RastaPope
Dead is dead.
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2002
- Posts
- 4,222
This is my tirade on Joss Whedon and the nature of souls in the Buffyverse.
First, a quickie on Whedon and what he’s laid out for us through the show. His version of things is that once a person is turned, bitten, and dies, the human soul departs, and a demon soul moves in and takes on the memories and characteristics of the previous human soul. But it corrupts them, exploits them. It’s a reasonable assumption that Druscilla loved dolls, children, and small animals. The vampire Druscilla uses these all for her pleasure, torturing and killing them. She was a clairvoyant. Still is. Angel was a ladies man. Still is, though for the evil, not for the fun. William was a caring, sensitive poet who took rejection gracefully, keeping the pain as his own. As a vampire, his traits are, if anything amplified, but dangerously so. Whedon has said his version of having a human soul means the person is capable of evil, but errs to the good. While a demon soul is capable of good, but errs to the evil.
Liam ‘Angel’ O’Donnel/Angelus, the Vampire With the Angelic Face
As a human, Angel wasn’t a role model. He was a drunk, womanizing layabout. Certainly nothing deserving of enternity in hell. Upon losing his soul on being turned, it’s assumed his human soul moved on to wherever it’s going. Heaven, I guess. As a vampire, Angelus took the lives of many hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives with the help of Darla(his sire) and Druscilla(his major…turning) and Spike(Druscilla’s turning). Their crimes were great. About 150 years after he was turned, his human soul was returned to him in the form of a curse. His demon soul goes back to hell. Angel, as he’s now known, spends the bulk of the next century as a sad, morose, man, having remembered his century and a half of pure, unmitigated evil. That was why he was cursed. So he’d spend an eternity in emotional pain. Until he meets Buffy Summers and begins to try and make atonement for the crimes perpetrated with his body by the demon soul. Soon, he again loses his soul and after a few weeks, perhaps 2 months of evil, his human soul is returned…Only for Angel to be killed, sacrificed to save the world. Months later, Angel is returned to the world, having remembered spending hundreds and hundreds of years in hell for the sins of the demon soul that inhabited his body. My question is WHY was his HUMAN soul punished for crimes that weren’t his? The demon soul was the one that was evil, not the human soul. On the scale of Heaven/Hell checks and balances, why did Angel deserve such a fate? Doesn’t seem quite right, or fair. He didn’t commit these awful crimes; the murder, the torture. Yet he’s vowed to spend whatever years he has life attoning, and making amends for what he remembers his demon soul doing. If that’s what he personally needs to feel better, so be it. But having to spend that time in hell, just seems wrong.
William/William The Bloody/Spike
William was sired by Druscilla, who was in turn sired by Angelus. He was a kind, caring man. A poet. Until the fateful night he was turned. His demon soul reveled in violence, in extracting revenge on those who ‘wronged’ William. Remember, the memories are kept, so he felt it right. About 120 years later, he meets Buffy Summers. Hates her. Fights her. Etc. Then he’s captured by a government military outfit and has a behavioural modification chip implanted in his brain, rendering him unable to harm anything living. But just because he can’t harm anything or anyone doesn’t mean he has to help. But he does. First, just for money. And blood. But slowly, ever so slowly, the demon soul, in arguably a perverted fashion, begins to enjoy helping. He falls in love with Buffy. Nearly sacrifices his life to save both her and her sister. When he doesn’t have to. Out of love. And a sense of self preservation, since the world would have ended anyway. But you can tell, it was out of love. Even after Buffy died, he continued to fight the good fight. Buffy returns. They fight, they shag, wash rinse repeat. Eventually, she wanted out of the relationship, since it wasn’t exactly the healthiest of things. He doesn’t take well to this. William never did. He pushes himself on her time and again. Recently, almost to the point of rape. Then he leaves town. Goes through a series of trials in Africa, and has his soul returned. Should he be forgiven for what his vampire soul did? Was the bulk of his ‘goodness’ due to the chip? As in ‘might as well do something since I can’t be evil?’Was it a soul by proxy? If so, hasn’t he already failed? He’s been given his shot. And is just being given a soul a cheat? Shouldn’t a soul be earned and not given? The case is a bit different than Angels. But now that Spike has a soul, it’s his free and clear to keep or lose as his actions will dictate. Personally, I’m rooting for William, but part of me….
Joss leaves a lot up to the viewer to decide, but dammit, I want some answers.
