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I don't approach BtVS from a "gender studies" perspective, but rather from a "Public Policy" perspective. Looking at "Chosen" in terms of Democratic Governance theories, it reads far more like a bureaucratic realignment rather than a metaphor for empowerment. Certainly, it's dramatic and empowering for the Potential, but offers little for the community as a whole.
It ties back to “Why we Fight”. The Mission. Everything flows from the mission.
And the mission of the Slayer, of the Watchers Council, of the Shadowmen, of the Guardian is, at heart, fairly simple: fight supernatural threats. Presumably, to defend and protect the community against those threats…
How each Institution fulfills that mission, is very different. I’d know that rather well. I am, after all, a defense contractor. I’ve interned in the Senate and worked on a congressional campaign. Congress. I’ve worked for an International Security Think Tank And I have one of them fancy degrees in Public Policy with a focus on Management and National Security.
The Shadowmen sought to create a slayer. But in order to preserve their bureaucratic preeminence atop the security pyramid, the Council maintained control over the slayer. There would be one girl, and the council, not the slayer, would retain institutional memory. The potentials were of the same class of the slayer, but merely less affected because they lacked her physical might.
Buffy, on occasion, used the uniqueness of the slayer as a source of power (“I quit”) in her bureaucratic struggles against the Council, in order to propound her organizing vision rather than the council’s own. And she cultivated her own loyal support team, thus reducing her dependence on council. Still, for the most part, Buffy shared the same guiding council vision – that the community she sought to defend had no real role in that defense. While community was not inherently discouraged to participate, neither was community sought out.
“Graduation” marked a contrast. Buffy embarked on a Public Involvement campaign. She enlisted members of the graduating class in a battle for their own defense. For the most part, those not already part of her politburo had no actual input, but she did encourage participation.
Season 7 disappointed me for many reasons. Among others, I found it artless, dull, and frequently so void of internal logic as to be nonsensical. These are issues of execution, not intent. (Though muddled intent leads to poor execution.) But these issues aside, “Chosen” disappoints me at its very core. Even if I grant that empowering tons of slayers with minimal aforethought is inherently good, even if I grant that they had any choice or say at all, even if I grant Buffy engaged the potentials in a democratic manner even if I grant the soundness of Buffy’s battle tactics…
It disappoints, because it doesn't address Public Service as a core value of the Slayer Enterprise mission. It’s the celebration of internal reform for it's own sake (even though it's such a great reform) beyond its significance. It’s spoken repeatedly of how Buffy empowers those potentials, but there is no tie-in to how this particular empowerment empowers anybody else.
When the town is beset by many foes, Buffy does nothing to raise community awareness. She does nothing to further community empowerment. This doesn’t mean they had to have civilians fighting with them – but there would have been other ways for the community to participate in its defense – perhaps in non-combat support or planning roles. In LA, Charles Gunn built a neighborhood defense organization. Anne by organizing an open shelter, has made her community safer. Even after Gunn leaves his boys behind, the community is better prepared to defend itself.
Buffy and the scoobies, on the other hand do no such thing. That the town is safer with Buffy gone over the summer than it was before she came, is because she expanded a bureaucracy such that she left a presence (in the form of Willow and Xander) when not there personally. The townsfolk, themselves, were no safer on their own.
The potentials can be seen as metaphorical representations of society-at-large. But this is a world where they are already marked and identifiable as special, and then sequestered from mainstream society because they are special, and empowered again because they are chosen. This undermines that metaphor.
I celebrate that Buffy would be about empowering these potentials, but it bothers me that it's not also about empowering anybody else. There needed to be a tie back to how empowerment of society as a whole - how Buffy as CEO of Slayer Enterprise serves her customer (the citizens) through this reform.
In essence, she’s done two things. First, she placed more cops on the streets. Secondly, she’s given those cops a much better say inside the division. That’s about it. She hasn’t done due diligence to make sure those cops are good cops. She hasn’t done anything about the Thin Blue Line that separates most cops from the rest of society. She hasn’t done anything on the topic of public involvement. She doesn’t prioritize her community, and though Buffy emerges victorious over the Shadowmen in her internecine struggle, the community is destroyed in the process.
This, by the way, is a major reason why the police forces are subject to oversight, and why police are generally charged to participate in the community to serve the community. The citizens of a community are important stakeholders, and in public service, stakeholder involvement (either directly, or though representatitves) is key part of performance. To reinforce the core value. Whether through stagnation, corruption, neglect, or abuse of power – when the Public Service organization loses sight of the mission, the public doesn’t get served. Faith’s murder spree. The Scoobies’ negligence of their own community, leading to it’s eventual downfall and destruction.
