Last week I was thrilled to discover that Daniel had watched all seven seasons of Buffy and all five seasons of Angel. Then I was completely disappointed, because his favorite character is Angel, and he doesn't even like Spike a little bit.
Which got me thinking: Why is Spike so obviously superior to Angel? The result: this essay.
Angel is a big ball of "everything happens to me" whereas Spike is a big ball of "I will happen to everything!" I like my men (and TV characters) proactive. And funny. And also full of the sexy.
Let's go deeper, shall we?
As a human, Angel was a whoring, horrible man who followed vampire Darla because she promised him a life of further debauchery.
As a human, Spike was a lovesick poet who over-cared for his mother and followed vampire Drusilla because she promised a life of poetry and acceptance.
As a soulless vampire, Angel immediately killed his family, then tore the world apart because he wanted everyone to suffer as much pain as possible.
As a soulless vampire, Spike immediately killed his mother so that her tuberculosis could be cured and she could have eternal life...then killed her again when he realized he had turned her into a monster. He tore the world apart because it was fun, and despite his evil nature and two-timing girlfriend, remained monogamously devoted to the woman he loved.
As Buffy's romantic interest, Angel fell into big epic love, wanting to find meaning in her purpose. He never tried to curb her 16-year-old puppy love with his centuries old wisdom, and in fact manipulated her emotions when she had the sense to realize their relationship was doomed.
As Buffy's romantic interest, Spike pursued her for three years because he was so in love with her as an individual, and he died loving her despite never believing he had received her love in return.
As a redeemed vampire, Angel was forced to have a soul by a gypsy curse, and then proceeded to mope around for centuries in alleys eating rats.
As a redeemed vampire, Spike fought to have a soul, suffered a brief lapse of insanity, then went immediately into fighting evil and becoming a man, this time for himself and not just to impress the girl he loved.
Um, is there even a contest? And I barely mentioned Spike's wit, joie de vivre, and general sardonic optimism, contrasted to Angel's constant brooking of "life is just the worst." (Granted, Angel got funnier when he got his own show, though mostly because he started making fun of his own brooding tendencies.)
Spike rules. The end.
hahahaha you. are. funny. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I was incredibly disappointed to hear that Daniel had watched all seven seasons of Buffy at all. haha
Haha--I like that you mention Angel's whoring but not the fact that Spike tried to rape Buffy . . .
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that I like most is that Spike's re-ensoulment is a choice and a quest for redemption while Angel's soul is like the better side of some multiple personality disorder. Also, I don't like the fact that Angel seems to do good stuff as a response to the bad stuff he's done. Bad, bad worldview, Angel!
That being said, I still love Angel. But I think that Spike is a way better developed character. But, then, he gets 5 seasons of Buffy to become an awesome and complex character, and Angel gets three. And by the time that Spike is a main character, the show is to the point where it's pretty much all good all the time while seasons 1-2 have some . . . awkward moments :-)
Ummm . . . that was long. But that's what you get for posting on BtVS.
Are you caught up with S8? When you are, we must discuss.
So obviously I'm way biased, but I never even thought of the rape scene as a big deal until I got into fandom and it was suddenly this huge hot topic. It was sad, yes, and if it had been anyone but Buffy and Spike, then traumatizing--but after their abusive relationship, it was just more of the same, and I could totally empathize with Spike, because he'd done that whole "you want this" thing before and she'd always said no but meant yes. Just because we the viewers no she really has moved on and actually means no doesn't mean he does. I was always super impressed that he felt so bad when...um, I didn't. I'm a horrible person.
ReplyDeleteI like Angel all right. But he'll never be a favorite character for all that you mentioned. As I said, he's a big ball of things happening to him and him just reacting. And I think his multiple personality thing is more fandom than reality. I think there is a whole lot of Angelus in Angel, but neither he nor his fans want to acknowledge it. Which is a pity, because I would find him way more interesting if he owned up to his manipulative and possessive tendencies instead of pretending they only exist when he's soulless.
Anyway.
I've read reviews of all of Buffy season 8, but I haven't read them myself. What I gather is that it's WEIRD and Angel is being crazy even for him. Killing all those slayers and being a master of evil just because some Powers that Be told him he was supposed to bring about a new universe? That doesn't bother him? And he expects Buffy to be totally okay with leaving her friends behind? Is he stupid? AND HE KILLS GILES?!
Yeah. If you have more knowledge, please fill me in and explain!
I agree with you that there's more Angelus in Angel than most people like to admit. I mean, that's part of the reason I like him--not that there's a little bit of viciousness but that he's always struggling with that. But, a couple things from the show(s) make me think that his soul is like MPD is that a) compared to Spike without a soul, Angel has no self control. Spike without a soul at least tries to become a good man and even goes and gets a soul. Angel without a soul suddenly becomes crazy evil and totally hates his soul. b) Angel has trouble remembering his souled self when Angelus and he has trouble remembering his evil self when he switches back to Angel.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the show Angel emphasizes this much more than Buffy, though, and I really don't like it. So, naturally, I put it all on David Greenwalt. Cause, er . . . *cough*, Joss would never do something stylistically awkward and disappointing like that, right?
Oh, um, yeah. Buffy season 8. I don't know that I have anything to add to what you said, other than that I've bourn through a lot of crap with this season and stood up for Joss a lot, but the last two episodes, what with Giles dying, have pissed me off. OK, actually, I was starting to get mad with the whole Twilight-is-Angel-and-really-randomly-stupidly-trying-to-destroy-the-world thing. But killing Giles was the last straw. Unlike most people, I really liked the comics for the first half--pretty much up to the point that they went and visited Oz and things went freaky. So here's hoping that the last issue is better and season 9 redeems the series!
Also, I never said this, but I should . . .
ReplyDeleteI love your Joss Whedon posts. I love Joss Whedon. I'm watching through Firefly right now, and it makes me wish I had a Whedon friend here to gush to. So I'm glad there's little gushing in your blog :-P