This all begs the question…What is a soul? What does it do for us? Should they be freely given? Should they be earned?
First, a quickie on Whedon and what he’s laid out for us through the show. His version of things is that once a person is turned, bitten, and dies, the human soul departs, and a demon soul moves in and takes on the memories and characteristics of the previous human soul. But it corrupts them, exploits them. It’s a reasonable assumption that Druscilla loved dolls, children, and small animals. The vampire Druscilla uses these all for her pleasure, torturing and killing them. She was a clairvoyant. Still is. Angel was a ladies man. Still is, though for the evil, not for the fun. William was a caring, sensitive poet who took rejection gracefully, keeping the pain as his own. As a vampire, his traits are, if anything amplified, but dangerously so. Whedon has said his version of having a human soul means the person is capable of evil, but errs to the good. While a demon soul is capable of good, but errs to the evil.
Liam ‘Angel’ O’Donnel/Angelus, the Vampire With the Angelic Face
As a human, Angel wasn’t a role model. He was a drunk, womanizing layabout. Certainly nothing deserving of enternity in hell. Upon losing his soul on being turned, it’s assumed his human soul moved on to wherever it’s going. Heaven, I guess. As a vampire, Angelus took the lives of many hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives with the help of Darla(his sire) and Druscilla(his major…turning) and Spike(Druscilla’s turning). Their crimes were great. About 150 years after he was turned, his human soul was returned to him in the form of a curse. His demon soul goes back to hell. Angel, as he’s now known, spends the bulk of the next century as a sad, morose, man, having remembered his century and a half of pure, unmitigated evil. That was why he was cursed. So he’d spend an eternity in emotional pain. Until he meets Buffy Summers and begins to try and make atonement for the crimes perpetrated with his body by the demon soul. Soon, he again loses his soul and after a few weeks, perhaps 2 months of evil, his human soul is returned…Only for Angel to be killed, sacrificed to save the world. Months later, Angel is returned to the world, having remembered spending hundreds and hundreds of years in hell for the sins of the demon soul that inhabited his body. My question is WHY was his HUMAN soul punished for crimes that weren’t his? The demon soul was the one that was evil, not the human soul. On the scale of Heaven/Hell checks and balances, why did Angel deserve such a fate? Doesn’t seem quite right, or fair. He didn’t commit these awful crimes; the murder, the torture. Yet he’s vowed to spend whatever years he has life attoning, and making amends for what he remembers his demon soul doing. If that’s what he personally needs to feel better, so be it. But having to spend that time in hell, just seems wrong.
William/William The Bloody/Spike
William was sired by Druscilla, who was in turn sired by Angelus. He was a kind, caring man. A poet. Until the fateful night he was turned. His demon soul reveled in violence, in extracting revenge on those who ‘wronged’ William. Remember, the memories are kept, so he felt it right. About 120 years later, he meets Buffy Summers. Hates her. Fights her. Etc. Then he’s captured by a government military outfit and has a behavioural modification chip implanted in his brain, rendering him unable to harm anything living. But just because he can’t harm anything or anyone doesn’t mean he has to help. But he does. First, just for money. And blood. But slowly, ever so slowly, the demon soul, in arguably a perverted fashion, begins to enjoy helping. He falls in love with Buffy. Nearly sacrifices his life to save both her and her sister. When he doesn’t have to. Out of love. And a sense of self preservation, since the world would have ended anyway. But you can tell, it was out of love. Even after Buffy died, he continued to fight the good fight. Buffy returns. They fight, they shag, wash rinse repeat. Eventually, she wanted out of the relationship, since it wasn’t exactly the healthiest of things. He doesn’t take well to this. William never did. He pushes himself on her time and again. Recently, almost to the point of rape. Then he leaves town. Goes through a series of trials in Africa, and has his soul returned. Should he be forgiven for what his vampire soul did? Was the bulk of his ‘goodness’ due to the chip? As in ‘might as well do something since I can’t be evil?’Was it a soul by proxy? If so, hasn’t he already failed? He’s been given his shot. And is just being given a soul a cheat? Shouldn’t a soul be earned and not given? The case is a bit different than Angels. But now that Spike has a soul, it’s his free and clear to keep or lose as his actions will dictate. Personally, I’m rooting for William, but part of me….
Joss leaves a lot up to the viewer to decide, but dammit, I want some answers.
This all begs the question…What is a soul? What does it do for us? Should they be freely given? Should they be earned?
