Disappointed in victory, aka Why writers are EVIL
Ken
redemption keep coming up, over and over, with as much, if not more,
ferocity, passion and conviction than ever before. I think I know why:
It's because JW, MN, DF and the rest of the ME writers have given
redemptionists and purists victory--without vindication. We who've argued
for Spike's redemption have gotten that--while those arguing a soulless
Spike could never get redemption have gotten that. And we've gotten WHAT we
debated but not HOW we wanted it.
In short, redemptionists have gotten the Ends without the Means while the
purists have gotten the Means without the Ends.
I don't know about other redemptionists, but I wanted Spike to defy his
soulless state and still work for redemption, to recognize and repent of his
wrongdoing and work on penance. Even if he could never completely atone for
his actions, forgivenss isn't always about what the transgressor needs, but
what needs to be given (ala "I Only Have Eyes For You").
And I could imagine how like kissing one's sibling is to purists in winning
the soulless Spike can never deserve redemption debate, at least on
BTVS--only to have him get it anyway by way of soul.
To put it another way, WRITERS ARE EVIL!!! They are sick twisted evil people
who lie and torture fans for money--and park illegally without underwear!
-- Ken from Chicago
P.S. Blame the writers! Blame the writers! (They're not a real country
anyway.)
himiko
>
> In short, redemptionists have gotten the Ends without the Means while the
> purists have gotten the Means without the Ends.
>
> I don't know about other redemptionists, but I wanted Spike to defy his
> soulless state and still work for redemption, to recognize and repent of his
> wrongdoing and work on penance. Even if he could never completely atone for
> his actions, forgivenss isn't always about what the transgressor needs, but
> what needs to be given (ala "I Only Have Eyes For You").
I agree, but I'm not sure that possibility is totally gone. It all
depends on 1) what Spike's motivation for getting that soul was, and
2) how he will react to having it.
If his motivation actually was to become a better person, if it was
even the haziest awareness that he wasn't what Buffy deserved because
of being evil, then the trials were his version of working for
redemption, symbolic acknowledgements of a repentence he probably
could not yet fully experience. We won't get to see most of it, of
course, but I think we saw enough in S6 to fanwank into Spike slowly
grasping the concept of redemption and stumbling in that general
direction....
IF
IF
BIG IF
...if his reaction to having the thing is consistent. I.E. he should
not react as violently as Angel since he knew what was coming and was
as prepared for it as was possible. Also, he was already partly
worked into repentence mode even if he couldn't recognize what that
odd "wrong" feeling was, and actually has a few recent memories of
actions he can feel good about and count toward atonement. It would
also be nice if his ensoulment were made easier by Scoobies rendering
support and nurturing; although that's really more because of their
need for redemption than his.
>
> To put it another way, WRITERS ARE EVIL!!! They are sick twisted evil people
> who lie and torture fans for money--and park illegally without underwear!
>
Sing it out, brother! (They also get mustard on their shirts and then
expect the oppressed masses down at the dry cleaning service to get it
out.)
himiko