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Dirty Girls.
First of all I had a discussion with vague disclaimer in AOQ's LMPTM thread where I quite inadvertedly thought of something I found rather interesting (and probably very obvious):
Buffy quite possibly resents Giles sub-consciously for the way he leaves her with all the hard work and the responsibility, which might be why she pulls away from him and leans on Spike. Because Spike is her very own project, something that she's been involved in way before Giles came back with this giant new mission. She knows that she won't be able to save all the girls (a lot of fatalism in Buffy in this season), but she might be able to save Spike. Like Dawn in S5, Spike becomes a symbol of her triumph or failure.
Now I didn't think I'd have a much to say about 'Dirty Girls', but when reading the responses to AOQ's post I began thinking about Caleb, that much hated one-dimensional character. Why did ME go for such a stock villain? Or could there be more to him?
S1 had The Master, a stereo-typical 'scary monster' right out of any fairy tale, suitable for the v. young Buffy.
S2 had Spike, Dru and Angelus, all deliciously wicked, enjoying themselves and also being well-fleshed out characters. All about self-gratification and fun, they were dark mirrors of our teen heroes.
S3 had The Mayor who was a delight in all his joyus evilness, and also represented authority gone awry (also see The Council).
S4 had Adam, who I guess could be seen as an existential monster, pondering the world and working purely from reason - fitting, I guess, for a season where Buffy was at university, trying to work things out as an adult for the first time.
S5 had Glory, totally self-obsessed without a thought for anyone else, the perfect foil for a Buffy who was looking at her Slayer powers and responsibility as never before.
S6 had 'Life as the Big Bad', where the characters' flaws and problems became real and tangible, and everything sprung from internal struggles.
And now S7... S7 has The First Evil, which is in essence quite simply the concept of Evil, and how can you fight a concept? It has no face of its own, and, although sentient, has no other urge than to destroy and kill. It's minions are Bringers (blind!), Uber vamps (pure vampires without any of those pesky human traits) and - Caleb. Now people don't like Caleb. They think he's one-dimensional and annoying, and he's probably one of the most hated characters in the whole 'verse. So, having actually given this some thought, I have a few points to make about Caleb:
a) Caleb is there to be hated. That's the point. We can't hate The First, because there is quite simply nothing solid *to* hate. The Bringers and the Ubers are too mindless to care about much. But Caleb - Caleb we can hate. Some see his introduction as a cop-out. I'm not so sure. I think viewers need someone to hate, someone to focus their attention on. A physical extension of The First that Buffy could pummel.
b) He's human. He's The First most powerful and loyal servant - and he's human. He's where Warren (and Willow to a certain extent) was heading. Going into LoTR territory for a moment, he reminds me of Sauron's most faithful servant:
"The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-Dur he was, and his name is remembered in no tale, for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: 'I am the Mouth of Sauron.' [...] ...he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc."
As Caleb puts it in 'Dirty Girls':
"Just looking for answers. Just looking for the Lord in the wrong damn places. Then you showed me the light."
We've seen The First try to tempt various characters over the course of the season (Spike and Andrew most directly), but it didn't succeed. With Caleb it did - and more. He's a human turned monster - through and through.
c) It's all about pride. To quote C.S.Lewis:
"The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."
Caleb is eaten up by pride, it has eradicated everything else within him - he has no redeeming features. No humour, no quirks, no entertaining vices, no thought for anything except himself and the evil he serves. To quote Mr Lewis again (and notice how *everything* fits with Caleb):
"The other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us through our animal nature. But this [Pride] does not come through our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly. For the same reason, Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy's Pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper, by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity - that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride - just as he would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer. For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.
[..]
The real black, diabolical Pride, comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you."
(Whole chapter can be found here: The Greatest Sin. It's not very long, but very, very good. Please have a look!)
I doubt Joss Whedon ever read 'Mere Christianity', but he sure is good at creating villains, and Caleb is the very well executed. Of course we hate him. If we didn't, the writers wouldn't have done their job.
