liammars
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Post by liammars on Aug 4, 2010 22:11:53 GMT -5
Brian, since #23 and your skilfully making your previous "Spike" miniseries into the canon continuity (yeah, we all saw ), and in hearing how you've basically got an intercompany crossover under your pen, I'm impressed. I hope there won't be too tight a continuity with the ongoing Angel series. I have up on that after 17, with the exception of #23. Buying "Spike" comes from my liking your work and it being a Season Eight tie-in, if you squint at it... through a glass darkly! But yeah, good stuff. I want to be able to infer "what Angel does after after the fall" from "Buffy" and from "Spike".
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Aug 4, 2010 22:01:58 GMT -5
God, I'm so excited for this series!
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Aug 4, 2010 22:00:27 GMT -5
Nice essay! I recently rewrote the Xander Wikipedia article. I would love if this discussion could be a part of it. Hopefully there's an academic out there who strikes the same note as you!
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Jan 11, 2009 14:43:21 GMT -5
To the guy who said "Lorne's not gay": well, that's hopeful at best. The point I was making was he is clearly encoded as gay. I.e. 'different' and charismatic Paul Lynd-ish young man with a passion for entertainment industry and musicals who leaves behind his prejudiced and backwards homeworld to go to LA where he'll feel accepted.
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Dec 19, 2008 12:29:12 GMT -5
I'm personally hoping beyond hope that when we see Oz in Jane Espenson's arc, he'll be gay or bi. It would make Willow and Oz's relationship so sublimely ironic, and I can see Seth Green getting a kick out of it. Male homosexuality is a point of contention with heterosexual teenage male viewers, who were a large part of Buffy's fanbase during the airing of the series (perhaps most of whom have waned). The whole idea was that while there were gay males in the Buffyverse, they were minor (Larry, Scott, Nostroyev) or it was only hinted at (to varying degrees) for comedy (Andrew, Lorne and Clem). On another level, Whedon himself is by no means homophobic - he has hinted at Spike and Angel as having had some sort of "intimate" sexual encounter in the past, and even compared them to Apollo and Midnighter in a Whedonesque post. Jane Espenson posted once in an interview that she writes for Giles and Ethan baring in mind an exotic college-years homoerotic backstory for them. The other problem is most of the characters are female and the show's central theme is female empowerment, and lesbianism can be a beautiful metaphor for that. Willow and Tara's relationship was also very critically successful, and the lesbian community was very proud of it. So the fact that we have Willow, Tara, Kennedy, Satsu, unnamed Slayer decoy and a random fairy as lesbians and Buffy perhaps being bisexual is sort of part of a larger tapestry of themes concerning womanhood and female-female friendship. So, yes, my point is please gay up Oz. Great post. However, it's a tough sell. You risk ostracizing the male heterosexual demographic you referred to if the creators indulge this potential twist; especially with a character whose alter-ego--the werewolf--is so entrenched in the Alpha male ideology. It would be safer to free Andrew's character if there is a need to appease this demand. The reason killing Tara was so controversial was that once you start representing minorities, and they start to empathise with those characters, it becomes important that you treat them properly (to those minorities). Outing Andrew would be effective but Whedon would, after outing him, have the obligation to write Andrew in a positive light. Already, we have jokes about Andrew's unnamed, un-addressed weirdness (read: the encoded homosexuality) leading to questionable choices (such as sending out his 'best dressed' Slayers). Representation of some sort is better than nothing, and Andrew IS a positive role model (redemption, 3-dimensional, anti-gun speech in #2 etc.) but he doesn't subvert stereotypes of gay men the way Willow does of lesbian stereotypes. Willow is a beautiful, sensual, feminine woman whose friends are mostly all straight. For like you said, a character like Oz, whose inner werewolf represents alpha masculinity, it would be an equal subversion. Of course, the unintended metaphor would be the werewolf as a metaphor for repressed homosexuality which wouldn't align well with the Veruca storyline. But it's an example of why a character like Oz should be outed before one like Andrew or Lorne.
