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A thought about 'saint!Cordy'
People have been bitching about Saint!Cordy in the AOQ thread for 'Provider':
> Cordy was always
> the one making sure they got paid for what they did (she went 30 miles
> out of her way by cab just to collect a payment and ended up with a 3rd
> eye for her trouble!) but now suddenly she's the one "keeping things in
> perspective" ???? It makes me sick that they are turning her into a
> goody two shoes when she never was one, especially since it doesn't suit
> her at all. Cordy being the "heart" is just wrong, no matter what the
> writers say through Fred.
Now I'm not going to argue that 'Provider' is a good episode, all I'll focus on is this bit that I'm guessing is what makes people annoyed:
Cordy: "Angel - I'm glad you wanna take care of your son. I am. I just wanna make sure we don't lose sight of the mission."
Angel: "Well, we have to earn a living. I mean, not just for Connor, but for all of us."
Cordy: "I agree. But first and foremost we work for the Powers, help the helpless. Promise me we won't neglect that."
Soooo, what happened to 'money is IMPORTANT!!!'Cordy? Well partly she has been changing a lot over the last many years - not to mention dating Xander! She'll do what she wants, no matter how lame. Anyway, what we must remember is that in the previous episode(!!!!) she gave up fame and fortune to continue as Angel's link to The Powers. And not just that, but she chose to become part-demon in the process. She now has an awful lot invested in that side of things. When Angel talks about making money, she can't help but take it slightly personally: 'Don't forget about me!' she's saying. Because in a very literal sense Cordelia has become the mission. They help the helpless through her, they work for The Powers through her. And I think that Cordelia likes to feel important [ETA: Maybe a better word would be 'needed']... not that she isn't becoming a better person, but there is a good deal of pride wound up in being 'special'. I really don't think she's quite a saint-like as she wants to think she is... ;)
> Cordy was always
> the one making sure they got paid for what they did (she went 30 miles
> out of her way by cab just to collect a payment and ended up with a 3rd
> eye for her trouble!) but now suddenly she's the one "keeping things in
> perspective" ???? It makes me sick that they are turning her into a
> goody two shoes when she never was one, especially since it doesn't suit
> her at all. Cordy being the "heart" is just wrong, no matter what the
> writers say through Fred.
Now I'm not going to argue that 'Provider' is a good episode, all I'll focus on is this bit that I'm guessing is what makes people annoyed:
Cordy: "Angel - I'm glad you wanna take care of your son. I am. I just wanna make sure we don't lose sight of the mission."
Angel: "Well, we have to earn a living. I mean, not just for Connor, but for all of us."
Cordy: "I agree. But first and foremost we work for the Powers, help the helpless. Promise me we won't neglect that."
Soooo, what happened to 'money is IMPORTANT!!!'Cordy? Well partly she has been changing a lot over the last many years - not to mention dating Xander! She'll do what she wants, no matter how lame. Anyway, what we must remember is that in the previous episode(!!!!) she gave up fame and fortune to continue as Angel's link to The Powers. And not just that, but she chose to become part-demon in the process. She now has an awful lot invested in that side of things. When Angel talks about making money, she can't help but take it slightly personally: 'Don't forget about me!' she's saying. Because in a very literal sense Cordelia has become the mission. They help the helpless through her, they work for The Powers through her. And I think that Cordelia likes to feel important [ETA: Maybe a better word would be 'needed']... not that she isn't becoming a better person, but there is a good deal of pride wound up in being 'special'. I really don't think she's quite a saint-like as she wants to think she is... ;)
no subject
Translation: "I hate character development!"
You can't even say it's a surprise: Cordelia's been more and more about self-sacrifice and devotion to the mission, more so as every season goes by. This is the woman who willingly risked social death to help Buffy and co; who accepted the visions, and hid the fact they were killing her from her friends; the one who renounced the fairy-tale dream of being a princess in Pylea. She may still have a practical side; she might even still have a desire to be in the spotlight; but saying her behaviour here is out of character is IMO very wrong.
And of course, Jasmine's ruthlessly exploiting and manipulating her newly-expressed compassion and selflessness...
no subject
Bwahahahaha! How dare the writers change her from a shallow bitch into something better? *g*
saying her behaviour here is out of character is IMO very wrong
::nods:: It just annoys me how people throw opinions aroundas though they were facts: Cordelia was turned into a saint, S7 was only about all the Potentials... ah well.
And of course, Jasmine's ruthlessly exploiting and manipulating her newly-expressed compassion and selflessness...
It's *so* well done - I have a huge post coming up on this subject...
no subject
"Better" is clearly very, very subjective. IMO, they removed the very things I liked about Cordy and turned her into someone I couldn't stand at all.
Character development is all very well (it certainly worked for Wesley), but different people are going to enjoy different types of characters, and so it's hardly surprising that a lot of us fell out of love with Cordy when she stopped being the person we loved.
no subject
Not at all - and people who disliked Old Cordy often love the new one. The main problem is that the writers quite simply didn't really know what to do with her, and it shows. I think I like her story more in theory than in actual execution.