Post by Gardez on Jul 27, 2003 21:17:10 GMT -5
The paragraphs below originally appeared on another forum and were written not by me, but by someone who gave me permission to reprint them. I am doing so because I like what he said and I think he makes some very good points:
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Yesterday I decided to rewatch "Chosen." Given how much time has p@ssed and that the promise of Spike's return on AtS allows me not to view it as "the end," I figured that I could view it with fresh eyes. Recently, it seems that everyone at ME has chimed in on their interpretation of Spike and Buffy's relationship. JM, many of the writers, and JW himself have all given us their two cents on the matter. However, I decided to look at it without considering any of this. I decided to use what happened onscreen (as well as contextual factors such as the musical score which give us important clues as to what is intended). The following is a list of rather random points that I think are important. Much of this is not original. I have seen many of these points made here, on BAPS, on Fan Forum, and elsewhere. But I tried to put all of this out of my mind and just watch what happened between Spike and Buffy very intently.
1. Buffy tells Angel that Spike is in her heart. She denies that he is her boyfriend. But this is true. Spike and Buffy have not recently (if ever) been boyfriend and girlfriend in the traditional sense. But I think it says a lot that she chooses to use those words to Angel after their reunion kiss -- "in my heart." She in no way denies her feelings for Spike. And most importantly, IMHO she is being sincere and not saying this to hurt Angel or for any other reason than to @ssert it as true. What ulterior motive could she possibly have?
2. Buffy also chooses Spike to stay by her side. Of course, DB probably couldn't have been in the entire episode, but we can't consider RL issues here. Since the @ssault on the Ubervamps was not imminent, she could have had Angel stay and sent Spike with a message for A.I. IMO Buffy figured that a "second line of defense" was probably going to be a nonfactor anyway. It was clear that she felt that the war would be won or lost at the high school. And she chose to have Spike by her side and watching her back.
3. Buffy tries to convince Spike that her kiss with Angel really didn't mean anything. I don't see that Buffy had any reason to deny this if it weren't true. She has never had trouble telling Spike the truth, even when it was hurtful to him. Spike had already proven to her that his staying and risking his life in this battle was not contingent on her loving him (or even the promise of it in the future).
4. Buffy gives Spike the amulet, and in the context of the scene, annoints Spike as a "champion" (yeah, I hope we don't hear that word this season on AtS). The musical score (the unofficial Buffy and Spike theme) and her wide eyed look tell us everything we need to know about that scene. God, SMG was beautiful in that scene.
5. Buffy clearly hints that she wants to spend the night with Spike. There was no other point of telling Spike that Faith was in her room. Her relief when Spike admits that he wasn't going to cast Buffy out of his basement sleeping area to protect his pride clearly showed how much being with him meant to her. She then touches his face in a way that one does not typically touch a fellow soldier or even just a friend.
6. While Spike sleeps, Buffy lies next to him, caressing his arm. This strikes me as being as perfectly natural and spontaneous an expression of affection as anything.
7. When the First confronts her, he calls Spike her lover. Buffy does not deny this. Remember that in the past, Buffy never had trouble denying Spike even when in danger. She emphatically told Glory that Spike was not her boyfriend in the heat of battle (in "Blood Ties" maybe?).
8. As Buffy gives her speech to the group, Spike stands at her right hand. The way Joss framed the shot, it was clear to me that he meant that to be very significant.
9. As Buffy and Spike hold burning hands, Buffy's reaction struck me as almost orgasmic in nature. The sound of SMG's breathing and the way her eyes widened made it seem to me as if she was acting out an orgasmic type of experience rather than pain, fear, or some other emotional state. We can never forget that while Joss sometimes seems to have a "sex bad" attitude, that most of his most erotic scenes are not sex scenes at all. In fact, how many beautiful sex scenes have we really seen on the show? To me, the most erotic moments were those which are symbolic and tend to be sexual while transcending sexuality at the same time (Tara and Willow's spells such as in "Who Are You," Anya and Xander's discussion concerning sex and reproduction in "Forever," Angel feeding on Buffy in "Graduation Day II," etc.). I believe that Joss and the others at ME intend this to be so. So, IMHO this scene was meant to be symbolic of a spiritual union that is sexual but also something much more.
10. Buffy tells Spike that she loves him. It has always been hard for Buffy to say these words to anyone (see "Intervention" for example). When Spike thanks her but denies the sincerity of her words, note her expression. His words do not seem to have made her doubt the sincerity of those words at all. There was no, "you got me, I'm just saying that" look. If my earlier observations have any validity at all, then her words are totally consistent with what was presented prior to this point.
11. Buffy's final word after a great seven year run: "Spike." While the others are bantering about the mall and what not, Buffy does not join in. I am beginning to believe that it is fair to think that Spike was in her thoughts at some point during that time. She seems quite preoccupied until finally giving a small smile at the idea that she is now a bit more free than she has been since being chosen. I may be wrong, but I see nothing in the writing, acting, direction, or musical score of "Chosen" that indicates that Spike and Buffy were not meant to be viewed as being in love on some very important level. Joss seemed to treat their relationship as a powerful romance in the last several episodes. A romance not of the Harlequin or Hollywood kind, but the kind of romance we find in mythology and folklore. The kind of romance that is not part of pop culture, but a part of our very heritage as human beings. In short, I cannot get myself to buy into the sort of negativity concerning ME's view of Spike and Spuffy which seems to be becoming the majority view among Spike-philes and bashers alike of late. I can also conceive of no possible ME retcon that could undo the fact that Buffy and Spike loved one another deeply in the final "BtVS" episode ever.
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Buffy loves Spike
Get over it....can't wait for the Spike vs. Angel fireworks...
..considering that JW is trying to get SMG to appear for sweeps week...!
