Monday 1 April 2013

BtVS - Halloween

I was working my Xander deconstruction series (Xander and the Fandom)* and a post about Super!Xanders. When looking at how this presents in YAHFs I got... a little distracted. Basically I took a step backward and looked at the episode totally separately from all fandom context. I just examined some key bugs I had in the arcs for each of the main trio.

Enjoy me complaining (for a change) (I'll write a positive (and detailed) post someday, I swear!)


Buffy:

Her relationship with Angel (and Cordelia):

Buffy is insecure in her relationship with Angel. She's prompted to that insecurity by Cordelia, but Cordelia is not really the problem in the relationship. The problem, as I see it, is that Buffy and Angel have not fully defined their relationship AND BUFFY IS NOT TALKING TO ANGEL. This is key. When Buffy feels insecure she doesn't talk to Angel. She steals books and then decides what Angel must like, based on the arbitrary idea that a woman around at the same time he was human is clearly ideal. Pushing aside the weirdness of that assumption, the problem is the not talking, Cordelia is merely a symptom. This'll become important later, once we get on to Xander.

Her costume:

Because of these relationship problems Buffy decides to dress as a noblewoman and thus loses her agency for the majority of the episode. That idea - a woman choosing to give up her own power for a man - is clearly a BAD IDEA. By the end of the episode we're supposed to see the whole thing as subverted. Angel likes powerful!Buffy! Yay!

As usual, it's more complicated. For one thing, it shows Buffy deciding to "be herself" BECAUSE ANGEL LIKES "HERSELF". If this trope were to be properly subverted the woman would have to own "being herself" INDEPENDENT of how that makes the man view her. For another thing we have Angel describing the "other women" being "simpering morons". Leaving aside this rather offensive historical inaccuracy, we're still left with the idea that a woman is to be valued BECAUSE she's different to other women. Most of those girls are awful, but Buffy's not a "girly-girl". She's a "man's girl", "an exception to the rule". This is a particularly harmful trope, because it can look, on the face of it, to be empowering.

It's disappointing to see it here because BtVS is usually so good about saying "a strong, independent woman can still be interested in typically "girly" things without it being some black mark on her record." I guess only if that girl is Buffy (just look how Cordelia gets treated over her prioritisation of fashion).

Willow:

Her costume:

Willow's costuming is in many ways the opposites of Buffy's. I'm... kinda conflicted about that? Let's take a look. Willow wants to wear a not obviously sexy ghost costume. Buffy wants her to be "a dish". Willow ends up covering the "dishiness" with the sheet 'cause she's not comfortable with her Buffy's choice. I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, Willow is asserting her right to not be decorative eye candy. Yay! Women have every right to chose clothing at their own comfort levels. But by the end of the episode it seems that we're supposed to think that she was just getting cold feet and she's really happier embracing her sexuality. Which... is a possible situation. But it just so happens that the "decision" Willow makes is the socially sanctioned one. She goes from saying "I'll wear what I want, even if my friends don't approve or ogle me" to "I will wear a skimpy costume on Halloween, like all women are told to do." It's not that the second choice is wrong. It's that the first one isn't either, but we're not seeing a lot of that around.

But I said earlier that it was the opposite of Buffy's. How? Buffy chooses her costume and has her agency removed. Willow's choice gets overrided (she has to go around in the outfit Buffy picked) and she... gains agency? (This is the only S2 episode where Willow has >20% of the lines) Is there a problem here? Yes and no. On the one hand, Willow making decisions, being an active member of the group (beyond giving info). But this is done by ignoring consent!?!?

One could argue, no, it's not. Her ghost costume is what's giving her power. And, I don't know. What would have happened if she wasn't wearing those clothes underneath? Naked willow!ghost? Generic sheet!ghost? But let's argue the sheet gives her power. It's also a depressing kind of empowerment, in many ways. The ghost outfit means she can no longer physically influence the world around her. Powerful!Willow is telling the guys what to do, but is unable to do anything her self.

YOU CAN SEE WHY I'M CONFUSED!!!

