He very clearly sees himself as his mother’s son, when Buffy uses her words against him he absolutely takes that on board, he even flings them right back at her in the next episode. At that point in the story all of them Buffy, Robin, Giles, Nikki herself are in thrall to the patriarchal injunction that it’s the mission that matters.
These are really excellent points - I remember I was relieved that Robin wouldn't let it go unchallenged after that episode. I'm not sure BtVS ever completely resolves that problem of conflicting values: the value of the individual vs. the value of the mission. The final battle in NFA comes down pretty squarely on the latter side, but sadly that makes a lot of sense in view of the patriarchal nature of "the mission that matters." When the spell gives all the Potentials in the world the chance to be Slayers (and I think the question of whether or not they're actually given a choice is important with respect to this discussion and also to Dana), in one sense the empowerment of all of those disparate individuals is an affirmation of their value as individuals. And almost all of the new worldwide Slayers we see are white. On the other hand, it only happens because that spell is the last hope of Buffy's army, which has to fulfill the mission or evil wins (i.e. no individual will be safe, etc.). From one perspective, it's a question of whether or not that spell gives those girls across the world a chance or just "enlists" them like the Shadowmen did the First Slayer; of course, the vid makes that connection between the Shadowmen and Dana's story.
I was clipping Kendra’s S2 story recently for a slayer vid of my own and quite apart from the whole ‘Tragic Mulatta 101’ aspect Buffy’s attitude to her is incredibly dismissive and quite unremarked on. It’s only one remove from Cordelia’s treatment of her foreign exchange student, which was played as a big joke in one of the early episodes of the season.
I'll look forward to seeing your Slayer vid! Yes, it's a little hard to pick which point's the nadir for BtVS treatment of characters of color, and Buffy-the-character's and Buffy-the-show's attitude toward Kendra was really cringe-inducing.
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branchandroot
Re: "Origin Stories," part 2
Date: 2008-02-28 02:35 am (UTC)These are really excellent points - I remember I was relieved that Robin wouldn't let it go unchallenged after that episode. I'm not sure BtVS ever completely resolves that problem of conflicting values: the value of the individual vs. the value of the mission. The final battle in NFA comes down pretty squarely on the latter side, but sadly that makes a lot of sense in view of the patriarchal nature of "the mission that matters." When the spell gives all the Potentials in the world the chance to be Slayers (and I think the question of whether or not they're actually given a choice is important with respect to this discussion and also to Dana), in one sense the empowerment of all of those disparate individuals is an affirmation of their value as individuals. And almost all of the new worldwide Slayers we see are white. On the other hand, it only happens because that spell is the last hope of Buffy's army, which has to fulfill the mission or evil wins (i.e. no individual will be safe, etc.). From one perspective, it's a question of whether or not that spell gives those girls across the world a chance or just "enlists" them like the Shadowmen did the First Slayer; of course, the vid makes that connection between the Shadowmen and Dana's story.
I was clipping Kendra’s S2 story recently for a slayer vid of my own and quite apart from the whole ‘Tragic Mulatta 101’ aspect Buffy’s attitude to her is incredibly dismissive and quite unremarked on. It’s only one remove from Cordelia’s treatment of her foreign exchange student, which was played as a big joke in one of the early episodes of the season.
I'll look forward to seeing your Slayer vid! Yes, it's a little hard to pick which point's the nadir for BtVS treatment of characters of color, and Buffy-the-character's and Buffy-the-show's attitude toward Kendra was really cringe-inducing.