Did Cordelia really want to be in the Scooby Gang?

[Chosen Enemy]

Her entire life, Cordelia was a popular girl. She was used to that, she loved that. She was even ashamed to be seen talking to people (not "cool" people) like Buffy, Xander and Willow. That was her life, that was what she was used to.

After Cordelia found out Buffy's secret by the end of season 1, she could more or less talk or hang out with the Scoobies. She started becoming closer to them and even helped them. That was even before she started a relationship with Xander.

XANDER
Come on, Cordy. You can't be a member
of the Scooby Gang if you aren't willing
to be inconvenienced now and then -


CORDELIA
Oh, right. Cause I lie awake at night
hoping you tweekos will be my best
friends. And that my first husband will
be a balding, demented homeless man -

Does the quote above mean she really didn't want to be a part of their gang? Then why she hung out with them? Why she helped them so often? Was she really not a member of the gang, or was she just in denial?

When her and Xander broke up in Valentine's, she returned to her popular society. BUT in the end of that episode, she told those people exactly what she thought, what she really wanted to do and be. And she was a Scooby Gang member again, now officially, and now not in denial anymore.

But then! Xander cheats on her. And she's back to the "dark side" again. This time for good.

So did she really want to be a member of the Scooby Gang? Or she prefered belonging to the popular crowd?

 

[Taake]

I think she wanted to and didn't want to... In other words I think she was conflicted about it.

On the one hand she was a teenaged girl enjoying her popularity and being the center of attention, having peoples general 'approval' and admiration. But at the same time her true self was coming out. Teenage Cordy may have been superficial and conceited for whatever reasons but deep down inside she was a good person and I think that part of her recognized that the Scoobies were doing something bigger than all of them. She wanted to help because she knew it was the right thing to do... but, as any teen, she was caught between who she was and who she thought she should be...

After going to L.A and maturing she shed the 'shoulds' and meshed what she wanted with who she really was... it just took her a while to get there. + I think that even if she kind of wanted to be with the Scoobies she didn't fit in with them and couldn't really find a place in their group.
🙂

 

[Ripper666]

I think she wanted to. I think my evidence for the theory is found in the episode inwhich Giles et visited from Ethan Rayne. A demon wants to kill both because they set him free when they hab been youths. Buffy offers Xander and Willow what to do and she miss Cordy. And Cordy asked her what she could do! I think she wanted to be part of the Gang, at least because Xander was part of it. And don't forget, she joined the Fang Gang who nearly made the same as the Scoobie Gang. So in my eyes she wanted to help other people and that's why she wantet to join both groups!

 

[Jules]

I think she did. I think Cordy was very lonely. She mentions in Out of Mind, Out of Sight that even though she's surrounded by people she's still lonely. With the Scoobies, even though they weren't popular they were very close and Cordy was a part of that. I think she made her sarcastic comments to hide her vulnerability. I think it was the same reason, after Xander cheated on her that she retreated to her old way of life. She had been hurt, probably more that she ever had before, and she had shown the Scoobies a different side to her, it was only natural for her to retaliate and try and show that she wasnt hurt by pretending not to care.

 

[brinkster130]

She absolutely did. Sure she loved her popularity but she was lonely and clearly wanted more out of her relationships with her friends and peers. The Scoobies were intriguing to her, not only because of what they did but also of because of their closeness. They had each others back and weren't going to let anything superficial change that; Cordy knew she didn't have anything remotely close to that with the Cordettes.

 

[Ojuice5001]

One thing to remember is that the Scooby Gang itself would seem sort of like an exclusive clique to her. After all, they do have a secret, and so they're exclusive in that sense. The Scoobies' standoffishness is not rooted in snobbishness, of course, but in the fact that not everyone is interested in their demon-fighting endeavors or capable of doing it well and safely. Still, a girl like high-school Cordelia has to be a little impressed when she learns that Willow and Xander are not just the kind of losers that they seem like to her--but rather, they have access to a kind of power that no one else really knows about. This impulse, the desire to be part of a group that knows secrets, is really the same reason why someone would want to be friends with a group like the Cordettes; therefore, she would feel the same way about the Scooby Gang. And if it turns out--and this is the case, of course--that the Scoobies care about each other deeply and the Cordettes don't, well, that is just another way in which it's more desirable to belong with the Scoobies than to have the status she has with the Cordettes, the status of the biggest fish in a shallow pond.