Moving on.

Xander:

His relationship with Buffy (and Larry):

Xander is insecure in his relationship with Buffy. He's prompted to that insecurity by Larry, but Larry is not really the problem in the relationship. Does any one else hear that echo?

Yeah, I'm drawing a parallel to Buffy and Angel. Is that valid? Well, let's see where it takes us and decide. Xander seems, to me, to have very strong ideas on gender roles (very possibly influenced by his family). From the very first he was unhappy with the power inequality between him and Buffy (Xander: I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man. - The Harvest, emphasis mine).

In this episode he is unhappy that Buffy rescued him because she (a girl) saved him (a boy). (Xander: ...when my rep for being a sissy man finally fades!). Now is this consistent with his characterisation? I would (under caveat) argue no. Despite often seeming to wish HE was the Big Tough Man, Xander does seem aware that Buffy is the strong one, and has made his peace with that. Certainly she rescues him a lot, without him offering complaint. I do have a caveat though, being that although is is generally out of character, it's no in this instance. That is, it's not OOC, in front of other people (who are not in on the secret).

So Xander fine with Buffy saving him as long as the rest of the school is unaware? That... seems hypocritical and kinda gross. It reminds me of a girl at my school who was in a class where I was arguing about domestic violence with a couple of jackwagons, in what was ostensibly a class discussion. She didn't say a thing at the time, but came up to me later and gushed about how marvelous I was. To which I feel like saying "It's great that you agree with me, but couldn't you have come to the bat when it actually counted?"

Xander "supports" Buffy being a strong fighter, stronger than a man, stronger than him. But only so long as no one knows about it. I've considered that perhaps he could expect more beatings now that Buffy has made him seem weak. But Larry, seems contemptuous more than anything when he sees Xander later. So what Xander seems to be afraid of is verbal harassment and bullying. Which is no small matter. But he doesn't seem to consider that by perpetuating the idea that women aren't (or shouldn't be) stronger than men, he's upholding a patriarchal structure which degrades women in much worse ways.

Like my classmate, he's happy enough for progress to occur (well, debatable, but that's a different discussion I won't get into here) but he's not going to be doing any of the hard yards.

This is a position the narrative seems to support (Xander: Beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure). Although Willow and Buffy "grow" (in, arguably deeply problematic ways) Xander doesn't. Or if he does it's only in learning that being the Big Damn Hero and rescuing the damsel is so much more satisfying than reversing the situation and letting a girl be strong.

That's a very unhelpful message, BtVS. Although I can see glimmers of possibility in Willow's story line, you have long ways to go in order to redeem yourself! *Is stern*


Anyway, that's my take. Obviously there's other stuff going on here, but this is what stuck out to me . The way this episode is used by the fandom is another issue, and I'll get to it later in Xander and the Fandom.

Oh! BTW, another interesting thing about this episode is the Super Feminine Buffy v. Super Masculine Xander v. Super Masculine Larry. I don't know how I feel about this either, but it's interesting to note. Is this all totally unhelpful (Guys duke it out in a fight for possession of the chick) or kinda good (Buffy v. Larry shows harm in these gender "ideals") with a wonky metaphor (because of Xander). Is it something else all together? I don't know!

*Won't be working on this for the next two weeks due to exams. I'll try to get the next post out soon after that.

Thursday 28 March 2013

The Many Faces of Xander Harris

Okay, let's get this series underway! But where do we start?

I have decided to split this series into two main sections: 1. Facets of Xander's character, behavior and portrayal and 2. fandom reactions, including meta discussions and fanfic.

Each post in the first section of the series will analyse one aspect (or, sometimes, group of aspects) of Xander's character or behavior in a variety of lights. A basic template would like something like this:


Topic of discussion for the post.

Examples throughout the show of this attitude (especially how (or if) it presents in Xander's six main female relationships - Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, Faith, Anya and Dawn). Including study of how the behavior is treated in-text. I will also bring up things many may say are "trivial" or "jokes". I will note if I believe a comment or action wasn't meant seriously but I don't believe that discounts sexist or otherwise discriminatory behavior.

