Today was one of those days where you wake up hoping things will go well, and they almost immediately do not. Which is OK; it's annoying, but I can put my head down and bull through. Except every so often things start to go smoothly. I get hopeful, maybe the day is starting to turn around! Then it immediately reverts to the way things were going previously. Work bogs down, and frustration rises. I think of the argument Andy and Red had in Shawshank Redemption, after Andy played opera over the loudspeaker. Where Andy insists music is important, because it gives hope, and Red retorts that hope can get a man killed, and it's best to just give up on that. In the ugly moments, I chide myself for getting hopeful when things start going well, but I can't help it. Even now, I'm hopeful tomorrow goes more smoothly than today did.
On to more Buffy-related musings. What I was thinking about: Was the Buffy/Angelus fight at the conclusion of season 2 that universe's version of the Death of Gwen Stacy*? What originally amused me about that idea was that in the Buffyverse, Norman and Gwen are in the same body. You have Angelus out to destroy the world, who Buffy shows up planning to slay, and her love interest Angel, who she actually ends up sending to Hell, since Willow popped the soul back in him right as Buffy ran him through.
{Before we go further, I should point out I haven't watched any Buffy in several years now, so I admit ahead of time that recollections will be foggy. Hopefully they don't completely wreck my points.}
Angelus has big aspirations, as the Goblin supposedly had***, though a bit less "power grab", more "burn the world". Angelus has no problem using the fact that Buffy has feelings for his face against her, tormenting her by showing up at her house and telling Joyce about his and Buffy's relationship, popping up randomly while she's patrolling just to tease her, tormenting her friends****. Norman doesn't do as much of that, perhaps because all that amnesia keeps him from holding onto Spidey's secret identity long enough to do so, but once he gets it and keeps it long enough, he goes after Gwen.
It's not perfect by any means. The Green Goblin had become Norman's escape from all the problems he couldn't deal with in his life (kind of like Peter Parker, actually), and his opportunity to take his frustrations with those out on other people that he felt he could safely blame for these problems (unlike Spider-Man). I don't think Angelus is trying to escape anything (except the fact he was a goody-goody Slayer helper for awhile, which probably explains some of the torment). He just wants to destroy the world, because he thinks it's a good idea*****.
As to Angel/Gwen, Gwen was originally a real spitfire, who gradually grew more tame and kind of wimpy, and spent a lot of time complaining that Peter wasn't around, or hating Spider-Man because she blamed him for her father's death. Angel was (based on what we've been told) a real wreck until Whistler showed him Buffy and told him she could use help. He does spend a lot of time mooning over her, and getting bent out of shape when she gets moody. I think Angel as Gwen works best if you compare him to Spike and her to Mary Jane, in which case they both come off looking kind of demure in comparison. MJ's the real party girl, and compared to Mr. Punk Rock, enjoys many human comforts, Angel is considerably more restrained.
In the final showdown, Buffy kills the person she cared about, without meaning to. I mean, she is trying to run Angelus through, but then the soul comes back, and well, that was a rough scene for both characters. Spider-Man was trying to save Gwen, while Buffy was trying to save the world. Buffy often held off killing Angelus through season 2 because of her feelings for Angel, which resulted in various problems for her friends. Spider-Man doesn't try and turn Norman Osborn in, partially because Norman doesn't seem to remember what he did, partially because if going to jail jogs his memory Spidey will have troubles, and because Norman is the father of his best friend.
The point I see frequently in reference to the Death of Gwen Stacy was that it was the end of the Silver Age, as a major character dies, and dies because the hero failed to save them from a villain (or actually kills the character themselves******). With Spider-Man specifically, the argument goes, it was a turning point because it's when being Spider-Man actively harms people Peter cares for, and maybe at that point he ought to have hung up the webs. In that sense it's a less effective comparison, because I think Buffy was a darker show to start with, the Amazing Spider-Man. Buffy died (briefly) in the first season. Xander had to stake a vampire that was one of his friends. Buffy had already nearly lost Giles because Angelus killed Jenny Calendar, Willow's in the hospital because she was helping to get Angel back, and Buffy had a friend from her pre-Sunnydale days show up, tell her he knew she was the Slayer, and that he was going to barter her life to Spike in return for becoming a vampire (to avoid dying of some illness he had). Buffy escaped, and left her friend and his vampire wannabe friends trapped with a large group of unhappy vampires. Hmm, that probably didn't end well. So the show was already pretty dark, but this is when Buffy abandons being the Slayer, fleeing to L.A. She destroyed someone she cared about, but not before he wreaked havoc on the lives of her friends, and she can't handle it, so she jumps ship.
