Some people like snarky and confrontational – we probably shouldn’t be allowed out on the internets. Everyone here is so nice!
Interesting that I can only think of male torturees on BtVS, Dawn being cut comes closest, but that’s another essay.
Uh topic. As it happens I don’t remember having a “HURRY, BUFFY, THEY'RE KILLING HIM!" response to either of those examples. With Giles I was more worried that he’d tell Angelus what he needed to know about the ritual (HURRY BUFFY, SAVE THE WORLD!) with Spike (in Bring on the Night more than Showtime?) his sufferings echoed Buffy’s being ground down, like Greek chorus with pain. I may just be callous but I think it’s more that torture has a tendency to make the viewer detach emotionally. For me possibly the most effective damsel scenario on the show was Willow telling Buffy about the room full of dead boys in Prophecy Girl.
Back to 8.04 I did get the feeling that Willow was in mortal peril, that her powers were being used to bind her so all she could do was to hide (to detach emotionally if you want to go meta). I found the imagery of the little paper brain people fluttering away quite effective, especially in the panel just before the wand one when they’re falling round her and although, having watched TV before, I knew she wasn’t going to die I hadn’t figured out how she was going to escape. As you say Willow’s outgrown the damsel role, she’s her own worst enemy now so that “Problem?” grin was both a relief and a hubristic moment to mark down for later reference.
no subject
Interesting that I can only think of male torturees on BtVS, Dawn being cut comes closest, but that’s another essay.
Uh topic. As it happens I don’t remember having a “HURRY, BUFFY, THEY'RE KILLING HIM!" response to either of those examples. With Giles I was more worried that he’d tell Angelus what he needed to know about the ritual (HURRY BUFFY, SAVE THE WORLD!) with Spike (in Bring on the Night more than Showtime?) his sufferings echoed Buffy’s being ground down, like Greek chorus with pain. I may just be callous but I think it’s more that torture has a tendency to make the viewer detach emotionally. For me possibly the most effective damsel scenario on the show was Willow telling Buffy about the room full of dead boys in Prophecy Girl.
Back to 8.04 I did get the feeling that Willow was in mortal peril, that her powers were being used to bind her so all she could do was to hide (to detach emotionally if you want to go meta). I found the imagery of the little paper brain people fluttering away quite effective, especially in the panel just before the wand one when they’re falling round her and although, having watched TV before, I knew she wasn’t going to die I hadn’t figured out how she was going to escape. As you say Willow’s outgrown the damsel role, she’s her own worst enemy now so that “Problem?” grin was both a relief and a hubristic moment to mark down for later reference.