Interesting thread. Most interesting that one of the show's apparent agendas - to creepify Older Man / Younger Woman relationships seems to have succeeded 100% - at least to the majority of people posting on this thread.
Or am I wrong? Is it just that people oppose it because Buffy is so dear to them? Cause as far as the older / younger thing I got complete mixed signals through the 7 seasons.
Angel / Buffy - 240 year age difference.
Spike / Buffy -100 year difference (give or take)
Wesley / Cordelia - 10 - 15 year difference (aprox)
However, if you take into account that Anthony Head will turn 55 this Febuary and Sara Michelle Gellar will be 32 this April the differnce is not so outlandish. (not my opinion, it's just that it is so common) - Cher & every husband or boyfriend she's ever had - Katherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas (25 y/d), Warren Beatty and Annette Benning (21y/d), Madonna and Guy Ritchie (10 y/d), Mariah Carey and Nick Cannor (12 y/d), Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins (12 y/d), Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (15 y/d), and the list goes on and on and on.
I am neither pro or con as far as Autumn / Spring romances. I'm just looking for some balance. If they were going to creepify older men, why not creepify older women?
And how about the episode where everyone forgets who they are in the Magic box and Giles and Anya think they are a couple. Same age thing but that didn't creep me out or apparently rate a mention in this thread. (that I've noticed)
It never crossed my mind to imagine Buffy / Giles relationship and it rates a big fat Zilch as far as spending any mental energy on it. What DOES interest me is the AGENDA of the show (which is far from unbiased in many ways) and I just find it could have been handled in a better way, like in the I, Robot... You, Jane episode. You can read between the lines that there are some creepy people who misrepresent themselves and prey on young girls on the internet - without making a sweeping judgement about anyone over 40.
Great thing about this thread - Let's revisit it in 20 years and see where everybody's heads are at then. Cause LIKE NEWSFLASH PEOPLE - you're all going to be able to see this one from both sides eventually.
Maybe this whole issue was part of the show's agenda because Joss continually surrounds himself with young girls and he wanted to deflect any creepy vibe off himself. Again, it never crossed my mind that Joss likes young girls so - not necessary.
Uncle Rory