Miss Kitty
~ Out of this World ~
Nombre de messages : 60540
Age : 34
Date d'inscription : 07/01/2009
 | Sujet: Joss Whedon’s Best Heel Turns  Jeu 29 Mai - 12:07 | |
| - Citation :
- Honorable Mention: nearly every character on Angel
What a sweet group. You’ll want to strangle every one of them at least once before this is over.
In order for a Turn to properly resonate, there must be clearly-defined sides, the more morally divergent; the better. In Angel’s world, the camps are not so clearly divided, resulting in shades of grey and little black and white. A Turn (either Heel or Face) is only shocking and enraging if it is unexpected… but in Angel, loyalties are always in question. At some point new betrayals are less a surprise and more, to paraphrase Buffy Summers, just another Tuesday.
Even if we eliminate all examples of non-voluntary betrayal, such as with Fred/Illyria, no Angel fan can deny the show is rife with traitorous decisions made in full awareness, as well as side-switching and deals made with dubious intentions. Cordelia seduces Conner and gives birth to Jasmine as a result. Conner hunts demons alongside the team until he throws Angel into the harbor in a box. Angel reverts to Angelus. (Again.) Gunn agrees to go to Wolfram & Hart’s White Room and gains their legal knowledge… then has to keep making new deals to retain it. The entire team even joins Wolfram & Hart at the end of season four.
So while Angel is filled with Turns, the show as a whole gets the Honorable Mention slot because loyalty is such a fluid concept to the characters. - Citation :
- 2. Angelus, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
”Since Angel lost his soul, he’s regained his sense of whimsy.”
In the Buffy: TVS DVD commentaries and interviews, Joss discusses his intention to subvert classic horror tropes when he created Buffy. She is the blonde cheerleader who, instead of being victimized monster-bait, emerges victorious from the dark, creepy alley. For that reason alone, he didn’t want to repeat the cliché of having bad things happen to his blonde teenager just because she had sex with her boyfriend.
At the same time, Buffy: TVS was also envisioned as the horrors of high school turned up to an eleven (and given fangs). The real-life horror of lost virginity is the partner who never calls again, who turns into an unfeeling monster. The natural progression of that story to supernatural horror is the return of Angelus.
Part of the reason Angelus is so appealing as a character is that like Brett Dalton, actor David Boraneas is better when he’s bad. Angel with his Gypsy-curse-given-soul is mopey and perpetually stuck in a purgatory of guilt; not an easy role to play. Angelus, freed from the curse by one moment of true happiness, has no conscience and no limits. Boraneas could be far more expressive with Angelus; it allowed him to open up and brought more charisma to the screen.
As Angel, Vampire With a Soul, he could be Buffy’s boyfriend and be allies with the Scoobies, if not friends. As Angelus, he stalks Buffy obsessively, threatens those she cares about, kills Jenny Calendar, and then artfully arranges Jenny’s body in Giles’s bed. He even, as Giles says in “Revelations”, “…tortured me for hours, for pleasure.”
This particular Heel Turn ranks so high on the list because it affects so much canon that comes after. For the rest of the series, the shadow of Angelus hangs over Sunnydale. Angel re-emerges, but the specter of Angelus’s possible return haunts all Angel’s personal interactions and relationships. Even after he leaves for Los Angeles (and his own spin-off show), the harm Angelus did to Buffy and the Scoobies continues to be felt. In many ways, it is a loss of innocence for all of them. - Citation :
- 1. Willow Rosenberg, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
“This goes beyond anything I’ve ever done. It’s a total loss of control, and not in a nice, wholesome, ‘my girlfriend has a pierced tongue’ kinda way.”
Both in the context of the show and on a meta-level outside it, Willow Rosenberg is a deeply-loved character of the Buffy mythos. For season after season, Willow is moral compass, compassionate friend, and stalwart defender of humanity. The only character to appear in every episode besides the titular Buffy, Willow is an integral part of the good guy team.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Willow Rosenberg. She bears a lot of labels during her arc — she is a nerd, a geek, Jewish, a witch, and is part of one of the earliest lesbian couples ever depicted on television. The fanbase she inspired was vocal and devoted, and for good reason: Willow is a hero, but one who reminds many viewers of themselves.
Willow’s fall from Buffy’s steadfast friend to being the nightmare of The Trio broke the hearts of characters and fans alike, and caused much debate and outrage in online forums. The change in Willow’s character could be partly attributed to the corrupting effects of her magic; additionally the constant danger and pressing into moral grey areas (such as bringing Buffy back from the dead) take their toll. In the end, it is Willow’s grief over losing her partner, Tara, that drives her over the edge, and she consciously makes the decision to Heel Turn in order to get revenge via dark magic. As a direct result, Dark!Willow is the Big Bad of season six, and she very nearly destroys the world.
One of the most powerful and terrifying villains of the Buffy saga began her story six seasons earlier wearing knee socks, and we loved her. That love makes it hard to accept the Turn, but is also the reason it resonates so powerfully.
Willow is genuinely a hero – a true Face – and while there are mitigating circumstances, she chooses the path which leads to her Heel Turn. The consequences are horrific and long-reaching inside the show’s canon, and were shocking and agonizing for fans to watch. For these reasons, Willow Rosenberg is Joss Whedon’s best Heel Turn.
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