sundries

[rm]

Yesterday's food: 1 vitamin water (defense flavour), several gluten-free vienna fingers, a lot of lemonade, coconut ice, romaine salad with cheddar, grilled chicken, bacon, carrots and egg with honey mustard dressing (from which I possibly got glutened), a steak with potatoes, carrots and green beans, 1 frozen creme brulee in a chocolate cup; more of those chocolate pomegranate candies; a gluten-free red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing.

Come check out Mud-Brick.com, an archaeology and pop-culture blog Patty is participating in.

Last night we watched the brilliant multi-level marketing episode of Angel (I love Harmony, I love the ridiculous lesbian joke, I love Lorne, I love Wesley just about losing his mind over pretty much everyone and everything else else, etc etc etc.) And then it was on to Buffy, which included, of course, "The Body."

Waiting for that episode, has, of course been critical. A big part of my thesis for the Bristol paper relies on why the deaths of Whedon's deeply beloved characters don't result in people engaging in the same sort of non-fiction mourning rituals as we've seen in response to certain deaths in Torchwood and Harry Potter and that are believed (sometimes erroneously) to have transpired into certain historical literary demises as well (e.g. Sherlock Holmes). Basically, Whedon completes his deaths on screen. People don't just die; they are mourned and remembered as a narrative through-line, which means the audience doesn't need to act as hired mourner for their fictive friends/lovers/parents/children.

"The Body," thankfully, cements this part of my argument 120% (Joyce, however, would not be subject to this non-fictional mourning for other reasons, as she doesn't fit my character criteria (actually none of Whedon's characters quite do, but in this regard I'll mostly be talking about Wash and to a lesser degree Wesley and Tara as they each brush close to the model that seems to provoke this, but aren't it)).

One of the reasons it's a remarkable episode is because it actually works. The removal of soundtrack (and in some cases, sound), is a huge risk. While more naturalistic, the lack of music's suggestive effect actually runs the risk of reminding us we are watching a thing on a screen. Whedon avoids this becoming a distraction, however, by relying so heavily on rhythm and cadence throughout the episode.

Where it really gets knocked out of the park for me is in Willow's dorm room. Part of this may be because that's the role I'm most used to having in these things, but I do think it's also where we get the best writing and acting of the episode. Anya, in particular, taking on the role of a child who is just learning about death through this event, knocks that speech out of the park. You can see the series of connections being made in her brain and snapping into place so much so that it's eerie.

Tara also gets some amazing character development here, even before her later convo with Buffy, because we can see just how difficult it is for her to be in the room. The weight of the emotions of others is nearly suffocating her, and wow, do I get that.

The death narrative also, quite smartly, entwines sex into the narrative. It's not accident that Giles remembers Joyce via the song they listened to in "Band Candy;" Dawn may get her first view of a naked man in the form of a vampire in the morgue; Xander and Anya talk about babies. And, while it may be an accident that we get Willow and Tara's first on screen kiss (Patty wisely noted that there was no way for them not to kiss in the middle of this tragedy and this was probably where Fox had to relent and if Whedon had gotten his way they probably would have kised on screen sooner) here, it's incredibly effective. Death is about physical pleasures -- their absence, their memory, their lack of repetition -- whether it's fucking or fruit punch (to go back to Anya).

All of this leads us into the Dawn tries to bring Joyce back episode. Again, let me just say how much I love the Spike/Dawn friendship. This whole episode filled me with dread, because I'm creeped out by "Pet Cemetery" more than anything at all EVER, and not only did I not want Dawn's memories of her mother ruined by whatever she was going to do (nor did I want Buffy to have to go through killing her mom in a redux of when she had to kill Angel), I did not want our last memories, as the audience, of Joyce to be some cheesy zombie effect.

But, here Whedon demonstrates the brilliance I hear ascribed to him far more than I often feel. The dissolution of her physical ghost right before Buffy gets to the door is COMPLETELY, stunningly, overwhelmingly smart.

Frank Rich on how Arizona's legitimate frustration with the illegal immigration crisis doesn't make their recent laws any less racist, or disconnected from the larger wave of a particular type of American racism we're currently experiencing.

moonstone_fae lives in Tennessee and has just suffered major losses in the Southern floods. If you can help, please look at that previously linked list of lost items or see here for donation information.

