"Ask your best friend Spiderman!"

[Gum Gnome33]

So in season 6, Anya offers the wildly unpopular suggestion that Buffy charge people for saving them. I always found the cold responses to be a bit amusing, considering the very premise of "Angel." It makes me wonder: how many of the scoobies know what Angel does, in LA? Does Buffy know that he charges for "helping the helpless;" that it's how he makes his living? If she does, does she approve? One would think that the answer would be "yes" to both. But then, why did she act as if Anya had just suggested that they go slaughter a bunch of frat boys in "Flooded?"

What do you think about the idea of charging for saving a life? Is it unethical, uncool, or not really all that different from being a doctor? Have at it!

 

[Dagenspear]

Well, isn't it wrong to let someone save your life and NOT offer some kind of gratitude?

 

[white avenger]

Well, in defense of Angel, it would be more accurate to say that he "helps the helpless," and occasionally gets paid for it. Certainly only a small portion of his "clients" ever actually paid for his services, and the payment itself was never a factor in determining whether or not they would have been helped.

On the other hand, if the new Mayor of Sunnydale had offered to give Buffy an unofficial salary as an independent contractor specializing in night time security for the town, I seriously doubt that she would have refused the money. Season 6 in general and "Flooded" in particular was Buffy's wake up call about the necessity of paying the bills while fighting the good fight. I think that, at least by that time, she would have understood exactly what Angel was doing and why he was doing it.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

Well, in defense of Angel, it would be more accurate to say that he "helps the helpless," and occasionally gets paid for it.

True but the idea is that he is set up to receive payment for his work-- not that there's anything wrong with that!

Season 6 in general and "Flooded" in particular was Buffy's wake up call about the necessity of paying the bills while fighting the good fight. I think that, at least by that time, she would have understood exactly what Angel was doing and why he was doing it.

Exactly! Which is why her reaction to Anya really caught me off guard.

 

[kittenpoker]

Great thread, GumGnome! I think the moral or ethical differences between buffy charging people for saving them and angel doing the same are subtle. I mean, could buffy set up a "slayer agency" or sorts where potential victims come to her in advance... I think that's the main difference...whether the person comes to you for help but the slayer thing doesn't really work that way and angel set up his whole gig to work precisely that way (as do doctors)

you are getting my wheels turning though, which is always a good thing. 🙂 look forward to seeing what others have to say.

 

[Taake]

What do you think about the idea of charging for saving a life? Is it unethical, uncool, or not really all that different from being a doctor? Have at it!

Great question.
I agree with what White Avenger said about only a small portion of the clients actually paying so it wasn't as if is the main draw for Angel. Had the money been all he was interested in, sitting next to a victim going "fork it up" before helping then it would have been unethical in my opinion. But he is in fact very reluctant to charge and only through Cordelia (who is more anchored in reality here and sees a need to y'know, pay the bills) comes about doing it.

So I don't think it's all that different from paying a doctor. It's a great idea to do everything for free and out of the goodness of your heart but how would the A.I team live? Eat? Afford to buy abandonded fancy hotels? 😉

I can see why Buffy would have reservations about charging for slaying because to her it's a calling, something she was born into (though why the Watcher's council can't help out I'll be damned to know) whereas Angel and his team chose to help, Buffy may see slaying as a job sometimes but to Angel Inc it really is and they won't be able to help anyone if they're too busy trying to help themselves (finding a roof over their heads, working etc).

 

[SlayerFest]

There's a difference between saying, "We offer a service to help you with mystical problems, for a fee." and slaying a vamp and then asking some unsuspecting victim to pay you. If I saved someone's life, I would NOT expect a reward, but if they offered one...well that would be nice. However, if I opened a business and made it clear that it was a business, and provided them with payment plans and stuff, well that's different. Because the victim knows ahead of time that there's a fee.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

There's a difference between saying, "We offer a service to help you with mystical problems, for a fee." and slaying a vamp and then asking some unsuspecting victim to pay you. If I saved someone's life, I would NOT expect a reward, but if they offered one...well that would be nice. However, if I opened a business and made it clear that it was a business, and provided them with payment plans and stuff, well that's different. Because the victim knows ahead of time that there's a fee.

Totally agree. But the thing is, Anya never said that Buffy should simply demand that someone pay her after saving them. She didn't even get a chance to suggest that they set up a business, because they were too busy hysterically rejecting her idea like it was the plague!

In any case, even though I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it myself, I just think it's downright silly that it was so easily rejected when AI existed in LA. And I would have loved to have seen a conversation between Angel and Buffy on that subject, if she really believed that it was wrong, you know?

 

[SlayerFest]

Totally agree. But the thing is, Anya never said that Buffy should simply demand that someone pay her after saving them. She didn't even get a chance to suggest that they set up a business, because they were too busy hysterically rejecting her idea like it was the plague!

In any case, even though I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it myself, I just think it's downright silly that it was so easily rejected when AI existed in LA. And I would have loved to have seen a conversation between Angel and Buffy on that subject, if she really believed that it was wrong, you know?

It really seemed like they just assumed that Anya was telling them to ask unsuspecting victims to pay because...well she would suggest something like that haha. I think the whole Spiderman incident made them dismiss/forget about it or they didn't care to discuss it further. I feel like Buffy wouldn't have liked that Angel charged people. Not sure why...I can just imagine her lecturing him on it. I mean everyone pretty much turned on him when he took over W&H which I thought was so stupid. It was like they just automatically assumed that he had gone to the dark side and was now against the forces of good. Everyone loves to jump to conclusions on those damn shows.