The argument can be easily made that it isn't her responsibility anymore, hasn't been since the Master killed her and Kendra got tapped (by this time Faith would be on duty, since Dru killed Kendra), but she had continued to accept those responsibilities, until now. The issue that comes with that is, her friends try to carry on without her, exposing themselves to dangers they aren't really equipped for. That leads to conflict between Buffy and the Scoobs, since Buffy took off without letting them try to help her, and left them feeling responsible for doing the slaying in her absence. It isn't the first time there are conflicts about Buffy freezing her friends out when they want to help (that was where season 2 started, with Buffy angry and moody, not having dealt with dying in season 1), or arguments about the role of the Scoobies in all this, but it feels as though something changes there. The Scoobies are definitively involved in the protecting the city now, demonstrated by their actions in her absence, but they also defer to her as the leader, admitting they need her there to carry most of the load, while they help as they can. That seems to feed the conflicts, because occasionally, the Scoobies disagree with their leader, and she tends to bristle at that. I think it marks a point where the relationships Buffy has with her friends even start to be less upbeat.
There's probably a lot that could be discussed about the effect it had on her romantic relationships, that she sent the person she loved to Hell (as opposed to Spike, who she simply put through Hell), but I'm not sure I can analyze that. It is interesting that the specter of Angelus looms over Buffy and Angel when he returns, wrecking any chance they have of starting up again. The disaster of having a supernatural boyfriend probably helps guide Buffy into the fling with Parker (disaster), and the longer term mess with Riley. In each of those cases, i think Buffy's been burned by following her natural attractions and so she tries to avoid them, and it ultimately doesn't work, and people wind up hurt.
The death of Gwen looms over Peter quite a bit, leading to a change in his relationship with MJ (as she gets a bit more serious, and becomes a closer friend and confidant), and certainly boosts his attempts to guard his secret identity, so it can't happen again. He dates Deb Whitman, and keeps it from her even as it starts to drive her nuts. Gwen and Norman's deaths, drive a wedge between he and Harry at different times over the next couple of decades. If we consider the Ultimate Universe, where the stories are certainly informed by the originals, Gwen's death (plus MJ's near misses) cause Peter to push MJ away completely, and eventually date Kitty Pryde. I could see that being an appeal of the Black Cat when she showed up (I mean in the Marvel Universe), but I can't confirm that as a reason.
I think I'm out of steam, so I turn it over to you. Tomorrow, a post about Spider-Man. No Buffy-related stuff! Feel free to throw confetti if you like. I won't take it personally.
* For the purposes of this discussion, we're going with the original reasoning behind the events, as presented in the actual story, not the Sins Past reason or whatever the current reason given is, in the Brand New Day world**.
** I'm curious how it works now, with the mass forgetting of Peter's identity. But that's what I plan on getting to tomorrow, so if you've got some thoughts, please hold them 'till then, if you would.
*** Someone, I forget who, said that prior to the '90s Clone Saga naming him as its mastermind, Norman was not the intricate planner Harry was. Harry would play all sorts of mind games with Peter, even after he died. Norman had tried to become a crime boss, failed miserably, and after that, when he went into Goblin mode, he just focused on hunting down and destroying Spider-Man. It was him being tagged as the guy behind all the clone mess that got him his "scheming mastermind" label. I haven't read much of the Lee/Ditko/Romita-era Spidey, so I can't confirm or deny that theory.
**** Though he certainly got more than he bargained for when he killed Jenny Calender, huh? Giles with the flaming baseball bat was awesome.
***** I considered comparing him to the Joker, but I think the Joker has a point to what he's doing. It's to establish that everything is chaotic, that there is no point, and people who try to establish order on the world are fooling themselves, but it's still a point. Angelus seems more childish, destroying the world just because he can, which I guess makes him more like Superboy-Prime?
****** I have never liked that it's Spidey webbing her that kills Gwen. I mean, his girlfriend died at the hands of a crazed man who happens to be the father of his and Gwen's good friend, and he couldn't save her. Isn't that enough of a kick in the nuts, even for Spider-Man? You really have to throw in, "And it was your miscalculation with your webbing that killed her!"?
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