If Willow had been gay in high school would that have wrecked the story?

Willow became gay anyway, so I don't see how it happening a few years earlier would have made much of a difference.
 
I would say significantly changed the story, rather than wrecked it. A big part of the High School years was the dynamic between Willow, Xander and Buffy. If Willow had been portrayed as gay from the start then that dynamic would have been very different.
 
I think 'wrecked' is the wrong word. You can't wreck a story just because one of the main characters is gay, there are other things that have to be factored in for a story to be considered 'wrecked', IMO. It can't all be laid at the feet of a gay character.

I think @The Bronze is right in that it would probably significantly change the story that developed if Willow had been gay in high school. There would have been no Oz, maybe even no Tara, Xander's relationship with Cordelia might never have ended, Cordelia might never have left, which meant Angel wouldn't have anyone to stop him from going so far into the darkness to do what he thought was necessary.

There would have been a serious knock-on effect to Willow coming out so early.
 
Blaze
Blaze
The gays hold all the power!
I think Willow discovering her sexuality at the time she did was a big part of her season 4 development and college life, so I'd keep it as is. It works well with the point she's at IMO. Plus I liked her relationship with Oz.

If Willow had been gay (or bi) right from the offset though, obviously we wouldn't know any different... but I highly doubt that would have happened at the time.
 
I dont get all the excitement about Will's sexual orientation. Maybe it was a big deal back then for the viewers to see a gay relationship portrayed, but for Buffy, Xander and Giles Tara was as good and acceptable as Oz and Will being gay didn’t make any difference. I guess in high school it'd be the same.

As about Will breaking up Xordy, i think if not that kiss in LW, then something else would do it. It wasn't the strongest relationship. Xander wasnt that invested in it. We'd miss some Will pining after Xander, but that's all.

Besides all those discussions in various threads whether Willow really loved Oz if she was really gay from the start seem pretty pointless to me. Things change over time, and besides i think she loved the person (Xander, Oz, Tara, Kennedy) regardless of their gender.

My personal theory is that Will is pansexual, and she defines her orientation in regard of her current partner. In Tabula Rasa for example, when she is in love, she looks at Tara, recognizes her attraction and concludes 'i think i am kinda gay'.
Also in the infamous case with RJ's jacket Will isn't troubled the least him being a guy until she is specifically told by her friends that she cannot love RJ, him having the wrong gender and then suggested by Anya that she should turn him into a girl. If not told she'd be probably perfectly fine to pursue a guy.

but at this point i think the fans would strongly object of Will having anything but a lesbian relationship, so that's idle talk.
 
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Wrecked, no. But it would have been harder to be able to portray perhaps in that tv-climate. I mean, the first on-screen kiss wasn't until mid-season 5... in the earlier years the show wasn't as strong and was targeted at teens so I'm sure plenty of voices would have risen up against the idea of Willow as openly gay that early. Even as it is I remember Joss talking about how there was a fan-backlash against Willow being gay when it became abundantly clear that she and Tara were a thing, even if they hadn't been allowed to kiss yet.

If the show had been made now Willow knowing she was gay already in high school would be more expected than surprising. But back then... I can't imagine it would have worked or even them doing it satisfactorily if they had tried it.
 
Yes, it would have wrecked it. Part of the little joys of the first three seasons were built upon Willow being straight.
 
I can't see how Willow's sexual orientation in high school, or ever, would have made much, if any, difference in the quality of the show, or even the general story line. Also making her gay in high school wouldn't have had to exclude Oz from the show. Why would he have to be romantically involved with anyone to be part of the gang? Or, if there just had, for some reason, to be something going on between him and Willow, "him" could have been a "her" without any more change to the show than having a different actor play the part.
 
Mr. Pole said:
Yes, it would have wrecked it. Part of the little joys of the first three seasons were built upon Willow being straight.
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Changed, not wrecked. If Willow had been gay from the start, or at least S2, then we never would have known any different, and we wouldn't be in a position to say the story was wrecked by the gay character.
 
Taake said:
Wrecked, no. But it would have been harder to be able to portray perhaps in that tv-climate. I mean, the first on-screen kiss wasn't until mid-season 5... in the earlier years the show wasn't as strong and was targeted at teens so I'm sure plenty of voices would have risen up against the idea of Willow as openly gay that early. Even as it is I remember Joss talking about how there was a fan-backlash against Willow being gay when it became abundantly clear that she and Tara were a thing, even if they hadn't been allowed to kiss yet.

