Look, I had a *thought*!

[elisi]

First though, I must wish the Happiest of Birthdays to earth_vexer! May you continue to vex the earth for many, many years to come! :)

****
But! The Queen of Polls, gabrielleabelle, made a poll about which show is more adult/mature/dark - Buffy or Angel? Now it's tempting to go for Angel, but otoh there's few things as dark as S6 of BtVS... So, instead of doing the poll, I started turning the problem over in my head, because the shows are both dark, but in different way. And then I had a minor epiphany - the main character of each series is a reflection of the show overall:

BtVS is about a good person who's had darkness forced upon her.

AtS is about a bad person who's had goodness forced upon him.

I think everything springs from this.

Comments

[green-maia.livejournal.com]

a Slayer is not just a girl with superpowers, and the darkness of the demon runs deeper than their own.

Yes.

Also: Buffy goes through things that one in real life goes through. There's no real-life equivalent to constantly being the only person who can keep the world from ending. There's no real-life equivalent to having Angel's soul restored and then having to kill him - and not just kill him but send him to hell. There's no real-life equivalent to thinking that the world might end if she doesn't kill the sister who feels like a daughter to her.

There are real-life equivalents to some of what Buffy goes through - but those of us lucky enough to have never lived in war zones can't really imagine them.

And then there are all the normal stresses and strains of life which Buffy also goes through. And the devastating losses.

Buffy is serially traumatized. No one could go through what she goes through without breaking.

[elisi]

Also: Buffy goes through things that one in real life goes through.
Indeed. And I think that in some ways her Slayer-ness helps. Not in a 'makes it better' kinda way, but in the way that she can use her emotions to fight, if that makes sense. One of the main ways Buffy wins is by 'out-determining' the enemy - emotions *are* power.

Which was a tangent I think...

Buffy is serially traumatized. No one could go through what she goes through without breaking.
Yes, she is obviously traumatised. But I don't think she's broken broken. I think she's stronger than that, and that she goes on to have a wonderful life. :)

PS. Have you seen Bachelorette?

[green-maia.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Bachelorette?

I hadn't seen it. Just did. It's...interesting.

Kind of fascinates me that people can see the same story and see such different meaning in it.

[elisi]

Well I think it's more about analysing the story from a different angle. However, that ending is so *my* Buffy. :)