment.
Anyway, thanks much for the thoughts.
PS. I recently posted a survey about "Once More, With Feeling" and Musicals. I hope you'll respond.