ETA: Also had thoughts on Buffy and her failed attack on the vineyard:
I've been wondering if we're supposed to see Buffy as reckless or just unlucky (maybe a bit of both?). Because she actually plans the thing rather well, far better than pretty much anything she's done before. But looking at her little speech I think I've worked it out (a little anyway):
BUFFY: We've got a new player in town. Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for the First. He's taunting us, calling us out. Says he's got something of mine. Could be another girl, could be something else. Don't know, don't care. I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of training. He's got something of mine? Fine. I'm getting it back, and you guys are coming with me.
As Giles points out, what-ever-it-is that Caleb has *could* be a stapler. Or nothing at all. And Buffy 'doesn't care' - he's taunting her, and she's going to fight back. Mostly, I think, because she finally has someone that she can fight. There are countless Bringers and Ubervamps, and killing them accomplishes next to nothing.The First itself is all smoke and mirrors - but Caleb is an actual, real opponent. It's an opportunity and she grabs it. And doesn't stop to consider if the risk is worth it. That's her failing as far as I can tell.
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Caleb is the example of what becomes of a human being that completely gave into evil, that embraced it (the metaphor of the merging with the FE), he's the perfect opposite of Buffy or of Willow who both fought off their inner demons (fears, weaknesses)in season 7. He was the perfect ultimate Big Bad for a show ending with a metaphor of female empowerment.
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That's very interesting about the pride issue, and I think taking it further explains well why the First didn't get anywhere with Spike and Andrew. I think Spike does have his pride but post-soul it's at a particularly low ebb. And Andrew constantly needs his pride built up. Whereas Willow always had a lot of pride in her own abilities (even if in many ways she had low self-esteem). As it happens hers is at a pretty low ebb as well. In fact of all the regular characters it's Buffy who most has it still, post S6. Maybe the vineyards attack is an outgrowth of that?
When you think of it, it's rather foolish of the First Evil to have taunted Angel with his past crimes instead of appealing to his pride, isn't it? I was just thinking about your recent comments about his sense of superiority.
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That does indeed sound like "give me something to kill" Buffy and don't be too sure that Joss hasn't read Mere Christianity. Remember he went to school in Britain.
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So did I, and I've never read it. :)
I'm reminded of Giles' comment in one of the earlier seasons: that there are evil creatures that somewhere in their hearts want to be redeemed, and there are those that don't. Caleb is clearly in the second category.
He didn't just slip into evil, like Faith; he wasn't shocked into it, like Willow; he wasn't corrupted into it, like Angel. Caleb embraced it willingly and wholeheartedly. He enjoys being evil, even more than the Mayor ever did. He's the counterpoint to all the redemption stories going on all around him.
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Ahhhh - and I here I was, thinking that Joss just wanted to get all his favourite people together... *g*
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That's how I feel too - but some people wanted something more subtle. Or they just hated the cliche of an evil preacher. Never bothered me.
And of course it also goes perfectly with Giles' assesment of what sort of monsters can be redeemed. Because Caleb cannot respond to reason or love, that's for sure.
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Thanks! It literally came to me as I was writing, and it was suddenly so obvious.
Certainly the FE was the most complex of them all
Yup. Tailormade for each of them - in S6 they struggled with themselves, but now their struggles are literally fighting back. V. nice.
In fact of all the regular characters it's Buffy who most has it still, post S6.
Hmmm... I think this partly depends on what The First wants to accomplish - with Buffy it tried to get her to give up, which plays into her mindset very well, esp post 'Empty Places'. It tries different tacks with all of them, but where it fails is because it doesn't understand love. It sees love as a weakness, whereas Spike (in particular) proves that it is their strongest weapon.
Oh and the icon is by
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Will come back to this point in 'Empty Places'! :)
don't be too sure that Joss hasn't read Mere Christianity
It's not really a school book (sadly - if they used it for teaching religion things might get very interesting!).
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I kind of guess that it is about faith - que the return of Faith, and the preacher Caleb, and Xander's speach, and Andrew's wonderful introduction (Faith. Her name alone invokes awe...), and yet still this puzzle doesn't fit together. May be you can look at those clues?
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Not sure... I'll keep it in mind, and if I get any more epiphanies I'll definitely post them. (There's of course the whole 'How men view women', incorporating Xander's dream etc.)
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