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The JM kerfuffle
Jun. 12th, 2003 12:16 amI once went to hear German author Gisbert Haefs read from his works. Afterwards I bought a book of short stories and asked him to sign it for me. He meticulously crossed out his name on the title page and replaced it with his signature. I was surprised and asked him why he'd crossed out his name and he said it was enough for his name to appear once on a page, twice would be vanity.
He's a very charismatic man, btw and an author whom I really admire, just saying.
Anyway, it has occurred to me that James Marsters probably is NOT vain enough to watch BtVS religiously again and again, that he does NOT know chunks of dialogue of the other characters by heart, and that IF he watches the show at all it's an entirely different experience for him than for his fans.
Heck, when he watches it on screen he probably sees his colleagues doing their job, rather than the characters. I also doubt that he's around when Joss and the other writers break the stories.
So, JM is probably not the right person to ask for a valid interpretation of storylines, arcs, metaphors etc.
Thus JM's views on Spike are certainly interesting but should be taken as an opinion rather than pearls of great wisdom. Just because his perception is different, doesn't mean he's an asshat. Besides, what he thinks should have little bearing on our appreciation of the show.
I can see that it scares JM that his fans are so willing to forgive Spike everything. What he probably does not understand (how could he) is that many Spike fans identify with Spike's outsider role. There is this shiny little group of friends, a tightly knit group of people who stand up for each other and claim each other as family, even Anya and Tara. It's shiny but Spike isn't allowed in. I've always identified with the underdog, the one doomed to fail because of poor planning, poor impulse control or plain rotten luck. I couldn't help identifying with a character who gets frustrated no matter where he turns.
How is JM supposed to understand that phenomenon?
And the fact that violence towards women makes him deeply uncomfortable is to his credit. He's a good actor, seems smart and tries to be a good guy. IMHO There's nothing wrong with that.
He's a very charismatic man, btw and an author whom I really admire, just saying.
Anyway, it has occurred to me that James Marsters probably is NOT vain enough to watch BtVS religiously again and again, that he does NOT know chunks of dialogue of the other characters by heart, and that IF he watches the show at all it's an entirely different experience for him than for his fans.
Heck, when he watches it on screen he probably sees his colleagues doing their job, rather than the characters. I also doubt that he's around when Joss and the other writers break the stories.
So, JM is probably not the right person to ask for a valid interpretation of storylines, arcs, metaphors etc.
Thus JM's views on Spike are certainly interesting but should be taken as an opinion rather than pearls of great wisdom. Just because his perception is different, doesn't mean he's an asshat. Besides, what he thinks should have little bearing on our appreciation of the show.
I can see that it scares JM that his fans are so willing to forgive Spike everything. What he probably does not understand (how could he) is that many Spike fans identify with Spike's outsider role. There is this shiny little group of friends, a tightly knit group of people who stand up for each other and claim each other as family, even Anya and Tara. It's shiny but Spike isn't allowed in. I've always identified with the underdog, the one doomed to fail because of poor planning, poor impulse control or plain rotten luck. I couldn't help identifying with a character who gets frustrated no matter where he turns.
How is JM supposed to understand that phenomenon?
And the fact that violence towards women makes him deeply uncomfortable is to his credit. He's a good actor, seems smart and tries to be a good guy. IMHO There's nothing wrong with that.
