AngelAmongUs
Townie
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2014
- Messages
- 8
https://web.archive.org/web/2001111...2it.com/sciencefiction/otherworlds.html?20561
Much has been made of the fact that vampires do not have souls -- with one exception. Angel (David Boreanaz), a broody Irish vampire, was given back his soul as a punishment via a Gypsy curse. Now he suffers (and does he) from guilt over his past misdeeds and is constantly striving -- both on "Buffy" and now on his WB spin- off, "Angel" -- to redeem himself. Along the way, he fell hard for Buffy, but ultimately had to give her up to pursue his destiny.
But, as the last couple of seasons have shown, even a vampire without a soul can love Buffy. Spike (James Marsters), a Britpunk vampire introduced as a villain in season two, has also fallen for the Slayer. Prevented from killing by an experimental microchip in his brain, he not only has been a fool for Buffy's love, but has shown definite inclinations toward doing good for its own sake.
So, that begs the question, what is the role of the soul in the Buffy-verse, if one can love and do good without one? Says Whedon, also from March 2001, "A soul is the thing that separates a human from a demon. It's the thing that points you north instead of south, that makes your instinct to do good instead of to do bad."
"Therefore a vampire can feel love. They can have all the whims and quandaries of a normal person, if they're a vampire or a demon, but their basic instinct is to create chaos and evil and destruction, instead of love and bonding and nurturing and stuff. That's the basic difference."
"A lot of demons, like Spike, for example, are not that different from a lot of people we know. It's not cut-and-dried. He is capable of great love, but great love is usually a very selfish thing, but he's trying."
David Greenwalt partnered with Whedon on "Buffy," and now is the show-runner and executive producer of "Angel." From Aug. 2001, he says, "Are we human because we have a soul, or do we become human and therefore gain a soul? Certainly there are people in the world without souls." "Angel's soul is based on the fact that he must feel guilt and pain and sorrow for all he's done. The Slayer had an incredible effect on Angel. Angel saw her and wanted to be a better person, seeing her, and he'd had a soul for 100 years at that point."
"Same thing, Spike, to his incredible horror, has fallen in love with the Slayer and wants the best for her. To me, he's become a little bit human because of that."
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In Season 4 episode 2 we get a taste of what Buffy would be like without a soul when her roommate is trying to remove hers to use it to hide from the “people” who try to take her back to her own dimension.
In Angel season 1 episode 14 we see that a human can be without a soul. Proving that a soul is not a separate person or being.
Angel did not suddenly drop the "us" on his name as soon as he was cursed to feel the impact of what he has done as a vampire. He more than likely modernized it sometime in the early to mid-1900's.When he is called Angelus by Darla he doesn't stop and say, "Oh your mistaken that’s a completely different person than me." It's Cordelia who basically says that to Darla which Angel just ignores. Angel is, by nature of his personality, very selective in what he has ever told anyone about himself at any given time.
Buffy says this to Ford in Season 2 during a heated conversation, "You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old house, and it walks, and it talks, and it remembers your life, but it's not you." Slayers and the watchers council, just like soldiers in a war, often dehumanize the enemy to process what they do. This is contrary to what Angel himself (and he would know) told Buffy in the season 1 episode “Angel” which is that he is a vampire with a conscience. Buffy saying this to Ford showed her mindset of what the vampires she slays are, not what they actually are.
Much has been made of the fact that vampires do not have souls -- with one exception. Angel (David Boreanaz), a broody Irish vampire, was given back his soul as a punishment via a Gypsy curse. Now he suffers (and does he) from guilt over his past misdeeds and is constantly striving -- both on "Buffy" and now on his WB spin- off, "Angel" -- to redeem himself. Along the way, he fell hard for Buffy, but ultimately had to give her up to pursue his destiny.
But, as the last couple of seasons have shown, even a vampire without a soul can love Buffy. Spike (James Marsters), a Britpunk vampire introduced as a villain in season two, has also fallen for the Slayer. Prevented from killing by an experimental microchip in his brain, he not only has been a fool for Buffy's love, but has shown definite inclinations toward doing good for its own sake.
So, that begs the question, what is the role of the soul in the Buffy-verse, if one can love and do good without one? Says Whedon, also from March 2001, "A soul is the thing that separates a human from a demon. It's the thing that points you north instead of south, that makes your instinct to do good instead of to do bad."
"Therefore a vampire can feel love. They can have all the whims and quandaries of a normal person, if they're a vampire or a demon, but their basic instinct is to create chaos and evil and destruction, instead of love and bonding and nurturing and stuff. That's the basic difference."
"A lot of demons, like Spike, for example, are not that different from a lot of people we know. It's not cut-and-dried. He is capable of great love, but great love is usually a very selfish thing, but he's trying."
David Greenwalt partnered with Whedon on "Buffy," and now is the show-runner and executive producer of "Angel." From Aug. 2001, he says, "Are we human because we have a soul, or do we become human and therefore gain a soul? Certainly there are people in the world without souls." "Angel's soul is based on the fact that he must feel guilt and pain and sorrow for all he's done. The Slayer had an incredible effect on Angel. Angel saw her and wanted to be a better person, seeing her, and he'd had a soul for 100 years at that point."
"Same thing, Spike, to his incredible horror, has fallen in love with the Slayer and wants the best for her. To me, he's become a little bit human because of that."
_______________________________________
In Season 4 episode 2 we get a taste of what Buffy would be like without a soul when her roommate is trying to remove hers to use it to hide from the “people” who try to take her back to her own dimension.
In Angel season 1 episode 14 we see that a human can be without a soul. Proving that a soul is not a separate person or being.
Angel did not suddenly drop the "us" on his name as soon as he was cursed to feel the impact of what he has done as a vampire. He more than likely modernized it sometime in the early to mid-1900's.When he is called Angelus by Darla he doesn't stop and say, "Oh your mistaken that’s a completely different person than me." It's Cordelia who basically says that to Darla which Angel just ignores. Angel is, by nature of his personality, very selective in what he has ever told anyone about himself at any given time.
Buffy says this to Ford in Season 2 during a heated conversation, "You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old house, and it walks, and it talks, and it remembers your life, but it's not you." Slayers and the watchers council, just like soldiers in a war, often dehumanize the enemy to process what they do. This is contrary to what Angel himself (and he would know) told Buffy in the season 1 episode “Angel” which is that he is a vampire with a conscience. Buffy saying this to Ford showed her mindset of what the vampires she slays are, not what they actually are.
