From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V3 #108 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Friday, June 22 2001 Volume 03 : Number 108 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: da/commentary [allenw ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 13:31:33 -0500 (CDT) From: allenw Subject: Re: da/commentary Don, I'm not a Dark Angel watcher (though I saw the first 2-3 episodes), but thanks for your (and others') commentary on the finale. A couple thoughts: 1: I'm surprised that you didn't mention Ambrose Bierce's Civil-War-era story "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" (much later adapted into a short film and/or tv episode that I saw in school; perhaps by Rod Serling?). The similarities of the central plot twist are rather striking. 2: I've also been surprised by the vehemence of your dislike for the Buffy finale; it resembles my reaction to the occasional show or movie (for example, Buffy's let's-resurrect-Joyce episode) in which I peg the plot twist early on, turn out to be wrong, but still think my plot would have worked better ;-) (and end up disappointed, rather than pleasantly surprised). What surprises me is this: your major sticking point seems to be the fact that the Buffy's-blood/death-substitutes-for-Dawn's-blood/death resolution does not make textual, logical sense. However, for me at least, it *did* make symbolic and emotional sense, even more than the analogies you draw between, say, Buffy and Hindu religion, or more recently Buffy and Dark Angel. I guess I think of you as symbolic-and-emotional-analogy-guy. Even on the textual level, though, I think Joss played somewhat fair. There's the Buffy speech about how Dawn was made from her, of course, which I recall you found unconvincing; but right before that, there's also this key exchange (courtesy of the transcript site at http://www.psyche.kn-bremen.de/): XANDER: Why blood? Why Dawn's blood? I mean, why couldn't it be like a, a lymph ritual? SPIKE: 'Cause it's always got to be blood. XANDER: We're not actually discussing dinner right now. SPIKE: Blood is life, lackbrain. Why do you think we eat it? It's what keeps you going. Makes you warm. Makes you hard. Makes you other than dead. (quietly) Course it's her blood. For me, that's Joss' way of sneakily warning that, no, it's not the physical drops of liquid that ultimately matter; it's the symbolism. Blood is life, life is blood. Granted, it would have been nice if Buffy had literally been bleeding too, as she apparently was in the shooting script (http://www.mustreadtv.com/buffyscripts/), but for me it wasn;t a biggie. Allen W. ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V3 #108 *****************************