Post by wenxina on Apr 29, 2009 10:19:57 GMT -5
Okay, I'm prepared to go in alone on this one. I'll start with a qualifier: I don't like Rona, but I don't hate her either. However, I thought hers was a necessary voice of dissent in the house. Here's why.
1. Being one of the more prominent Potentials, she provided balance in terms of how a Potential would react to the notion of a destiny that usually stamps an expiration date of under 20 years old on their ass. Kennedy was all gung-ho about the possibility of being a Slayer. Chao-Ahn probably understood about every two words that was spoken, and even she freaked out at Giles' rather accurate illustrations. Vi was nervous. Amanda was more thrilled about finding a place where she wasn't the only freak... ya know, the sisterhood deal. But no one resented it. Except Rona. Which is exactly how Buffy reacted back in the day. More than once, she rejected her calling. Rona is pretty much a throwback to those days, a dramatic foil for just how far Buffy's come. Yes, the "Ding dong, the witch is dead" line was unnecessary (and probably because the writers hated Rona as well). But other than that, Rona acted like a scared girl, and that I thought was more realistic than have her be all heroic, when she was essentially powerless. She fought when she had to, to survive, but there were never any heroics on her part.
2. Rona also served as ironic commentary: the whole thing about why she "died" in training because the black girl always goes first. Not that I'm a horror movie aficionado, but I can't recall a single black girl surviving a horror movie. Well, except maybe Brandy in "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", but even then, she appeared to have died before the rather lame revelation that it was a superficial cut instead of the disembowelment we were expecting.
3. Rona is one of the 3 only Slayers who have ever wielded the Scythe in battle (in present day, that is, which discounts Melaka). Kennedy may have taken the Scythe back to battle, but she immediately tossed it over to Buffy. Satsu caught it in midair before plummeting down the side of the building in "WatG". Other than Buffy, we've only seen Faith and then Rona use the Scythe, which on a meta level, speaks of just how empowered Rona had become.
And so, I don't hate the girl. She's nowhere on my list of favorite characters, but she never bugged me any more than Kennedy bugged me, and hey, I really didn't care too much about Kennedy either.
1. Being one of the more prominent Potentials, she provided balance in terms of how a Potential would react to the notion of a destiny that usually stamps an expiration date of under 20 years old on their ass. Kennedy was all gung-ho about the possibility of being a Slayer. Chao-Ahn probably understood about every two words that was spoken, and even she freaked out at Giles' rather accurate illustrations. Vi was nervous. Amanda was more thrilled about finding a place where she wasn't the only freak... ya know, the sisterhood deal. But no one resented it. Except Rona. Which is exactly how Buffy reacted back in the day. More than once, she rejected her calling. Rona is pretty much a throwback to those days, a dramatic foil for just how far Buffy's come. Yes, the "Ding dong, the witch is dead" line was unnecessary (and probably because the writers hated Rona as well). But other than that, Rona acted like a scared girl, and that I thought was more realistic than have her be all heroic, when she was essentially powerless. She fought when she had to, to survive, but there were never any heroics on her part.
2. Rona also served as ironic commentary: the whole thing about why she "died" in training because the black girl always goes first. Not that I'm a horror movie aficionado, but I can't recall a single black girl surviving a horror movie. Well, except maybe Brandy in "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", but even then, she appeared to have died before the rather lame revelation that it was a superficial cut instead of the disembowelment we were expecting.
3. Rona is one of the 3 only Slayers who have ever wielded the Scythe in battle (in present day, that is, which discounts Melaka). Kennedy may have taken the Scythe back to battle, but she immediately tossed it over to Buffy. Satsu caught it in midair before plummeting down the side of the building in "WatG". Other than Buffy, we've only seen Faith and then Rona use the Scythe, which on a meta level, speaks of just how empowered Rona had become.
And so, I don't hate the girl. She's nowhere on my list of favorite characters, but she never bugged me any more than Kennedy bugged me, and hey, I really didn't care too much about Kennedy either.
