CRAZY TALK
(Or why I think Joss Whedon
is a fluffy deity)
by Rabid/1stRabid/Raeann*
Try a little experiment for me. Tomorrow, step into any impromptu gathering of the Buffy Faithful (chat-room, forum, newsgroup, or cocktail party) raise your glass on high and announce, “Joss Whedon is a God!” Chances are you will be greeted with a chorus of “AMENS” and a flurry of backslapping camaraderie.
Now, for the experiment part – Follow up your first statement with this second remark, “He’s a fluffy, beneficent deity who only wants us all to be happy.” I predict that, in most cases, you will find yourself instantly isolated at the center of a circle of worried onlookers. A faint susurration will come to your straining ears. Mutters of, “That’s crazy talk!” will be bantered about.
But…is it really?
Again, we turn to the work for clues. I watched the very first BtVS episode when it aired…and God willing will watch the last. I joined the cyber-fandom 4 years ago. And since then, I have chatted with a few brilliant people and read the insights of many more. There is a common sense of awe when discussing Joss and his work. And well there should be. But I still believe there is rampant misunderstanding of what Joss is really saying. When it comes to the Wonders of Whedon, I am a Buffyverse Heretic.
I believe Joss Whedon is a romantic at heart…a compassionate deity.
And the question you are all begging to shout out is: “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT WHEN HE LOVES TO MAKE US SUFFER?”
Indeed he does. He killed Tara. He killed Joyce. He broke Anya's heart at the altar. Sent Angel to Hell and then off to another network. He made Oz unfaithful, Willow evil, and Dawn, a whiny brat. He keeps torturing the woefully unappreciated Spike. Every time we learn to love a character, there is heartbreak and despair.
Why?
Because, quite simply, in the words of Spike, "God help me, Buffy! It's still all about you."
The story Joss Whedon and company are telling is BUFFY'S story. It's not Xander's, not Willow's, not Angel's and not Spike's. These peripheral characters, much as we love them individually, exist merely to illuminate something about Buffy. They revolve around her. They are her friends, lovers, and family. They force her to react and her reactions have consequences. Those consequences force her to grow. Admittedly, her growth is slow. It is painful and agonizingly flawed at times but it is a steady upward progression…from self-centered teenager to caring head of a truly bizarre household.
People often ask, "Why does Buffy pontificate on like she is the center of the universe?"
And again, there's a simple answer: Because she is!
At the end of the day, it's still the Buffyverse.
Why did Tara have to die? So Willow would go all the way to evil. Willow had to go to the very place she almost went when Oz left her. She had to suffer great loss to catalyst her great change. This change was necessary. Not because Willow is Wiccan or "Gay Now" and not because Joss is trying to destroy hope. But because Willow has the unique distinction of being Buffy's best friend. And killing your best friend is a little different from killing an ordinary power mad critter like…say…the Mayor.
Willow suffers so that Buffy is forced to make a hard choice. It is the same choice she faced in Becoming. Buffy must stop the world from ending by causing herself pain. She will lose someone important to her, not via tragic accident but by her own hand. Buffy's duty is, once again, to kill a person she quite obviously loves. Joss and Company help us make the mental connection to Angel by including several echoing lines. "I don't want to hurt you…doesn't mean I won't."
This time, however, the lesson is different and so is the ending. Buffy doesn't have to kill Willow. Xander arrives, again the pivotal character, as he was in Becoming. But this time, he doesn't behave immaturely, hiding the truth, betraying love and urging death. This time he helps. Willow is saved, forgiven and offered a chance to recover. And Buffy is able to salvage the relationship with her best friend.
Some might call this inconsistent. But, in reality, it is indicative of character growth. Not Xander's…it doesn't matter WHY he did it. In the very next episode his contribution is treated as a joke. Not Willow's either…it really doesn't matter what lesson she learned…we barely touch on it. The growth is in Buffy's character. There is a subtle shift in her behavior and an equally subtle difference in outcome. Where once she saw no possibility of the evil thing being saved now the Slayer can see a glimmer of hope. She wants to believe Willow can be well again. And Willow is recovering. What was shattered is being rebuilt.
Compare this to the Buffy/Angel relationship, which never recovered from the assorted betrayals of Season Two. Eventually, Angel left town. His part of Buffy's story was over…at least in one sense. In another sense, Angel is still a part of Buffy. Like Oz, Joyce and Riley are part of her. Angel helped form the Buffy of today. She loved him as completely as only a seventeen-year-old girl can love. It was an obsessively devoted love. Less about him than about her. Love with no possibility of growth…love that is more about dying for your lover than living for them. Buffy loved Angel like Juliet loved Romeo…immaturely…and in the final analysis…tragically.
Her love for Spike is quite different. For one thing, it's not nearly as reactionary. When Spike goes evil, Buffy looks for the reason. She holds her fire. She asks questions. She looks for proof. Because she doesn't want to believe he would do the things he is accused of doing. Not because she is blinded by devotion, but because she is seeing SPIKE. And she doesn't see 'mindless killer' as part of his character. She believes in him. And she is able to separate him from herself enough to really feel for him. And that subtle shift in maturity is vitally important to Buffy's growth as a character. Because it allows her to see her lover as a person in his own right.
This is the seed of true love. Love is not, as Angel asserted, all about passion. It is about compassion. And I believe Joss Whedon knows this. All of his characters, even the evil ones, inspire compassion. We feel for them…suffer with them. And in the end…we want them to be better people. We want them to find happiness. Even when they don't deserve it. When they haven't changed, haven't grown…haven't learned their lessons.
So, if Buffy the Vampire Slayer is "all about Buffy" and not just an endlessly repeating mantra of "life sucks and then you die," then the issue of Joss as evil or beneficent deity comes down to one question: What does Buffy really deserve?
Death? Loss? Suffering? A short, painful life full of sharp, sharp knives? No! Because she has learned her lessons. Slowly, painfully, incompletely yes…but also…obviously. She has loved. Lost. Changed. Grown. Accepted her limitations. Saved the world from destruction several times over. And selflessly offered others the benefit of her gifts. This is her story. It isn't over…til it's over. But I believe in the end, Joss, the undisputed God of the Buffyverse, will show us how much he truly loves his creation. He will treat Buffy (and all of us) with compassion.
*my cyber psuedonyms!
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