"Do you have parents, yeah both of them unlike some people"

[Joshua]

Did anybody else find this line to be very disrespectful especially coming from Cordelia in "Homecoming"?

I mean sure Buffy calling Cordy a "Vapid Whore" was just as bad but Buffy couldn't help that her parents divorced.

I mean over a ****ing homecoming queen crown? get over a grip. thank goodness Cordelia matured and became a better person after BTVS

 

[JaseyRae]

I agree, Cordelia really pissed me off in that episode... I also hate that Willow was helping Cordy. CORDELIA, not Buffy, she was helping Cordelia who picked on her, rather than her BEST FRIEND who saved her life like a 100 times. Why? I don't even see a reason for that. Ok, Xander was dating her, but Willow?

 

[Lyri]

I also hate that Willow was helping Cordy. CORDELIA, not Buffy, she was helping Cordelia who picked on her, rather than her BEST FRIEND who saved her life like a 100 times. Why? I don't even see a reason for that. Ok, Xander was dating her, but Willow?

As far as I can remember, Willow doesn't start helping Cordelia until after she (Willow) and Xander kiss. She feels guilty for her betrayal of someone who has - whether any of them admit it or not - become a friend and ally, so she chooses to help Cordelia because she thinks it will make up for that betrayal.

As for Cordelia's line, I think it's pretty typical of Cordelia at that time. She was a typical rich girl who thought that the world owed her a living and she got everything she wanted just by asking for it. The fact that someone dared to stand up to her and stand against her riled her, and this made that much worse because it's Buffy, someone she thinks is less of a person because of her role in life. So she goes for the cheap shot, the shot that she knows will hurt the most, just because she can.

It's only when Cordelia moves to LA and joins Angel's gang that she starts to change, because she's on the front line here, right in the heart of the action, and she's lost that distance she had in Sunnydale. Even when she was dating Xander, she was still fairly second string when it came to the slaying and patrolling.

Do I agree with what Cordelia said? No, absolutely not. But considering the character, I understand why she could have and did say it.

 

[itssmiletime]

It's a terrible thing to say to anyone. And really, Cordelia is like, what, 17 or 18? Really, no excuses on her part.

I agree that Willow should've been helping Buffy, not Cordelia. Seriously, the mere thought of someone choosing to help a bully over a friend makes me physically sick... I think the smart, responsible thing to do would be to not help either of them. The whole thing was very immature (which I get was kinda the point, hence both of them losing)

 

[fitz1980]

It's a terrible thing to say to anyone. And really, Cordelia is like, what, 17 or 18? Really, no excuses on her part.

Funny, I was about to post the exact opposite. Namely "She was only 17/18, so what do you expect from someone so young?" Guess that is one of those sdliding scales that changes between being 18 vs being 33.

Either way it does work character wise as Cordelia was still more the vapid, bitchy, "Mean Girls" character at that point.

 

[Wild At Heart]

I agree with everyone saying it fit Cordy's character at the time but still, she had been working with the gang & Buffy had already saved her life countless times at that point. In the heat of the moment, I guess someone doesn't always think rationally but she should've already had respect deep down for Buffy, enough not to say something that hurtful & disrespectful to her. The whole homecoming queen thing is ridiculous anyway. It's really not that important, which I guess was the point of the episode. I honestly don't think Willow should've helped Cordy or Buffy, I would've told them they're on their own & I'm not getting in the middle. One thing I didn't get though is Willow telling Buffy "she needs it so much more than you". Why? To quote Cordelia, "Yeah, like a hole in the head."

 

[Still a Scoobie]

Do you not think that was Willow's way of softening the blow?

 

[Lyri]

Do you not think that was Willow's way of softening the blow?

Yeah, she couldn't exactly say 'I just made out with her boyfriend so I'm feeling guilty and need to help her win even at the cost of you losing, sorry, Buffy.'

 

[BuffyElevated]

I didn't think Cordelia was being any more mean than usual... She was just directing it at Buffy more than others. Cordelia was pretty mean in her entire time on BTVS. It wasn't until she got on "Angel" that she started softening up a little and using tact a little more.

 

[thetopher]

It's strange that this particular insult is singled out. Cordelia said far worse things to other people, and not just on Buffy. A few of the things she's said to Doyle or Wes really made me wince in sympathy.
Calling Doyle 'pathetic' and 'a weasel' right to his face, even when he'd been nice to her. 😡

I mean, Buffy and Cordelia were having an arguement, it's not like the insult came out of the blue or anything. Buffy can usually hold her own.

