In order to return to the previous page, simply click the "back" button on your browser
Forrest Gates, as a character. Sigh. What can you say about poor dead Forrest?
One thing that struck me throughout the season 4 BtVS arc wasn't that Forrest was set up as an antagonist. It was the manner in which he was set up as an antagonist. Throughout the season, Forrest makes several remarks about otherworldly beings, saying such things as "They're just animals..." and describing the children of the beings they torture and kill as living in "slime pits".
For this to be more poignant, perhaps I need to expound upon my viewpoint concerning demons and various non-human entities and beings in the Buffyverse. While many are 'evil' (or, more specifically, their needs are in conflict with human needs), we have had many examples in episodes on Buffy and Angel which show us that not all demons and otherworldly beings are evil (beginning in the season 3 episode "Enemies", where a cute demon guy tries to sell the Slayers the Books of Ascension so that he can buy a plane ticket out of Sunnydale). We must assume that the Initiative's actions in their underground 'facilities' include torture of beings that pose no threat to humans. Furthermore, one of the things that separates 'us' from 'them' is our humanity , a condition that employs traits of compassion. Torturing any being when unnecessary is in itself an act of evil.
So anyhow, aside from my spiel, my point is that Forrest's character was racist. Granted, so was Riley Finn, but Forrest would spout alot of tripe, such as racist and sexist ideology (he would harass Buffy and imply that she was wearing Riley out with her sexual demands - My So-Called Life fans take note - and seemed to be one of those guys who likes to save his 'seed and strength'; he also became resentful when he realized she was not an ordinary 'hottie' and could easily take down an organization he had clearly invested alot of himself in) that irked me and depressed me at the same time.
It depresses me that most of the people I know who appreciate and study cultures other than their own are white. First, in, Euro-colonialist cultures, it was a shameful thing and the aspiration was to be white. Now, the descendants of those who oppressed ours get what was beaten out of ours - respect for culture and other non-white people. I find a great deal of homophobia and sexism within the black community and this pisses me off. So on the one hand, I find the portrayal of Forrest depressingly accurate.
On the other hand, I can imagine myself in Forrest's situation. And there are questions. Is it possible that Forrest could completely miss the parallels between his own people's oppression and the way the Initiative does the same? Is it possible for an educated young African-American man to say "...they're just animals..." and not realize that this was the excuse given for enslavement of his people years earlier? And is it possible for a singular black male in an overwhelmingly white sector to feel no alienation, to be comfortable calling his white friends, "brother"?
No, it isn't. One viable possibility is that Forrest adopted these prejudiced ideals in order to fit in. If he could just focus on what he had in common with his comrades, such as a heartbeat and human features, he could escape the feelings of underlying sympathy and confusion for the 'subjects' being tortured and killed in the Intiative's 'care'. If he raised his hand in salute to the ideals of the Initiative, he could convince himself that the overwhelming similary between the Initiative and a Nazi base did not exist. It is at this point that I wish there was more time to explore Forrest's character before he was killed off - first by Adam who turned him into a frankenstein creation, and then by Riley, who had to kill him in order to save Buffy's life as well as his own.
Another possibility is that the authors who wrote Forrest's character created him as a fascist in order to make themselves feel more comfortable about their own underlying fascism. I find that it is an enjoyable passtime for (what I'm assuming are) white television writers to create black characters who say racist things. How am I so certain that this is their aim? I can't be, I don't live inside their brains. I know, however, that I wouldn't call a white friend "brother", if I was who Forrest was and I lived where and how he did. It does not make any sense. It would be about as logical as Buffy putting on a clown wig for fashion purposes...wait, she'd probably do that. Sorry, bad example.
I suppose it could happen under extenuating circumstances (Forrest's portrayal, not the wig). The problem is that I don't see special circumstances in the vicinity of these ready-made racist characters of colour. I see a writer desperately trying to forcefeed a character words that only a starving actor could stomach.
Author's note: There is a play-by-play of my thoughts on Forrest's appearances in each episode he appears in, entitled "Forrest's Episode Arc". This link will take you to it.