In the end, for all its themes of empowerment, “Chosen” is also a story about a group of bureaucrats who have lost touch with the fundamental organizational purpose which justifies the existence of that bureaucracy in the first place. Who fail to fulfill the mission to defend their community, in no small part, because they no longer see that as a core value. And amidst the hoopla and congratulations of Buffy’s “empowerment”, I’m not so certain that value hasn’t been lost on the new generation of slayers as well.
It ties back to “Why we Fight”. The Mission. Everything flows from the mission.
And the mission of the Slayer, of the Watchers Council, of the Shadowmen, of the Guardian is, at heart, fairly simple: fight supernatural threats. Presumably, to defend and protect the community against those threats…
How each Institution fulfills that mission, is very different. I’d know that rather well. I am, after all, a defense contractor. I’ve interned in the Senate and worked on a congressional campaign. Congress. I’ve worked for an International Security Think Tank And I have one of them fancy degrees in Public Policy with a focus on Management and National Security.
The Shadowmen sought to create a slayer. But in order to preserve their bureaucratic preeminence atop the security pyramid, the Council maintained control over the slayer. There would be one girl, and the council, not the slayer, would retain institutional memory. The potentials were of the same class of the slayer, but merely less affected because they lacked her physical might.
Buffy, on occasion, used the uniqueness of the slayer as a source of power (“I quit”) in her bureaucratic struggles against the Council, in order to propound her organizing vision rather than the council’s own. And she cultivated her own loyal support team, thus reducing her dependence on council. Still, for the most part, Buffy shared the same guiding council vision – that the community she sought to defend had no real role in that defense. While community was not inherently discouraged to participate, neither was community sought out.
“Graduation” marked a contrast. Buffy embarked on a Public Involvement campaign. She enlisted members of the graduating class in a battle for their own defense. For the most part, those not already part of her politburo had no actual input, but she did encourage participation.
Season 7 disappointed me for many reasons. Among others, I found it artless, dull, and frequently so void of internal logic as to be nonsensical. These are issues of execution, not intent. (Though muddled intent leads to poor execution.) But these issues aside, “Chosen” disappoints me at its very core. Even if I grant that empowering tons of slayers with minimal aforethought is inherently good, even if I grant that they had any choice or say at all, even if I grant Buffy engaged the potentials in a democratic manner even if I grant the soundness of Buffy’s battle tactics…
It disappoints, because it doesn't address Public Service as a core value of the Slayer Enterprise mission. It’s the celebration of internal reform for it's own sake (even though it's such a great reform) beyond its significance. It’s spoken repeatedly of how Buffy empowers those potentials, but there is no tie-in to how this particular empowerment empowers anybody else.
When the town is beset by many foes, Buffy does nothing to raise community awareness. She does nothing to further community empowerment. This doesn’t mean they had to have civilians fighting with them – but there would have been other ways for the community to participate in its defense – perhaps in non-combat support or planning roles. In LA, Charles Gunn built a neighborhood defense organization. Anne by organizing an open shelter, has made her community safer. Even after Gunn leaves his boys behind, the community is better prepared to defend itself.
Buffy and the scoobies, on the other hand do no such thing. That the town is safer with Buffy gone over the summer than it was before she came, is because she expanded a bureaucracy such that she left a presence (in the form of Willow and Xander) when not there personally. The townsfolk, themselves, were no safer on their own.
The potentials can be seen as metaphorical representations of society-at-large. But this is a world where they are already marked and identifiable as special, and then sequestered from mainstream society because they are special, and empowered again because they are chosen. This undermines that metaphor.
I celebrate that Buffy would be about empowering these potentials, but it bothers me that it's not also about empowering anybody else. There needed to be a tie back to how empowerment of society as a whole - how Buffy as CEO of Slayer Enterprise serves her customer (the citizens) through this reform.
In essence, she’s done two things. First, she placed more cops on the streets. Secondly, she’s given those cops a much better say inside the division. That’s about it. She hasn’t done due diligence to make sure those cops are good cops. She hasn’t done anything about the Thin Blue Line that separates most cops from the rest of society. She hasn’t done anything on the topic of public involvement. She doesn’t prioritize her community, and though Buffy emerges victorious over the Shadowmen in her internecine struggle, the community is destroyed in the process.
This, by the way, is a major reason why the police forces are subject to oversight, and why police are generally charged to participate in the community to serve the community. The citizens of a community are important stakeholders, and in public service, stakeholder involvement (either directly, or though representatitves) is key part of performance. To reinforce the core value. Whether through stagnation, corruption, neglect, or abuse of power – when the Public Service organization loses sight of the mission, the public doesn’t get served. Faith’s murder spree. The Scoobies’ negligence of their own community, leading to it’s eventual downfall and destruction.