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

I'm following your Buffy/Angel posts with interest. BTW, I posted my conference paper from last weekend to my journal with a very limited flock for you and kali-chan to read.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I'm glad "The Body" worked for you. It is really hyped, but wow, it deserves it.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I remember reading somewhere that Whedon said a lot of "The Body" was based on his own experiences/reactions when his mother died. Sometimes you really can tell when the writer's lived through it.

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

Yes, "The Body" is definitely one of the best Buffy eps of all time, for all the reasons you cited. I don't know if you watch the commentary on any of the eps, but it's well worth it for that one, I think.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

The Body is one of the best. It HURT to watch.

We're doing what we can for moonstone_fae and her husband and furkids. They're good people. Their car is undriveable and looters hit them hard.

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting the link for donations for moonstone_fae's loss. Floods are horrible (went through the Hurricane Agnes one in '72; didn't lose all that much myself, but others, including my mother, did). *reminiscent shudder* *thinks about other things, quickly*

[1-mad-squirrel.livejournal.com]

I was really looking forward to your impressions of and reactions to "The Body" and you exceeded expectation. You nailed it.

[(Anonymous)]

レーザーはpainless.

[stephl.livejournal.com]

It's not accident that Giles remembers Joyce via the song they listened to in "Band Candy;"

This tiny scene, maybe 10 seconds at most, never fails to blow me away. No dialogue (none is necessary), just a musical snippet that goes back 2 seasons, and it says so much about *what* we mourn being inextricable from *who* we mourn.

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

I have been bouncing up and down in my seat WAITING for you to get to 'The Body,' because I think now much of the stuff I was talking about at Gallifrey makes much more sense.

I highly recommend going back and listening to Whedon's commentary for this ep. He talks about having done it as a way to deal with his own loss (his mother, I think) and being floored that fans found it to be such a touchstone for their own grief.

I mostly found Anya to be annoying, but she redeems herself beyond compare with the whole 'Why won't anybody talk about this' speech. She is giving voice to all the questions we ask inside our heads but are afraid to ask out loud.

And the sound and the lighting and the color filters...it all just snaps together.

Must stop burbling now...

[sevendayloan.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I've been waiting for you to get to this one!

I was eleven when I watched "The Body" for the first time. I knew what death was, of course, but I was really still a kid. I'd never had a pet die, let alone a member of my family and the whole concept of mortality hadn't really hit me yet. Sure, other people kicked the bucket, but they were old and stuff. Not me. I was invincible, immortal, and so was everyone I loved.

And I remember watching that episode and just sobbing and sobbing. It was so powerful; I felt the characters' grief acutely. But I didn't really understand it. I was Anya, finally making those connections and realizing that yes, people die. Even the people we love.

[bugeyedmonster.livejournal.com]

Will repost the info about Moonstone fae on my LJ and facebook page.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Basically, Whedon completes his deaths on screen. People don't just die; they are mourned and remembered as a narrative through-line, which means the audience doesn't need to act as hired mourner for their fictive friends/lovers/parents/children.

This isn't always true. I don't want to spoil you, but it's definitely an idea to revisit once you've seen the entire series.

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

I forgot -- as context for this ep, I saw it about two weeks before finding out about the death of my dear friend caldesilk.

I have a very distinct memory of standing there in line at the graveside in the pouring rain, waiting to shovel two loads of dirt onto the coffin and thinking "It's wet out today. He'll get cold!"

And then in the very next instant going "I just had a Buffy Moment inside my head!"

Which, oddly, was comforting. It was almost as if Buffy could do it, then so could I.

Curiously, I'm glad I saw the ep BEFORE his death. Had I seen it after, I might have just lost it entirely.

We were also fortunate not to have cable, so we missed the final ep of Six Feet Under, which aired right before his funeral.

[dabhug.livejournal.com]

But, here Whedon demonstrates the brilliance I hear ascribed to him far more than I often feel. The dissolution of her physical ghost right before Buffy gets to the door is COMPLETELY, stunningly, overwhelmingly smart.