Discussion of how attitude has/has not changed overtime.

Examination of real world implications.


I'd like to make a few other points clear. I will be disregarding comics, as I have not read them, I know many others have not read them, and I don't want canonical debates to spring up. Also: if the only criticism/defense of a character to be found is in a text created years after the main series I don't think if hold much weight.

I'm also not trying to condemn people who like Xander. It is okay to like problematic things. I happen to LOVE BtVS though I admit it is VERY problematic. I also like specific features or characters of BtVS that I see are particularly problematic. The point is to recognise the problematic elements.

Xander Harris and Me – A Background


I hate Xander Harris. Let’s just get that out of the way in the beginning. I find him the kind of person I’d hate to spend time with. I also find him the kind of character that presents a lot of harmful views without receiving much (usually any) criticism, explicitly or implicitly, by other characters, the narrative or the writers.

But although I came to the first conclusion very quickly (by the end of S1, which was ~3 weeks in real time for me watching) it was much later that I figured out the second. To dislike Xander as a person, to find him irritating was easy, natural. I automatically liked Buffy and Willow and found Xander frequently disrespecting them in a way I couldn’t articulate or deconstruct at 12. I also immediately liked the Buffy/Angel relationship (which, yes, I realise now is problematic in many ways, though I still appreciate a lot about it) which Xander was (in my view) unfairly hostile.

But figuring out the more complex, real world, social issues with Xander took longer. I had to grow up a bit. I had to read feminist essays on not only Xander but the Nice Guy trope, misogyny in a huge range of texts, sexually predatory behaviour, slut shaming… basically a lot of different things around feminism. I had to really learn what it meant to me to be a feminist – something I had previously identified without understanding exactly what I meant.

I see people arguing about Xander a lot. Some pick up on the same things I did without being able to fully express it. Others have expressed, very cogently. Some claim Xander is a great example of character growth from a very flawed individual to one who is much less sexist and self-centred. Others insist he didn’t need that kind of growth at all – his behaviour may have been bad but he was just “insecure”. A number feel he was the injured party in the narrative.

I don’t get into these arguments. I can’t. I always feel I have too much to say on the topic and seeing people trivialise legitimate points or get backed into corers is enough to turn me off the whole idea.

I am now planning a series of post deconstructing various areas of Xander’s behaviour – positive and negative – and larger connections to societal themes. Once I go through all those I will start to discuss different views on Xander’s behaviour and character I have seen across the fandom. I rough outline of posts would look like this:


   1.     Xander Harris and Me – A Background
   2.     The Many Faces of Xander Harris (An overview of how I plan to break up and deconstruct the first collection of posts)
   3.     But Xander’s such a Nice Guy!
   4.     The Stealth Protagonist
   5.     Madonna/Whore/Xander
   6.     Xander Harris - Protector of Female Virtue
   7.     Xander on Gender Roles
   8.     Xander Harris… Sexual Predator?
   9.     A Split Fandom (An overview of how I plan to break up and deconstruct the second collection of posts)
   10. Yeah, but…
   11. It’s all about the Arc!
   12. Everyone has their Flaws
   13. The. Most. Underutilised. Character. Ever!
   14. Super!Xander (and YAHF)
   15. Xander bash!fic
   16. Supporting Cast

This list is subject to change at my own discretion (order and titles, particularly). Questions, suggestions and comments are all very welcome. Lively debate is actively encouraged, and may inform later post (with credit to ideas).

I will note that much of this will have been inspired by others to a degree that I can’t mention or link everyone, but I will where I feel enough of an influence has been exerted to be relevant.

Finally I'd like to come back to my first sentence. I hate Xander Harris. But this series doesn't have to be for people who hate Xander. If you do it's likely you'll agree with a lot of what I have to say. But what I'm trying to do here is come at a topic I feel very emotional about and be analytical about deconstructing it. So maybe, if you like Xander, you can understand a bit better where some other people are coming from. Anyway, I hope this project will provide some interest to every one.

Oh, and Happy Easter!