Spoiler! At least we know one group who isn't happy with the new Buffy plot....

[ckg927]

and is it a surprise that it's the....ahem...good folks at the Media Research Center?

Yes, the same folks who railed against WWE and Superman have now found someone new to complain about. And this time it's everyone's favorite vampire slayer.

(I won't link directly to the article, since I'm not going to give these bluehairs any more publicity than they've already gotten. But the link below does link to not only the article, but also a piece in USA Today where Joss was talking about the story and defending it.)

http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/blog/...over-comic-book-character-having-an-abortion/

 

[brinkster130]

Not surprising that some people are upset but this story line; it was only a matter of time before someone (or a group) spoke out about it. I bet if Buffy does go through with it there will be even more backlash.

 

[KellGreen]

Can we all laugh at them for making a big deal about this when it doesn't come to pass? (ps: feel free to laugh at me if it does😀)

 

[FAH]

Not surprising that some people are upset but this story line; it was only a matter of time before someone (or a group) spoke out about it. I bet if Buffy does go through with it there will be even more backlash.

agreed, mayhem about this was bound to happen, it's such a touchy subject, abortion. When/If it ever happens to I am sure there will be much more fuss. I say who cares. It's one thing I have always loved about buffy because they tackle real life situations not just supernatural. Abortion is out there and it's a womens decisions. I'm not going to go into my believes, to each their own. But it's just that, to each their own, it's their decision no ones else, and so many women deal with that decision everyday day. Props to Joss for dealing with and throwing in such a strong life situation.

 

[ckg927]

Need I also mention that the MRC(through one of its umbrella groups, the Parents Television Council)also gave WWE a lot of grief about a decade ago? (Actually, I already did. 😀 )

Unlike most of its targets, WWE fought back and forced the MRC to pay a LOT of money($3.5 million)to settle the case-AND they extracted an apology from the group too.

HOPEFULLY Joss will share Vince McMahon's stones and see the plot through-instead of doing what every writer seems to do with a plot like this: take the easy way out.

 

[Enemies]

hey everyone, just a quick reminder to use spoiler tags incase people stumble upon this who haven't read that far into the season. Thanks

 

[david4wt]

I could really get rude with this people...!

---------- Post added at 11:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------

I LOATHE this people that make life harder on women that are already going through a really tough time, filling them with guilt and self-hatred! I'm sorry, usually I tollerate every opinion but these are not opinions, these are judgements that only do harm.

 

[Sweet J]

Joss should just rename the franchise to 'Buffy the Baby Slayer', or 'Joss Whedon's political soap box'. I mean isn't Buffy's job protecting the innocent?

''It's frustrating to me. I don't think Buffy should have a baby. I don't think Buffy can take care of a baby. I agree with Buffy.'' - Whedon

''I'm barely able to hold onto a job. I live with roommates who are about to kick me out. And I can't even hold my alcohol well enough to remember who got me pregnant.
'I can handle the Slayer stuff "¦ But everything else I'm not ready. At least not now.' - Buffy Summers.

Has Joss never heard of a wonderful thing like Adoption?

The Darla pregnancy story line was far more righteous than this Buffy pregnancy crap.

http://www.parents.com/parenting/celebrity-parents/a-conversation-with-sarah-mclachlan/?page=3
Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to a woman named Judy James (or Kaines; sources differ) and was adopted soon afterwards by an American couple living in Canada, Jack and Dorice McLachlan, who have two other adopted children.

From the age of four McLachlan was a singer and played the ukulele, and studied music later at the Nova Scotia Royal Conservatory. She joined a band called October Game when she was 17 but did not become a full-time musician until after completing her education at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

 

[david4wt]

What's the point of you post Sweet J? I mean, do you think that Buffy should have kept the baby and gave it up for adoption?

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I don't see how this Wilson could see this as Buffy conviniently cleaning up a mess. She's heartbroken at the end of the issue, hating that she has to go through with it. So aweful when people are so stubborn they can't see the other side.

I do however think that adoption is a choice that could have been mentioned in the comic, even though I can see arguments against that(Buffy doesn't have enough money unless she finds a adopting-willing couple to pay for the weeks/months she must take off work, or she feels like would make herself vulnerable to demon attacks).

