Bangel being a Metaphor.

[The Ferg]

So I was sick this weekend, and I was doing some random thinking. And I thought:

"Is Buffy and Angel (in Angel S1, Buffy S4) a metaphor for the annoying exes that keep following you around?"

 

[Joyce Summers]

As Joss said BYOSubtext. I think Bangel can be a metaphor for whatever you believe it to be. The relationship could be a metaphor for that First Love. The one that no matter how much you get over them, how much you move on and fall in love with others, you never forget them. The First Love is naturally unforgettable for the mere fact of being the first.

It could be a metaphor for the ex. The Ex that either doesn't seem to realize the concept of being exed, or keeps randomly cropping up everywhere in your life no matter how hard you both try to avoid one another or the ex you keep erm...accidentally comshucking with in times of need.

It could also be the metaphor for true love or soul mates. Not that the couple themselves are a metaphor for a couple that are soulmates, but rather a metaphor for the concept of soulmates. The complications of the Bangel relationship therefore representing that the concept of soulmates can't be as simplistic and idealistic as we'd all like. There's complications even in an ideal.


The metaphors are endless, haha.

 

[Fake Shemp]

I always think its down to us... or me.. or you. Read into, take from it what you want. I see it as the the first love you never stop loving.

 

[Perny]

Fake Shemp what a Spuffitastic way to think 😉

 

[Fake Shemp]

I do like Spuffy better and think Spike is waaaaay better. It annoys me when Bangel kiss in Chosen... but it sorta proves the whole 'first love you never stop loving'. It shouldnt change anything between Buffy and Spike tho.

 

[Perny]

I don't think it did... Buffy chose to spend her, possible, last night with Spike, instead of the rest.
And they call it..Spuffy loooove

 

[Kean]

I think Joyce summed it up nicely. Bangel means alot of different things to different people. To me, it was always that Buffy and Angel physically embodied the concept of soulmates. Two people sharing one soul, as Joss said their love trancends everything.

 

[palabravampiress]

Umm... I'm not sure metaphor is the right term here. I mean, Buffy and Angel aren't metaphors for the exes that never quite ex, they are those exes. Kafka's bug guy was a metaphor. Bangel's drinking scene was a metaphor. The whole Angel-turning-evil thing was a metaphor. Heck, vampiric blood drinking is a metaphor -- especially when used post Bram Stoker, as his influence on the genre is pretty much set in stone and impossible to escape (not that I'd want to). To be a metaphor, something normally used to designate one thing must be used to designate another. There are many layers of metaphor in the Buffyverse, but I'm not sure this is one.

 

[hazzard]

yeah, i think "representation" or "symbol" or "model" might be better terms here. i think buffy will never stop loving angel, and i also think it's kind of implied in the graveyard talk in "chosen" that they might renew their relationship when buffy is ready, when she is "cookies."

 

[VisionGuy]

Bangel is a metaphor for everything that's wrong with the world.

 

[Bangelxx]

Bangel can be a metaphor for a lot of things but seriously, I do not believe it has anything to do with exes.... 😛 bangel is so much better than that!

 

[Perny]

A metaphor for things you think you want, but really don't need