In the end, for all its themes of empowerment, “Chosen” is also a story about a group of bureaucrats who have lost touch with the fundamental organizational purpose which justifies the existence of that bureaucracy in the first place. Who fail to fulfill the mission to defend their community, in no small part, because they no longer see that as a core value. And amidst the hoopla and congratulations of Buffy’s “empowerment”, I’m not so certain that value hasn’t been lost on the new generation of slayers as well.
no subject
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VERY thought-provoking post. One of the reasons I liked the Angel ep "Damage" was because it addressed one of the downsides to the choice Buffy made to active the Potentials - that some unknown "citizens", as you put it, were actually HARMED by her decision.
One the contrasts I really enjoy between BtVS and AtS is the fact that AtS tends to focus on the *consequences* of choices - what they mean to the immediate character making a certain choice, and the impact it has on the community at large.
The ex you made of Buffy as CEO of the new Slayers, Inc, needing to serve the community, etc... creates an interesting parallel to Angel as CEO of Hell, Inc.. who is trying to serve the community. W&H is judged (per Andrew) by the new WC as being evil, and therefore of no value to the community/those needing real help (Dana) - and yet, it was a deranged Slayer who was creating the death and mayhem on the streets of LA, a Slayer that Buffy/Giles and Co were not even aware of until Angel brought it to their attention. Part of walking that thin blue line is policing your own so as to not cross that line yourselves. To shrug off the tragegy of Dana as having "fallen through the cracks" was hopefully NOT the reaction Giles and Buffy were actually feeling.
I think perhaps the events of "Chosen" - while sloppily executed in some aspects - were an intriguing setup to the concept that this new order of Slayers (created for serving the greater good/community) is going to have to find their own balance of power, the system of checks and balances to keep the Faith's and Dana's of the Slayers from undermining the purpose of their calling - protecting the community rather than menacing it or being indifferent to it. At least, it kind of plays that way in light of what happened in "Damage" as a follow-up to "Chosen".
Oh boy, I could go on a whole other tangent of comparing the new WC vs Angel-controlled branch of W&H - but I suspect that's getting off the point of your original observations, so I'll just put a sock in it for now, lol.
no subject
Those unknown citizens, of course, being the people whom Dana murdered. My issue was not the harm done on ill-prepared slayers like Dana. (That's simply an issue I hadn't gone to raise.) My issue was the lack of help given to people not already part of the "Chosen" crowd.
It would make a setup to the theme of protecting the Community from the dangerous or indifferent slayer like Faith and Dana. But that's not really done, as through S7 it becomes more and more clear that protecting the community isn't really Buffy's value. The only dynamic she's dealing with is Watcher vs. Slayer, with normals like Xander and Dawn acting as her secretariat rather than as representatives of the community. She's pretty much written off the rest of the human race.
no subject
It would make a setup to the theme of protecting the Community from the dangerous or indifferent slayer like Faith and Dana. But that's not really done, as through S7 it becomes more and more clear that protecting the community isn't really Buffy's value. The only dynamic she's dealing with is Watcher vs. Slayer, with normals like Xander and Dawn acting as her secretariat rather than as representatives of the community. She's pretty much written off the rest of the human race.
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Just to play Devil's Advocate: perhaps the community connection Buffy was supposed to have was meant to be represented by her being a school counselor. Her connection to the kids/helping them with their problems. Although I will admit that this portrayal, if it was meant to serve this purpose, was very poorly handled. (Helping Cassie and maybe one or two other kids vs. the times she was shown as being distracted from that job by other (Slayer) concerns.)
Hmm, thinking further on this, what we were shown was that Buffy started caring about that job and the kids, and gradually became distanced from it by the distractions The First was throwing her way. Culminating in Principal Wood actually firing her and telling her that her focus should be on her Slayer duties, not helping the kids.
no subject
This is a purpose it could have been shown. I would have liked it very much.
Unfortunately, that's not how she was portrayed. Buffy wasn't distracted by Slayer Concerns - she was distracted by personal issues and her own lack of interest in the students she was hired to help. She only seemed to be truly into the cases which related more to her slaying role. (Cassie, most clearly) When Wood fires her and tells her to focus more on Slaying - it can be read as an attempt to separate her from the school and delve more into slaying.
Or it can be a reaction to Buffy's own lack of passion and competence as a counselor. She's not really invested in helping the students who have mundane problems, and she's not particularly good because of that. It's just not a value. So she should quit and focus on what she actually does care about.