Sarah's reaction to Buffy/Satsu

[KingofCretins]

Yeah, I do remember the fictional outburst of homophobia very well.

And they knew the context. You knew the context even if you had a general idea who Satsu was and red Joss' and Scott's interviews on the day the book came out. Satsu is under Buffy, Satsu is in love with Buffy, Buffy is just experimenting. Yay, context.

The only recollection I have of opinions formed solely on the basis that Satsu's a girl were from the enthusiastic supporters.

[CowboyGuy]

Actually I am surprised at myself for thinking so against it in the first place. As a homosexual myself I am usually in support of things of this nature. But I just was so "OMG..." over Buffy herself experimenting. It just felt so out of left field to me. Ah well, life goes on.

[commandercool]

The Onion just reviewed the issue in a way that I feel VERY concisely sums up how I feel:
Issue: B. Inane media hype: D-

[Lukee]

diablorobotico said:

Hey, good for her for being cool with it. Maybe now some of the fans will, if not start liking it, at least calm down a little and come in off the ledge. At the very least, this should put an end to the "Sarah would NEVER have gone along with this storyline!! " comments.

It doesn't matter if Sarah would have gone along with the storyline really. Its the fans that feel it was out of character for Buffy, people just didn't react great to it.

I still dint agree with it and think it was wrong to have her do that but its something ya gotta deal with really theres nothing we Can do then just sit and read. I do think it will lead to a good storyline i just don't agree with her being such a Parker.

plus LOL at her reaction

[El Diablo Robotico]

kingofcretins said:

Yeah, I do remember the fictional outburst of homophobia very well.

And they knew the context. You knew the context even if you had a general idea who Satsu was and red Joss' and Scott's interviews on the day the book came out. Satsu is under Buffy, Satsu is in love with Buffy, Buffy is just experimenting. Yay, context.

The only recollection I have of opinions formed solely on the basis that Satsu's a girl were from the enthusiastic supporters.

I think you've got a little bit of selective memory going on there. The day the issue came out, before we even read the issue and had nothing but the NY Times article to go on, the most vocal opinions were split into two main factions: "Hurray for Buffy for being open-minded!" and "This is horrible! Buffy would never-ever-ever sleep with a girl !" The discussions about context started to come late in the day, when people had actually gotten and read the issue, and had a chance to calm down and think it over a bit.

This is really two very separate questions, and you seem to be ignoring one and just dealing with the other. The first one comes from the negative portion of the immediate, knee-jerk reaction: would Buffy, in the right situation, ever have sex with another woman, or is she absolutely, positively 100% straight? And to me, that's the question that Sarah's reaction here settles once and for all. Neither Joss, who's spent 8 years writing her, or Sarah, who spent 7 years playing her, said "Whoa, no, wait a minute--I don't think Buffy would ever go there."

The other question is the one you're bringing up, and that is, how smart a decision was it by Buffy, given Satsu's feelings toward her and Buffy's feelings (or lack thereof) in return, as well as the fact that they have a working relationship where Buffy is, basically, her boss? And on that one, I actually agree with you: right now, it doesn't look like a good move by her at all.

Unlike you, however, I'm not willing to judge and pass sentence on characters during a show's first commercial break--I'd like to wait and see the whole episode first. Also unlike you, I have enough faith in Joss to believe that this isn't just a re-hashing of Spike in S6. Maybe I'll be wrong and it'll turn out to be exactly that, but I'm willing to wait and give him the benefit of the doubt in the meantime. And unlike you (one last time), tho I agree that right now, at least, this looks like a very shaky decision by Buffy, I love it, because of all the story possibilities it opens up. Emotional ones, funny ones, painful ones. Because that's when the show was always at its best.


--edit after later re-reading-- If that last paragraph came off as angry or confrontational, it wasn't meant that way. Just saying, I wish everyone would wait and see, at least until the end of this arc, before making any kind of definitive judgments...

[littleshiva]

Man, I love Seth! Sooooo funny...

[ded1]

I agree with El Diablo Robotica.It's really two seperate issues.

Is this something Buffy would've done:I was shocked when I first saw it,but frankly I've known people who've done things that I never would have expected from them.Nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

Is this something Buffy should've done:Given what we know right now,it was probably a bad idea.I believe that their will be repercussions.

I'm real interested in seeing how it plays out in the next couple issues

[henzINNIT]

Why are we talking about this crap? haha
And for the record it was me who brought up my impression of imposed homophobia on the Batsu neysayers last time and I myself have no problem with Buffy buffing a chick.

[endofautumn]

i dont think the outrage had anything to do with homophobia, not on the majorities part.

think it was just a big change for a character we all love. And as time passes more will come to turns with it and get over it, just like Buffy will

[eriktheslayerboy]

It was just funny...and this whole thing well I am goanna wait and see how it pans out in the big picture maybe it will be a good maybe it wont..Thou in Joss we trust.

[Enisy]

In regard to the parallels between Buffy/Satsu and Buffy/Spike, I just want to point out that our arguments of "Buffy wouldn't make the same mistake again -- she must have learned something from her experiences with Spike" might, in Joss's mind, translate to arguments of "Buffy could definitely make that mistake -- she's already done it once with Spike" (which is more or less what Scott Allie stated in his interview). I mean, you'd think Xander would have learned something from his experiences with wish-fulfillment spells in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, but Joss thought the exact opposite in Once More, With Feeling: namely, that Xander's done it once, he could do it again.

Of course, that plot-point is hated and fanwanked to this very day, so I'm dreading the same for Buffy/Satsu.

[KingofCretins]

Nah, most appear happy enough to assume Xander's an idiot than to give him the benefit of fanwanking for that. I probably have fanwanked it, but I can't even remember how. Mostly I just shake my head.

Buffy/Satsu came pre-packaged with fanwank -- Buffy is experimenting, and will face various emotional consequences but generally be okay about it and going right on being vaguely disconnected, unhappy Buffy. Which, of course, begs the question... so why'd we do it, again? *shrug*.

[alycat7]

I love Sarah's reaction.

[Emmie]

diablorobotico said:

Joss and Sarah collectively form(ed) Buffy. Joss is her brain, and Sarah is her face and her voice. And if Buffy/Satsu meets with the approval of both of them, then that's good enough for me.

I think the collective Buffy is more than that. Joss is her brain in the sense that he determines what she does and how she reacts...then Sarah brings these ideas to life. They both share the heart and soul of Buffy. In some ways, Sarah is more Buffy because she immerses her self in the character, actually evoking these emotional responses. Plus other writers have written Buffy, while imo only Sarah could bring Buffy to life in live action. That's one of the things I'm missing from the Season 8 comics...when there's a very 'buffy' scene, i hear SMG's voice in my head and see her facial expressions. Together these two inspire eachother regarding the development of the character (i'm thinking of Joss and the whole 'Jimmy Stewart' comment).

[alexa]

I can't see the video
I'm glad you felt the same way I did Cowboyguy.. I was shocked at myself for reacting negatively...

[queeroid]

kingofcretins said:

Buffy is experimenting, and will face various emotional consequences

True, that's been said in interviews.

kingofcretins said:

but generally be okay about it and going right on being vaguely disconnected, unhappy Buffy.

But where did it say that?

[Tommi]

I can't see the video, can anyone get it on YouTube or somewhere?
It does sound like SMG would have been cool with the storyline... it was a bit of a shock for everyone so I'm not surprised she acted like that!

[Joe]

that's funny how she takes it. Immediantly after they tell her she's like "Is it with Willow" lmao