Yes. This. I've enjoyed reading your Buffy/Angel reports. I was thrilled to know that I wasn't the last person on the planet to see it all for the first time.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

Basically, Whedon completes his deaths on screen. People don't just die; they are mourned and remembered as a narrative through-line, which means the audience doesn't need to act as hired mourner for their fictive friends/lovers/parents/children. - oh, yes, i'd never thought of it like that before, but so so yes

i cannot watch that episode without crying, and i mean through the whole thing, but especially the part where dawn just collapses to the floor... meltdown for me as well

anya is absolutely my favorite thing about that whole episode, too

But, here Whedon demonstrates the brilliance I hear ascribed to him far more than I often feel. The dissolution of her physical ghost right before Buffy gets to the door is COMPLETELY, stunningly, overwhelmingly smart. - oh yes, that, too!

buffy's soft, hopeful "Mommy?" just before? EPIC TEARS! and yet the way these deaths are done, the tears (for me) aren't horrible and consuming, but almost cleansing and cathartic

[heron61.livejournal.com]

"The Body," thankfully, cements this part of my argument 120% (Joyce, however, would not be subject to this non-fictional mourning for other reasons, as she doesn't fit my character criteria (actually none of Whedon's characters quite do, but in this regard I'll mostly be talking about Wash and to a lesser degree Wesley and Tara as they each brush close to the model that seems to provoke this, but aren't it)).

I can definitely see that with both Joyce's & Tara's deaths (although I thought the 2nd was mishandled for other reasons). I thought Wash's death was rushed and ill-handled, but was a fairly inevitable consequence of the well less than perfect translation of a season and a half of TV into a 2 hour film. The odd one of these is Wesley's death - I vividly remember his death scene, but don't remember much in the way of mourning afterwards and yet his death worked well and seemed complete, and I'm not at all certain why.

I think that part of what's going in is that (at least IMHO) Whedon's material often bogs down in the middle, but in general he does endings quite well, and this includes both ends of series and character deaths. In contrast, RTD does middles fairly well, but in his seasons of Dr. Who, he only managed one solid ending, and his work on Torchwood was IMHO no different - endings are clearly not his strong point.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed "The Body" - the part at the beginning ("Mom. Mom?....Mommy?) is heartbreaking.

Also thanks for the MudBrick.com link - who knew archaeology and pop culture went so well together?

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

A purely technical reaction (because I don't really feel like sniffling as I might if I talk about the emotions of that episode), "The Body" was one sign of Joss Whedon evolving into an interesting, risk-taking director. Bully for him, and I hope he can do so on a genuine cross-pop culture hit again.

Thank you for your Buffy/Angel reaction pieces, if I haven't said so before. I'd floated around the edges of Whedon fandom for years, and saw much of S.5 and about half of S.6 when they originally aired, and have really dived into his and his co-writers' work in the past few years. (Just finished watching all of Buffy, in fact.) It's led to thoughtful thoughts, mine and others. I'm relieved TV manages that more often. Keep having interesting thoughts!

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

More 'yes this' about "The Body."

I find myself quoting Anya sometimes because yes, her lines about death are so often how I feel about it all, as I've never attended a loved one's funeral and haven't had to deal with the death, really, of anyone in my family other than my paternal grandmother..which was surreal because she'd been dead and buried for 3 months before I knew anything about it, so it was a cerebral mourning.

The idea of mourning onscreen VS off is..really fascinating.

[coriander.livejournal.com]

I've seen most of Angel (but not in order) and some of Buffy, but just started watching from the beginning.

I would agree with you about Whedon having a more wholistic approach to death than the average series. I've been watching Dollhouse again too, and there's just something so subtle about the work. It's not for the fainthearted, but it's emotionally rewarding, if you can stick with it to the end.

The thing about Buffy too is they show how life goes on after a major event, but not in a denial kind of way.

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

Anya's "I don't understand speech" kills me everytime. In fact that whole scene gets me. "The Kiss" is perfect; both passionate and tender, like Tara is giving every single thing she can offer while Willow is drowning and hysterical. And I love how every act is filmed in real time, reflecting the "hurry up and wait" bullshit surrounding death.

A big part of my thesis for the Bristol paper relies on why the deaths of Whedon's deeply beloved characters don't result in people engaging in the same sort of non-fiction mourning rituals

One thing that you might want to factor into your thinking on your paper is that virtually all of the characters who die appear again. I believe that Tara was the only major character who isn't seen again after her death and Amber Benson was offered the chance, but turned it down. There's a peculiar security in watching a Whedon!death, as you can be fairly certain that you'll see them again.

[ekatarina.livejournal.com]

One thing I have always enjoyed about JW stuff is that there are consequences to actions. These may happen immediately, much later, they may repeat, or fade, but they do happen. For me it is an anchor of realty in a very fantasy setting.

I am glad to liked The Body. I lost my mom at an age between Buffy and Dawn. The episode was very hard but very good to watch.

Ekatarina, who does wish we got more of Joyce and Spike. That was a nice friendhsip