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Dec 17, 2008 6:07:32 GMT -5
I'm personally hoping beyond hope that when we see Oz in Jane Espenson's arc, he'll be gay or bi. It would make Willow and Oz's relationship so sublimely ironic, and I can see Seth Green getting a kick out of it.
Male homosexuality is a point of contention with heterosexual teenage male viewers, who were a large part of Buffy's fanbase during the airing of the series (perhaps most of whom have waned). The whole idea was that while there were gay males in the Buffyverse, they were minor (Larry, Scott, Nostroyev) or it was only hinted at (to varying degrees) for comedy (Andrew, Lorne and Clem). On another level, Whedon himself is by no means homophobic - he has hinted at Spike and Angel as having had some sort of "intimate" sexual encounter in the past, and even compared them to Apollo and Midnighter in a Whedonesque post. Jane Espenson posted once in an interview that she writes for Giles and Ethan baring in mind an exotic college-years homoerotic backstory for them.
The other problem is most of the characters are female and the show's central theme is female empowerment, and lesbianism can be a beautiful metaphor for that. Willow and Tara's relationship was also very critically successful, and the lesbian community was very proud of it. So the fact that we have Willow, Tara, Kennedy, Satsu, unnamed Slayer decoy and a random fairy as lesbians and Buffy perhaps being bisexual is sort of part of a larger tapestry of themes concerning womanhood and female-female friendship.
So, yes, my point is please gay up Oz.
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Jan 24, 2008 16:20:28 GMT -5
Hahaha, all of the homos are on the right side of the page. Andrew, Willow, and Satsu. Random observation! Isn't it good that Buffy has a quantifiable amount of queers to speak of? Well, there's Torchwood, but when every character is bi it's too much. Somebody else made the point of Buffy being in the middle, and there's her Satsu subplot. If this were intentional, it would be saying that Drac is the paragon of all things straight and woman-loving, with Xander being straight with a dash of gay thrown in to confuse us. At the far right, we have Willow being a lesbian who may or may not have some degree of bisexual tendency, with out to-the-queer-side bi boy Andrew just before her. Of course, it's probably not intentional in the slightest.
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Mar 14, 2008 18:25:48 GMT -5
The likeness to the Renee and Satsu actresses above is impeccable.
Right, I'd say credits may vary differently on an arc-by-arc basis (for example, No Future With You was a lot like a backdoor pilot on TV.) But in general, I'd group it as:
Cast: Buffy Xander Willow Dawn Giles
Special guests: Faith Andrew Renee Satsu Twilight Voll
Occasiional guest: Leah Rowena Simone Robin Rona Vi
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Mar 11, 2008 10:28:14 GMT -5
Well, Buffy Season Eight is a very well-constructed story. If you dislike it because it continues the story, sets up plot points and evolves the characters then you are every bit as stupid as the naysayers who think Lost is "too confusing". Sorry, if that sounds harsh.
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Mar 11, 2008 10:23:53 GMT -5
Both "Tales" series are canon. "The Chain" depicted a bunch of the Slayers from Tales of the Slayers, and "Wolves at the Gate, Part 1" obliquely referenced "Antique".
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liammars
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Post by liammars on Jan 18, 2008 17:43:37 GMT -5
While I love the idea of the Faith/Giles series, its first arc kicked off by K. Vaughan or Whedon of course, I think a Slayer Confidential-style series in the vein of JLA Confidential and JSA Confidential would be neat. It could basically tell stories set in the Buffyverse without necessarily featuring Buffy and the gang, although of course it could.
I think this idea would suit a guy like Joss, who likes to write these empowered female characters. For example, we could have an issue about a Saudi Slayer who fights her oppression, or an issue told from the perspective of an old character (say, Scott Hope) in a difficult situation, encountering Buffy again or some other Slayer, without necessarily messing with the main arcs in Buffy and Angel. They could even relegate the details of plot threads (for example, how about Dawn-at-college stories). A showcase title would really be the most flexible thing, and would allow for say, weeks at a time featuring popular teamups like Faith/Giles or Dru/Darla or whoever else.
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