 

[white avenger]

What's the point of you post Sweet J? I mean, do you think that Buffy should have kept the baby and gave it up for adoption?

Whatever actually is going to happen, hasn't happened yet, so there's no point in referring to it in past tense as though it has. And, yes, giving the baby up for adoption is a viable alternative, assuming that Buffy will be able to get away somewhere safe for long enough to carry it to term (and where could possibly be safer from assorted demons, zompires, and brassed off Slayers than a nice cozy space ship. Plus, it would give Buffy the chance to boldly go where no Slayer has gone before)

But, just because that is a viable option doesn't mean that there aren't equally viable alternatives. Personally, I don't believe that there actually will be an abortion, though what actually will happen is anyone's guess. Maybe Twilight will return, somehow seize the unborn fetus, and carry it back to the new universe. Or maybe Buffy and Spike will simply decide to settle down and start a family. I can tell you from experience that a man doesn't have to be a father in order to be a daddy. Spike would no doubt find that to be a very humbling experience, as well as a great honor. But nothing beyond the capabilities of Buffy's acknowledged Champion.

 

[Taake]

Joss should just rename the franchise to 'Buffy the Baby Slayer', or 'Joss Whedon's political soap box'. I mean isn't Buffy's job protecting the innocent?

Has Joss never heard of a wonderful thing like Adoption?

That's incredibly judgemental. Just because she may or may not make this one choice her whole life becomes some kind of stigmatized sum of that one thing? No longer does it count what she did in the past?

And as for adoption - a. it's not sure that the baby WILL go to a wonderful family. (the Sarah McLachlan story is irrelevant as there is no guarantee that adoption is always successful) b. what if the baby has some kind of 'magical' abilities?
c. perhaps when Joss says that he doesn't think Buffy can have a baby he includes pregnancy in that. Carrying a baby to term while being out battling the forces of darkness? Heck, what if another apocalypse comes and Buffy's nine months pregnant and can't get off the couch? It's not as if she can just go on with her life as if this isn't happening.

Abortion may not be the best choice, and to some the worst choice, but it's a choice and it might be the best in the long run for the character of Buffy and the innocent lives she is meant to protect as you so astutely pointed out.

 

[david4wt]

I talked in past tense because I thought she already had the abortion, I'm not really a fan of the comics.

 

[MistressPointy]

I always thought this was one of those topics we weren't supposed to talk about. ;D
Personally, I don't agree with abortion... I am definitely in support of the right to choose, but I feel the baybuh has that right too... but this isn't about whether or not I think abortion is A-OK. *end soapbox*
I haven't read the comics yet (Georges gifted a signed copy to us) because we've been hecka'busy getting a new house, new jobs, etc... but.....................
Joss is definitely one to deal with "real life and death issues", and it takes a lot of guts (or a lot of "I don't care"s) to write about something so controversial. It's his creative writing version of real life though, and in real life abortions happen (whether you agree with them or not), so I don't think it's wrong that he's written it in. If she has the abortion, I'm certain it won't be a "Well, now that that's that" kind of situation... I think the writer he is will definitely deal with the natural (and supernatural?) consequences of that action (pain, regret...).
I still don't agree with abortion, but I don't agree with senseless killings either, and those happen in movies/comics/tv all the time. It's story telling, not preaching. ...and Joss Whedon story tells 🙂P) well!

 

[Aloverssoulz]

I'd hate if they went with adoption because I fear Joss or some other writer will have another future issue showing the kid in 17 years with powers of her own for whatever reason or do to the baby what they did with Connor (yuck!).

 

[SlayerFest]

Joss should just rename the franchise to 'Buffy the Baby Slayer', or 'Joss Whedon's political soap box'. I mean isn't Buffy's job protecting the innocent?

''It's frustrating to me. I don't think Buffy should have a baby. I don't think Buffy can take care of a baby. I agree with Buffy.'' - Whedon

''I'm barely able to hold onto a job. I live with roommates who are about to kick me out. And I can't even hold my alcohol well enough to remember who got me pregnant.
'I can handle the Slayer stuff "¦ But everything else I'm not ready. At least not now.' - Buffy Summers.

