What metaphor in Buffy or Angel was personally, the most powerful for you?

[itssmiletime]

There is a lot of discussion about metaphors in Buffy/ Angel, some of them are fairly noticeable and well known (high school as hell) yet some metaphors you may have realised or discovered yourself, may not be as well known, yet more powerful for you.

A powerful metaphor for me was the depiction of Buffy's depression in season 6- a lot of the episodes featured demons specifically going after ''the slayer'' or buffy, such as "Normal Again'' ''Gone'' ''Life Serial'' "Flooded''- leaving Buffy feeling isolated and alone (invisible, followed, confused), which perfectly captures paranoia, sadness, anxiety and the nightmarish state of depression.

Hope you all have a good week 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

[TotallySpiked]

I really liked the 'boyfriend turns evil' metaphor of season 2 - I enjoyed seeing the repercussions of what Angelus does and how it forces Buffy to in the end kill him even though he turns back into Angel. It's an obvious metaphor but I think it was one of the better sequenced ones.

 

[Joshua]

The Drug/Magick Addiction Metaphor was genuis imo

 

[Robb Stark]

I have a few I really like and identify with.

The first is the general metaphor of the first half of S1 of Angel. It's all about being in your early 20's, alone for the first time in the big bad city. You develop a good core of friends and there's this kind of us-against-the-world feeling. I really got that from Angel, and it fits for me, and where I am right now in my own life.

Another one, and it's short, was the final line in Angel. "Let's go to work". I love that line. Knowing that you're going to lose, but fighting anyways because it's a fight worth fighting, is a pretty cool message.

 

[dexeded]

"No weapons... No friends...No hope. Take all that away... and what's left?"

Being strong.

 

[Anca]

"Things change. If you make them"

Own your life, own your mistakes, you'll feel better in the end.

 

[kittenpoker]

The "moment of happiness turning angel into angelus"....

That hits a nerve in that - in my experience, men have pretended to really care about me only to suddenly stop caring after their moment of happiness (as it were)

 

[nightshade]

"We're family"

that no matter what you're blood family are like, you can create your own family with your friends

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Maybe not the most powerful, but possibly the most ingenious was Wolfram & Hart. It has been popular to hate lawyers since Shakespeare's time, but the concept of a law firm with multidimensional reach and Satanic management and backing seems to be an ultimate extension of this idea that no one had ever used before. The idea of a single evil organization that controls the fate of people to the point of an eternal employment contract and the ability to summon any kind of beast from any dimension is new in literature and deserves special mention.

 

[BuffyElevated]

At the time the show originally aired, the Season2 arc and the metaphor that guys can turn evil if you sleep with them really hit home with me. As a young girl who was struggling with the idea of losing my virginity, it really made me sit up and realize that sex does not equal love.

 

[Skytteflickan88]

Mind control or any spells at all manipulating the mind as a metaphor for rape or violations. (I have a feeling this isn't so much a metaphor as description of what maind control is).

Sometimes it wasn't even a metaphor, like in the case of Katarina and the Trio, where the mind control was simply a more complex for of rophy. Sometimes it's even ignored, like when Giles' is thralled by Dracula's brides and it's written as a joke.

The obvious examples are Glory's mind wipe of Tara, and Willow on Tara. Tara really seemed to feel like she was violated. Maybe not sexually, but definitly violated.

________

Magic is a drug metaphor was also very strong. I would have liked that Willow's obvious need for power and control was adressed, instead her behaviour is blamed almost entirely on magic and it's addictiveness in season 6. But it was powerful.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

Wesley getting his memories back in "origins" and playing it as a metaphor for uncovering repressed memories. The idea of searching for the truth in your mind only to cause yourself more misery. The haunting truth that we all possess two sets of memories. The true memories and the ones fabricated so we can endure the truth. It speaks volumes to me and I imagine I am not alone. 🙂

 

[Blaze]

I have two really, Willow's magick addiction in s6, and Buffy's depression/the real evil is life metaphor. Both of these I can closely relate to my life.

I can also connect with that whole sleeping with a guy and he goes "evil" metaphor, sadly this is something that seems to be common in real life (actually not aiming this at guys).

Let's see, what else, I really liked the witchcraft=sex with the Tara/Willow relationship, but really this one I like because I thought it was clever to get around the censors.

 

[janas]

No matter how you lose yourself, you can always get up and keep fighting. Even if you never balance your past mistakes, you can always help others. Perhaps, in the end, you will be forgiven, but first you have to drink the bitter cup.. drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment. There is no growth nor change without pain.

 

[EffyStonem]

Spike as a drug addiction for Buffy in Season 6. We all focus on Willow's magic-as-a-drug-addiction (which I personally loathe, because it just doesn't work) but Buffy's addiction to Spike is more of a clear metaphor for addiction (the Smashed/Wrecked/Gone arc is a beautiful Buffy/Willow parallel).

Buffy first "dabbles" with the dangerous drug (Spike); a kiss here, another there, nothing too serious. She then escalates into taking the drug often and in dangerous dosages. She because completely addicted, hates herself and her actions and hurts people around her (neglecting Dawn and ignoring Willow's problems). Then she finally quits the drug, cold-turkey before an "overdose" is forced upon her (the attempted rape). She ends the season having broken free from the drug and walking into the light, on the road to recovery.

Unfortunately it's all effed-up by the events on Season 7 but when I first watched Season 6, I found the (possibly unintentional) drug-metaphor that Spike stood for very compelling.

 

[TiMER]

Buffy - "Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are."

Angel - "Well, I guess I kinda worked it out. If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... , then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today. I fought for so long, for redemption, for a reward, and finally just to beat the other guy, but I never got it...Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because, I don't think people should suffer as they do. Because, if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."

 

[The Thirst Evil]

The way magic is used as a metaphor for sex is particularly powerful, specifically when Willow and Tara do magic together. There's a lot of tension involved and it makes it very clear that there is an intended metaphor.

And not a particularly powerful one, but a great one is Spike's chip being a metaphor for impotence 😀

 

[Kairos]

"We don't belong to ourselves" - everyone has a duty to be a force for good. You can't take back the sins in your past, but they can't prevent you from doing the right thing today.

 

[VisionGirl]

I first discovered Buffy as a brand-new mother, suffering from post-party's depression. I would watch reruns on Fx every morning as I fed my baby. I also watched season 7 as it aired. The thing that struck me at the time was strength- despite her appearance (petite teen), despite her depression, despite anything. It's something that I've come to love whenever I encounter superhero stories. Despite their weaknesses and faults, they keep trying they get back up and try. It's what I love about Angel too.

I was also impressed at her protectiveness of friends, family, & strangers. Before I had children I had never experienced that feeling of knowing that I would sacrifice myself (or perhaps even do bodily harm to another if need be!) for my children.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 PM ----------

I am loving this thread. Because these are the reasons I love these shows. 🙂

 

[Wesley Pryce]

A particular emotional metaphor for me has long been the abduction of Conner into Kortoth (sorry if i spelled that wrong) as a metaphor for child abuse and ones childhood being stolen from them. I personally know a child who's parents are so cruel to him and its heartbreaking to see his innocent childhood being robbed from him,so powerful to see that depicted in art and depicted as strongly as it is on Angel.