Comments on: Review: Anywhere But Here http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/01/10/review-anywhere-but-here/ Feminist, anti-racist, pro-fat, plus whatever else we feel like talking about. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:16:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: batgirl http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/01/10/review-anywhere-but-here/#comment-316309 batgirl Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:59:38 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/01/10/review-anywhere-but-here/#comment-316309 I didn't get the sense that Dawn was being punished for having sex. It seemed that the boy she slept with was set up as being a jerk, and Dawn felt guilty for having slept with a jerk (which is a pretty normal teenager reaction). As readers, we're sympathetic to Dawn because almost everyone has done something they regret. But I didn't get the sense at all that Dawn was "punished" for having sex. Sometimes you have sex and there are negative consequences, but the framing didn't seem to suggest that Dawn was blamed for having sex. Also, Xander quite clearly does not blame Dawn and points out that lots of people, including Buffy, have ended up sleeping with people who turn out to be not so great. Even Xander goes off with a woman who turns out to be a demon (in 7th season) and ends up hanging from the ceiling over the Hellmouth. In Buffy, relationships, sexual and otherwise, end badly or have complications all the time, but that's the Jossverse for you. Happy characters are usually not as interesting to watch. I didn’t get the sense that Dawn was being punished for having sex. It seemed that the boy she slept with was set up as being a jerk, and Dawn felt guilty for having slept with a jerk (which is a pretty normal teenager reaction). As readers, we’re sympathetic to Dawn because almost everyone has done something they regret. But I didn’t get the sense at all that Dawn was “punished” for having sex. Sometimes you have sex and there are negative consequences, but the framing didn’t seem to suggest that Dawn was blamed for having sex.

Also, Xander quite clearly does not blame Dawn and points out that lots of people, including Buffy, have ended up sleeping with people who turn out to be not so great. Even Xander goes off with a woman who turns out to be a demon (in 7th season) and ends up hanging from the ceiling over the Hellmouth. In Buffy, relationships, sexual and otherwise, end badly or have complications all the time, but that’s the Jossverse for you. Happy characters are usually not as interesting to watch.

]]> By: r@d@r http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/01/10/review-anywhere-but-here/#comment-315510 r@d@r Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:54:50 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/01/10/review-anywhere-but-here/#comment-315510 i have nothing constructive or edifying to add here, only that i wanted to thank you for posting these reviews, as they provide a sort of safe vicarious pleasure for me - ever since the beloved show ended on television, which had been a centerpiece in our household, i have been afraid to even look at the comics on the shelves much less open one, and have never done so. it's neurotic of course, but i was afraid of sullying my special memories of the feeling the television characters gave me. so keep up the good work, and i may even be tempted to get my feet wet as it were. i have nothing constructive or edifying to add here, only that i wanted to thank you for posting these reviews, as they provide a sort of safe vicarious pleasure for me - ever since the beloved show ended on television, which had been a centerpiece in our household, i have been afraid to even look at the comics on the shelves much less open one, and have never done so. it’s neurotic of course, but i was afraid of sullying my special memories of the feeling the television characters gave me. so keep up the good work, and i may even be tempted to get my feet wet as it were.

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