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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.
Re: My perspective is colored by the life I have Chosen
You're getting the wrong impression. S3 wasn't written from the perspective with which I view the world, and yet I think it's excellent. I don't think Whedon intended to send the messages about entreprenurial leadership and civic involvement that I love so much - I think he just wanted a cool fight. I don't think Whedon intended to tell a story glorifying elitism. But I feel like he did.
She makes Xander take Dawn to a safe place, in effect saying they aren't capable of fighting and marginalizing them. THAT isn't how Chosen goes. Both Dawn and Xander fight. They fight together using their brains. The story hasn't marginalized them at all. It isn't just how Buffy treats someone, but how the story does.
But in a previous comment, you told me it was about Buffy's journey, and in Buffy's eye - they're marginal. And whatever esteem Buffy has developed for Xander and Dawn - it doesn't carry over to those normal humans you tell me they represent.
Every person on the show is valued for what they bring to the table.
(snip) What you are saying in effect is that only the pilots matter in the Air Force. The ground crew, the intelligence gathers, all of that, that is just the "Servant Caste." We refer to them as Support, but that does not make them lowly or it some sort of Caste system.
I don't say that only pilots matter. Buffy does. And there are people who aren't valued for what they bring to the table. - by Buffy and everybody else. Those people are called civillians.
You are faulting her for not living up to your idea of a leader, when she has no expressed authority other than to fight demons and that has to be done in secret.
Because it conflicts with the claim that she's democratic or empowering people. If she's supposed to be a democratic leader who empowers large numbers of people, then she has to actually fulfill the role? She doesn't. How empowered did the citizens feel in S7, when they felt so disenfrachised and terrified as to flee town? Not very. And BtVS isn't concerned with those people - they're afterthoughts that have to be pulled off the chessboard so Joss can blow up the town without feeling bad. If you drop the claim that Buffy is really about empowering anyone beyond the elite subset of people who are Chosen (which is still fairly laudable presuming she or her support follows up on that with due diligence) and I'll drop much of my criticism of her leadership.
This is the thing I don't get
You are a smart guy, a very smart guy. Don't you ever feel like you don't belong because of that? Isn't your life ever made more difficult because you don't quite fit in? You keep talking about elitism and glorifying it. The story isn't about how Buffy is "better" than everyone because she is slayer. It is about how she doesn't fit in because of this and how she deals with that. It isn't about elevating Buffy or putting others in some sort of caste system. It is about how Buffy deals with a society that doesn't recognize her and doesn't appreciate her. It is about how Buffy deals with having to protect a society that makes her job and life more difficult. Joyce says it, wouldn't the cops be happy to know they have a superhero in town. Buffy knows it doesn't work that way.
Just look at how badly Joss has been treated by the networks. This is the story of a superhero. His name is Joss Whedon. If that means I'm drinking the purple kool-aid so be it. This man helped give me back my memory after 24 years and makes me feel not so alone and he doesn't even know me. This is a man that made Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson and myself better writers. So what if some of his writing staff didn't have the talent for him to develop and they left the show. That is just life. Call it elitist, but dealing with that label is something the exceptional have to deal with. It is part of society sucks and makes my life harder.
If you drop the claim that Buffy is really about empowering anyone beyond the elite subset of people who are Chosen
I don't make deals, but I will say this. Buffy empowered a heck of a lot beyond some elite subset. She empowered Willow. She empowered Xander. She empowered Giles. She empowered Angel. She empowered Spike. She empowered Andrew. She empowered Jonathan. She empowered Riley. She empowered Faith. She empowered Anne. She empowered Dawn. She empowered me.
Two Way Streets and Public Service Ethic
Or you can deal with that society by recognizing that it has validity, by engaging and being a part of that society, by transforming it from within where you see abuses - because the people who compose that society have as much worth as I do. That's why I've spent my entire professional career in public service. And the "service" is a key part - believing that those people really do matter enough to sublimate my ego to their service. To not reject society because I feel like I don't fit in.
To give up my free time and serve voluntarily on a traffic planning commission, and listen to both citizen responses and expert testimony before I offer up a plan.
To see myself as a part of the community and want to add to it. Not withdraw from it. Not to quit on it, or the people who comprise it, when they disappoint me.
I will say this. Buffy empowered a heck of a lot beyond some elite subset. She empowered Willow. She empowered Xander. She empowered Giles. She empowered Angel. She empowered Spike. She empowered Andrew. She empowered Jonathan. She empowered Riley. She empowered Faith. She empowered Anne. She empowered Dawn. She empowered me.
Of course she did. They're all better people because of her influence. Not her might. Unfortunatly - the message is - she empowered the people with Potential, and that the importance of that act, of their might, dwarfs the legacy she created by empowering that large list of people.
And that's crap. The real story should have been the legacy she created with the people who didn't have potential. That she empowered the citizens of Sunnydale to stand up and fight the mayor and live in a town that would have been a nightmare if she'd ever come there. And what happens with the townsfolk and the potentials, in a large number of ways, completely undermines the prior message.