Come to think of it the worst thing I think Cordelia ever said to Buffy was much later on, in 'Choices' where she says: 'I'm sorry Buffy, this conversation is restricted to those of us who actually have a future.' when Buffy was just telling her and Xander to calm down and stop fighting.
As insults go it was totally uncalled for, and far more cutting and telling, it genuinly seemed to hurt Buffy. 🙁

 

[Blaze]

To me this insult is worst then others because it's what constitute of a "low blow" in my opinion.

[MENTION=12614]thetopher[/MENTION] mentioned other insults that could be considered much worst, but to me I can live with people bashing me, or insulting me. But bringing outsiders to the insults or attacking the family/friends of the person is just very low. I can defend myself, Buffy can defend herself, but she can't change that she has a dead beat father and she can't change that he left them.

As mean as Cordelia was in highschool, you'd think that she wouldn't step this low. Being young is no excuse. But again, we've all said really shitty things like that at least once in the past, so it's not like this is unforgivable.

 

[janas]

I agree that Cordelia said very worse things over the years, both in BTVS that in ATS, and it seems that she (and Spike) has a sort of free pass about responsibility for his caustic comments. It seems that she can say everything offensive to everyone, and no one makes points out that to her. But words often hurt more than the sword.

 

[chasesummers]

This was part of the Cordelia experience, even on Angel she had some things she had to acknowledge especially about her behavior.

The comment she gave Buffy was indeed hurtful.
I feel Cordy was pretty unhappy and distant from her parents, she perhaps wanted them to think her life is so perfect (like in the beginning of Angel) when in reality, it's not. There were some very minor comments about her family and they weren't so positive, she never ever mentioned them later in Angel unlike the others. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Unfortunately Buffy took this undeserved blow, but it feels that this comment comes from the root of Cordys experience, creating the illusion that her life is perfect until she lost everything, that's what allowed her to grow.

 

[Wild At Heart]

I agree with everyone that Cordelia has said countless other mean things to other characters but I don't think anything is as much of a "low blow" as someone else put it than telling someone that you have two parents & they don't. To me, that's worse than telling someone they don't have a future or anything else but that's just my opinion. Either way, I'm glad she did eventually grow as a person & became my favorite character on Angel.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I thought nothing more of that interaction than it was damned funny.

 

[thetopher]

I still think its all about context, something that's said in the heat of the moment, when you're arguing, can never be as bad as a thought-out, unprokoved, cutting remark designed to wound somebody.

Don't get me wrong, I like Cordelia, its great to watch her change and grow stronger over the course of both shows- but boy, she has said some terrible things to people on both shows. If the remarks weren't so damn funny, and CC didn't have great comic timing, I might hold it against the character more than I do. 🙂

 

[Fuffy Baith]

This is just Cordelia being mean and she knows how to press Buffys buttons. It goes back to Buffy's fears and insecurities from Nightmares, about her parents divorce being her fault. I agree it's a low blow but it's Cordelia. I love Buffy calling her a vapid whore. Cracks me up cuz you don't expect it from her.

 

[SlayerFest]

Funny, I was about to post the exact opposite. Namely "She was only 17/18, so what do you expect from someone so young?" Guess that is one of those sdliding scales that changes between being 18 vs being 33.

Either way it does work character wise as Cordelia was still more the vapid, bitchy, "Mean Girls" character at that point.

I really hate that excuse..."oh they're young, of course they would say something so stupid!" what she said was so immature, it sounds like something a 7 year old kid might say...but even then, if I said that as a kid my mom would lecture me and I'd never say it again...ha.ha. But yeah, her comment didn't really surprise me. Ha, and it actually makes her seem really dumb for more than one reason. The comment itself is stupid, but Buffy says, "How can you think it's okay to talk to people like this? Do you have parents?" and then Cordelia just...proves her point further haha...yeah, I love that episode.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Cordy's comment weren't nasty, they were just Cordy being Cordy, saying what she saw before her brain had engaged a gear.
I blame Xander and Willow for saying, 'don't say anything you'll regret' (or similar). If they hadn't said that Buffy might have said something better, worse, better, really given folk a good laugh.

 

[Fuffy]

But words often hurt more than the sword.

True.

I think that while Cordelia DOES know that, she just doesn't care and she likes being tactless 😛