If the show had been made now Willow knowing she was gay already in high school would be more expected than surprising. But back then... I can't imagine it would have worked or even them doing it satisfactorily if they had tried it.
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Complete agreement -

Timeline: Gays in Pop Culture
May 2001
The popular TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer paves new ground by becoming the first show to develop a gradual, accurate, and full-blown lesbian relationship between two of the major characters, Willow, played by Alyson Hannigan, and Tara, played by Amber Benson.

List of dramatic television series with LGBT characters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1997–2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Larry, Xander's bully from season one, later tells Xander he's gay in season two. Scott Hope, a character in season three is revealed to be gay in season seven. Willow and Tara enter into a relationship in season 4. Kennedy, also a lesbian, is introduced in season seven. Andrew was confirmed to be gay by series creator Joss Whedon although it was never directly stated on-screen.

How "Buffy" Changed the World of Lesbians on Television - AfterEllen

How “Buffy” Changed the World of Lesbians on Television
But perhaps Buffy's greatest contribution to lesbian
visibility was to expose viewers over a long period of time to the lives of
three very different women who were all lesbians.

Lesbians on TV The L Word Friends Queer as Folk Rosie O'Donnell Ellen DeGeneres Rosanne Barr lesbian kisses lesbians weddings on television lesbian sex Ally McDeal Calista Flockhart Lucy Liu ER Dr Kerry Weaver
2001 saw more girl-girl action than the previous ten years combined. Buffy the Vampire Slayer broke new ground with by developing a relationship between lesbian witches Willow and Tara. The unique thing about Buffy was that the lesbian characters remained on the show and weren’t just hyped for their first on screen kiss.


The point to all of these articles is to point out how record breaking it was to have Tara and Willow together. There was no way such a relationship would have been allowed between underage girls.
 
Lyri said:
Changed, not wrecked. If Willow had been gay from the start, or at least S2, then we never would have known any different, and we wouldn't be in a position to say the story was wrecked by the gay character.
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If Willow had been gay from the start the whole story would have been wrecked. Simple as that. The love triangle would not have worked. Willow pining after Xander who pinned after Buffy would never have been there. The great moments, like the Amish scene, like Willow telling Xander off for asking her to the prom, etc, would never have happened. I didn't say it would be ruined, just wrecked. It would have been a completely different dynamic and not at all what the first few seasons were like.
 
Mr. Pole said:
If Willow had been gay from the start the whole story would have been wrecked. Simple as that. The love triangle would not have worked. Willow pining after Xander who pinned after Buffy would never have been there. The great moments, like the Amish scene, like Willow telling Xander off for asking her to the prom, etc, would never have happened. I didn't say it would be ruined, just wrecked. It would have been a completely different dynamic and not at all what the first few seasons were like.
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The triangle could've been Willow and Xander both pining for Buffy, and Willow telling Xander off for asking her to prom when they both know they're not happening cause she's not into him... Just saying 😉
 
I still think 'wrecked' is the wrong word to use. Wrecked implies that Willow being gay earlier would have ruined the show, made it unwatchable, which is simply untrue. Because the fact is that we wouldn't know any different. We wouldn't be able to sit here and say, yes, Willow's sexuality made the show bad, ruined the whole plot of the show. Because we wouldn't know any different.

Yes, Willow being gay in high school would have changed the whole show, some plots would never have been possible. But we are in no position to say that the show would have been wrecked or ruined.
 
But the question is would it have wrecked the story. Yes, it would have. You could not have had the same story. Period. It's not saying a different story would be bad, but it would not be the same story. It would have wrecked the story.

It's no different than saying if Buffy was an honor-roll student would it have wrecked the story; yes, it would have. Because Buffy doing poorly was the catalyst for so many of the stories.

Wrecked doesn't mean ruined.
 
The definition of 'wreck' is to destroy or badly damage something. It is simply the wrong word to use in this situation.
 
Lyri said:
The definition of 'wreck' is to destroy or badly damage something. It is simply the wrong word to use in this situation.
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Exactly, and it would badly damage or destroy the story. But I think maybe I am calling the story the narrative and everyone else calling the story the show. And I agree the word wasn't the best choice, but it is what the OP used.
 
And I disagree with the OP - 'Wrecked' is the wrong word to use in this situation. It implies that having a gay character in the show earlier would have destroyed it. It lays the blame for everything that could have possibly gone wrong at the feet of a gay character, which is unfair and unjust. You cannot lay the blame for everything at the feet of any one single character. Other things would have had to have been changed to compensate Willow's earlier sexuality, who's to say that one of those changes wouldn't have been what 'wrecked' the show?

The fact of the matter is that we would be in no position to say whether the show was 'wrecked' or not, because we wouldn't know anything different.
 
Lyri said:
in the show earlier would have destroyed it
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But that's what I mean.. I just took it as the story and not the show. It never said the show. I don't think the show is synonymous with the story.
 
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