Confused About Fan Perception

[XandertheGreat]

Not only am I new to the boards, I'm also new to the show (S3 atm).

Something I'm confused about is how fans of the show seem to perceive the characters. Xander is my favorite character in the show, with Willow being second. I was certain that much of the fan base would feel the same, but it seems that in the case of both Xander and Willow, much of the fan base seems to dislike or actively despise both. Why is this? I already know the character arcs for both, so spoilers isn't an issue, but why would the funniest and most human one on the show be the one to receive a lot of hate compared to Spike, currently a dick who later becomes less of a dick but still kind of one, and even almost rapey?

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Interesting, I think there are a lot of Willow fans, but Xander maybe not as much. On a show like Buffy where there are so many great characters it's easy for Xander or even Willow to get overlooked. I personally love and adore Willow, but she's not perfect and I could see why someone wouldn't like her. She not my favorite character but maybe top 5. As for Xander, well he has a lot of douche bag moments. I don't always find his humor funny, sometimes it's inappropriate, but that could just be me and my personal taste of humor. I think he's an enjoyable character the first 3 seasons but then just becomes kind of boring to me. He's got a lot of good moments, but I'd say he just get's out shined by all the other great characters on the show. Like Buffy, and Spike and Faith or even Oz for me.

 

[thetopher]

I already know the character arcs for both, so spoilers isn't an issue, but why would the funniest and most human one on the show be the one to receive a lot of hate compared to Spike, currently a dick who later becomes less of a dick but still kind of one, and even almost rapey?

I repped you for this.
This answer is pretty much because Xander and Willow are written as fallible and human and that's how they come across. Their are moments where I love them both so much, and moments where I hate them both very strongly.
They go up and down in my estimation depending on the season/story arc. The writers aren't afraid to show them both at their best and at their very worst, their flaws are there throughout the seasons- judgemental, petty, passive-aggressive or whatever

But many fans see them as far worse than other characters because they don't have any 'special circumstances' to them- they are 'just' human.
If Xander is being a dick then he's just being a dick (even if its 17 year old Xander who's being jealous, it doesn't matter- he's still just a dick. Because everybody else was a nice well-rounded person when they were 17 and never made any mistakes...)
But when Spike is a dick its because of some other factor- he hasn't got a soul, he's a demon, 'eh- he's cool anyway because of the hair/snark/bad-ass vampire thing'. 'he's soo hot!' 😉
Or its that he's struggling with his soul/being what Buffy wants him to be at this important time/following Angel's path.
As far as I can see there's always an excuse given by his fans for Spike's behaviour.

In my recent watch-through I've come to soften my views on characters I had been very hard on in the past- specifically Xander and Cordelia. I think they get too much hate/judgment thrown at them for the mistakes they make.

 

[Silverspike]

Willow I think judging by places on the net such as Tumblr is incredibly popular, so I don't agree that she isn't, but yes many don't seem to like Xander because he often represents some of the more sexist attitudes in the show, but I think people forget he was meant to be Mr Everyman, and he was (at the start) what, 17 years of age? He's young and inexperienced. Trying to find his place in his wacky world, and so I forgive him. 🙂

 

[The Bronze]

What you'll find out once you've spent some time on this board and fan places in general is that every character has their fans and their detractors. I suspect it's one of the strengths of the show that the characters are able to get so many different reactions from people.

Personally I think Xander is great and he's one of my favourite characters. He makes his mistakes but I think his good qualities greatly out shine the negative.

As for Spike he's a soulless vampire, at your point of watching. So he's not kind of rapey, he kills and rapes people. I like Spike as a bad guy. That's not the same as saying he's a great guy and I like him. It's saying he's a brilliant enemy.

 

[Silverspike]

He 'was' a bad guy, but eventually moved onto being a champion of course. 🙂

"Personally I think Xander is great and he's one of my favourite characters. He makes his mistakes but I think his good qualities greatly out shine the negative."

Exactly. 😀

 

[EVIL UU]

Why is this?

'Cause some people don't understand what Willow and Xander are. They expect them to be Buffy's sidekicks, to always support her decisions, to always agree with her, to lack their own agencies - basically, they expect them to act like, for example, The Master's minions or Buffybot or Spike in season 7 and when Willow and Xander don't, these people get butthurt. No, Willow and Xander are their own characters, with their own goals, dreams, issues, problems and stories that are, in some episodes and arguably seasons, more important than Buffy's stories. BtVS is more or less an ensemble show and also, Buffy is not better than Willow or Xander. Like, seriously.

Now, of course there's the issue of comparing immortal supernatural beings with hundreds of years of history with human teenagers. How is that even remotely fair? Beats me, man.

 

[RomanticSoul]

There are plenty of Xander fans out there, just not on this specific board I think. I also know plenty of Willow fans, however a lot of them draw the line between WB!Willow and UPN!Willow. Since the UPN years were the years of character assasinations. Xander for the most part escaped massive character assasinations so for me personally he's the only one I still like when the show ends.

I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact that Xander can be blind to his own faults, never faces any consequences for the bad things he does while at the same time enjoys sitting on a moral high horse. But he feels free to rake other characters over the coals for their decisions (especially Buffy).

With Willow it might be because the girl has so many issues she (and the show) constantly sweeps under the rug that it eventually has to lead to badness. Instead of recognising her flaws and doing something about it, she (and the other characters) just goes on ignoring it.

 

[XandertheGreat]

Thanks everyone for providing some perspective. It's fascinating to me that an 18+ year old show still has such an extensive and active fan base. I hope that it continues on for many more.