Has Joss never heard of a wonderful thing like Adoption?

The Darla pregnancy story line was far more righteous than this Buffy pregnancy crap.

http://www.parents.com/parenting/celebrity-parents/a-conversation-with-sarah-mclachlan/?page=3
Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to a woman named Judy James (or Kaines; sources differ) and was adopted soon afterwards by an American couple living in Canada, Jack and Dorice McLachlan, who have two other adopted children.

From the age of four McLachlan was a singer and played the ukulele, and studied music later at the Nova Scotia Royal Conservatory. She joined a band called October Game when she was 17 but did not become a full-time musician until after completing her education at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Yes...because every child who is put up for adoption ends up like Sarah McLachlan. Darla's story might have been more righteous, but Buffy's is a tad more realistic.

 

[VisionGirl]

Besides, Darla DID try to terminate, she just wasn't able to.

 

[caritas08]

I always thought this was one of those topics we weren't supposed to talk about. ;D
Personally, I don't agree with abortion... I am definitely in support of the right to choose, but I feel the baybuh has that right too... but this isn't about whether or not I think abortion is A-OK. *end soapbox*
I haven't read the comics yet (Georges gifted a signed copy to us) because we've been hecka'busy getting a new house, new jobs, etc... but.....................
Joss is definitely one to deal with "real life and death issues", and it takes a lot of guts (or a lot of "I don't care"s) to write about something so controversial. It's his creative writing version of real life though, and in real life abortions happen (whether you agree with them or not), so I don't think it's wrong that he's written it in. If she has the abortion, I'm certain it won't be a "Well, now that that's that" kind of situation... I think the writer he is will definitely deal with the natural (and supernatural?) consequences of that action (pain, regret...).
I still don't agree with abortion, but I don't agree with senseless killings either, and those happen in movies/comics/tv all the time. It's story telling, not preaching. ...and Joss Whedon story tells 🙂P) well!

I personally would have a hard time getting an abortion because I really believe life begins at conception. I'm aware that it is a very complicated issue and is not black and white. I think it's heartbreaking that women have to sometimes make that choice and that men can't truly have any say what happens to their unborn child (I'm not saying they should, just that it's tough for both genders).

However, I have a huge problem with abortion being used as a form of birth control which with Buffy's drunken one night stand it was. Even under the influence of the succubi ghost children in "Where the Wild Things Are" Buffy and Riley were shown using condoms, so why now is Buffy, who was so responsible in high school suddenly putting her hormones ahead of the common sense of using protection or the knowledge that space sex with Angel could harm everyone else (something she would never do after the events of Passion. It's the same problem I have with addicted to magic Willow being so different from high school Willow. Yes, people change. But let's have some character consistency please. I don't even think I would mind this storyline if it were done with a character who was shown to be a little less responsible in the past.

Joss needs to focus on other projects and quit messing up the great job he did with the TV show.

 

[VisionGirl]

[MENTION=11786]Sweet J[/MENTION] agrees: That's true but in the end she recognized what she needed to do

Yeah, she stakes herself. Because in the end a woman is just a vessel for a baby.

 

[Icarium]

However, I have a huge problem with abortion being used as a form of birth control which with Buffy's drunken one night stand it was. Even under the influence of the succubi ghost children in "Where the Wild Things Are" Buffy and Riley were shown using condoms, so why now is Buffy, who was so responsible in high school suddenly putting her hormones ahead of the common sense of using protection or the knowledge that space sex with Angel could harm everyone else (something she would never do after the events of Passion.

Condoms aren't 100% reliable (this always reminds me of Joey's shock when he learned that in an episode of "Friends"). This isn't to say that having Buffy have sex while blackout drunk wasn't deeply stupid, mind you. I still think it was done primarily to create a very silly mystery about who the father might be.

Yeah, she stakes herself. Because in the end a woman is just a vessel for a baby.

Well, if the woman in question is a crazy serial killer who had a brief moment of sanity and realized she she was going to turn back into a crazy killer, suicide is the most heroic option, IMO. Then again I hate Darla and did the dance of joy when we finally got rid of her for good.

As for the abortion thing, judging by the first advanced review and the solicitations of the next issues, convenient miscarriage seems ever more likely.