Willow in OMWF

[Blaze]

So there I am, doing my daily listening of the OMWF soundtrack, and I was just thinking about how each character got to sing about their deeper inner feelings -Buffy, Anya, Xander, Spike, Tara, Giles, Dawn- which got me thinking to the reason as to why we do not hear about any of Willows feelings.

I realize that the real life reason for this is that AH didn't want to sing, but contextually in the show, why would Willow have nothing to share.

One logical explanation that she was so full of herself and her addiction that she truly didn't care about anything at that point. She had no remorse, no worries, because all she worried about was her next fix, and as she forced her life to stay the same she had no real issues.

Thoughts?

 

[thetopher]

It's interesting that Willow's defining characteristic right up until the end of S4 was her insecurity. Pretty much about everything- being a nerd, her friendship with Buffy, boys (even when she's dating Oz), magic in S4 and then her relationship with Tara.

In S5 we see a change, she becomes much more confident, and magic seems to be the thing that gives her that confidence and erase all those insecurities. (Also I think Tara is a big part of that as well.)
I mean, those Willow nerves they rear up occasionally ('The Body', 'Tough Love'- fight with Tara.) but otherwise not so much.

Then Buffy dies and she becomes the 'boss', Mighty Miss Magic. There is nothing that she can't fix with magic, it gives her confidence and strength- ergo no insecurities and nothing to sing about. (apart from that one insecure line- 'I think this line's mostly filler.')

I think its a little harsh to say arrogant or full of herself- hey, maybe a little. No inner doubts or conflicts is probably more accurate.

 

[Kean]

Well, in the show Willow has a fear of performing in front of people too. We see that in Nightmares and Restless. She didn't even dance in OMWF. I don't think it is a huge stretch to think that carried over into OMWF.

 

[Lyri]

I sort of see both sides of the argument - [MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] and [MENTION=8404]Blaze[/MENTION] have good points and I think the answer is a combination of both.

Every time Willow opens her mouth to sing - when we see her sing onscreen, it was established that she and Tara sang together at the same time Buffy was singing to herself in the cemetery and Anya was singing to a sleeping Xander - she's reluctant. Her mouth screws up like she's trying her best not to let the words out. Maybe it's because there's something else on the tip of her tongue that wants to come out and Willow's using everything she has to sing something else. Because, as she freely admits, everything she sings is 'filler', there's nothing personal about it. Even 'Where Do We Go?' isn't really personal to Willow herself, more for the group as a whole, that Willow knows she can remove herself from if she wants/needs to.

But part of that could be the fear of being in the spotlight. She doesn't like that sort of attention and confessing everything in rhyme is going to nothing but get her attention. No one forgot anything that was sung and while Willow may not think her 'problem' is as bad as everyone else thinks, she still doesn't want to have to answer their questions.

I think it's possible that Willow did everything she could not to sing anything personal while under that spell.

 

[Blaze]

Good point about her trying to control the singing in order to not reveal anything, and possibly because of stage fright.

If this is the case, that would mean that Willow has quite the self-control. We know that the spell was pretty extreme to the point of people dying even if they wanted to stop dancing. I wonder if Willow being a witch could have increased that control against the spell.

At the same time, a part of me believes that s6 Willow would have no fear of being on stage anymore. After Buffy's death, Willow became the centre of the group, and she seemed to enjoyed that position. She was just way too sure of herself to hesitate in OMWF.

At the same time, because I don't think she has remorse in OMWF, I don't think she would have sang about her addiction nor about the spell she performed on Tara.

I think that [MENTION=12614]thetopher[/MENTION] is right in saying she had no inner doubts. I still think she was somewhat arrogant, somewhat above the others . That would mean that she would have no sentiment of failing at anything. Even at the end during "Where do we go from here", she essentially already knows that she can just wipe everyone's memory. Magick enables her to essentially fix everything.

 

[JCoatsworth]

Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with Willow, the character, but more with Alyson Hannigan not wanting to sing, which I can completely understand.
That might seem like a very shallow explanation, but I think that's actually why Willow only sings a few lines and no solo. Because Alyson didn't want to.

 

[Blaze]

Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with Willow, the character, but more with Alyson Hannigan not wanting to sing, which I can completely understand.
That might seem like a very shallow explanation, but I think that's actually why Willow only sings a few lines and no solo. Because Alyson didn't want to.

Yes, I agree that this is the reason. Like many other things in the series it's due to real like issues (eg.Tara not coming back, Doyle dying, Cordelia's s4 storyline), but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a reason in the show. I can imagine that it's not walk in the park for a writer to have to modify the script around an actor's demand, but it doesn't mean that they should ignore it. A good writer in my opinion would come up with a logical explanation, or at least make the situation consistent with the character you have (not being OOC).

I think with Willow they might have gotten lucky in the way the storyline turned out because it sort of makes sense that she wouldn't sing. But if you're going to write something, it needs to make sense. Even if AH didn't want to sing, they can't just have Willow not sing for no reason, that would just be a poor excuse.

 

[EVIL UU]

Willow does sing in OMWF ( We did a whole duet about dish washing ) she just does not do it on screen.

Oh great, I just ruined another thread.

 

[Blaze]

Willow does sing in OMWF ( We did a whole duet about dish washing ) she just does not do it on screen.

Oh great, I just ruined another thread.

My issue is not that she doesn't sing (she has a few lines on screen), my issue is that she doesn't sing about her feelings. Unless she has feelings about the dish washer, now that's for another thread 😉

 

[tkts]

Maybe her deep denial about what she's going through is so extreme that even the spell can't penetrate the layers of defense. Everyone else's songs are about things they're aware they feel but just can't admit to others; Willow can't even recognize her problem herself.