PART IV: Get out of my Face, Bitch -- Biene

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Date Posted: 18:12:03 05/27/03 Tue
Author: 3Strikes
Subject: PART IV: Get out of my Face, Bitch

"Statements," you ask ? Why yes, Water Bug. Sit back down, put away your flame thrower and I'll explain. No matter how profound, you seriously didn't think the Master would be content to end the show with a Culinary metaphor, did you ? Nay! He had better still in store!

Punning, for starters, the intellectual currency of Gods. Listen closely.
The First Evil isn't just a Cardboard Cereal Box Big Bad. If you look closely beyond the primary textual meaning (The Big Bad! Muahahaha!), it is quite obvious the First Evil is *THE* Existentialist Villain par excellence. It is the Metaphor for Fear, Doubt, and Guilt. It sows Paralysis and Confusion. These are the demons that the Actor in the Existentialist Struggle must confront and overcome to become fully Engaged. These, if I do not misinterpret Whedon's vision, are also the demons that plague early adulthood. So when Buffy scrunches her face like she's bitten a really, really sour lemon and barks: "GET OUT OF MY FACE," you should look beyond the Primary and Secondary level meanings, to the Tertiary level. You're confused GrassHopper ? Let me explain.
At the Primary level, when Buffy snaps: "Get out of My Face," she means:
"Out of my Way. Stop bothering me while dispatch your Noodles"
At the Secondary Level, Buffy is making a Pun about the FE looking like her. "Get out of my Face" then becomes: "Stop looking like me, you stylishly handicapped monstrosity."
But at the Tertiary Level, Buffy (really Joss Whedon holding Buffy the Sock Puppet) is making a STATEMENT! Yes! Another one! I know you're beyond delighted! And this statement goes as follows: when Buffy hectors First Evil-Buffy, which symbolizes all her fears, her doubts, her guilt, and her pain, and wears her face, with "Get out of My face," she is stating: "I am no longer defined by my fear, my guilt, my doubts and my pain. They look like me but are not me." Buffy becomes fully engaged and empowered...she rises in slo mo, and by the Power of Empowerment sends the Noodles, creatures of the Existentialist First Evil, flying back into the bowels of the Cave (a metaphor for the sub-conscious...I know Ramses will love that one) from which they sprung. They hold no power over her. Lovely and Profound, ain't it ?...
******RrrrRrrrRrrRrRrrr*******

Uh-oh! What the hell is that sound ? That terrible, profoundly disagreeable sound ? Oh Lord! The GrassHopper is grinding her teeth! Wait! No! Now she's started chewing the furniture! No! No! For the Love of all that's Holy and not Existentialist, GrassHopper, Not the GrandFather Clock! Calm down! What's the matter ? You think the Second Statement is cleverly crafted and amusing, but TRITE and UNWORTHY ? How so ?

*****Indistinct Mumbling******

I see. So you think that if the First Evil metaphorically symbolizes the sum of Buffy's fears, her doubts, guilt, and sundry complexes, then Buffy is the EPITOME OF SHALLOWNESS...that if the ineptitude of the First Evil is the yardstick by which we should measure the depth of Buffy's struggle, that surely she would have had more trouble fighting out of a wet paper bag ? That's mighty ungenerous of you GrassHopper! Did you not appreciate the grandiosity of the First Evil's Plans ? Did you miss any of its terrifying speeches ? Did you fail to appreciate the THREAT he posed to the scoobies ? No ? You think the generic Noodles were kind of cute, that the Bringers were a hoot, and Caleb, barrels of fun ? That the final message wasn't helped by the blatant rip off of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings ?
You are a rube, Dung Beetle. You simply do not have the intellect to comprehend the Master's Vision! The First Evil was always meant to be talky and incompetent: it represents the Opponent in the Existentialist Inner Dialogue, the Fears, Doubt, Guilt and various complexes that plague the Psyche and prevent Engagement. Its main weapon MUST be paralysis and confusion. The threat can in no way take an *external* shape. And in Jossy's Existentialist Vision, those Fears, Guilt, Doubts, and sundry complexes are only as powerful as Buffy and the characters allow them to be. So when Buffy yells: "Get out of my Face," she literally deprives the FE of Power, by claiming it for her own.

Sniff, sniff...What's that disturbing smell ? Oh, look! Look at what the Grasshopper has unearthed! What a lovable scamp! Why if it isn't the mouldering script for Fear Itself!
There's something you want to show us Grasshopper ? Yes ? The description for Gakhnar, and the way the Scoobies got rid of him ? I'm not sure I like the gleam in your eye.
******CANNIBALISTIC PLAGIARISM!******
Good lord! Stop screeching! I heard you just fine the first time. It simply can not be the case. You don't think the Grand Poobah would have the gall to use a Season Long Gakhnar as the Opposition, do you ? Gakhnar was great and amusing as a one shot metaphor for the nature of Fear and the inner struggle it precipitates, a sharp commentary on the Scoobies's internal dynamics...but surely the Master would realize that using First Gakhnar to deliver endless speeches, followed by more endless speeches would get BORING real quick ? Surely he would realize that the SCOPE and SCALE of the Struggle are defined by the qualities of the Opponent ? That if the First Evil is nothing more than a Gakhnar wannabe, Buffy's entire journey becomes TRIVIAL, her Epiphanies TRITE and PEDESTRIAN ? How could he fail to comprehend that every time the First Evil Blusters, every time it uses the 3 stooges as a template for its plans, every time it makes a mockery of good drama, it renders Buffy's journey that much less
meaningful ? Surely Joss Whedon did not intend BTVS to become a farce ?
He did produce HIM, you say ? That's a low blow, Dung Beetle. Everybody is entitled to Camp once in a while. Even Animated Series Recycled Camp.
And you've missed the point. As I said above, the First Evil was meant to be portrayed as it was. Its inherent smallness is designed to symbolize the relative importance of Buffy's fears, doubts, guilt and hang ups. They only have as much Importance, as much Power as she's willing to give them. That's the message. That's the statement.
What ? You have a message for Buffy you wish to share?

****GrassHopper unfurls Giant Banner****

You are one rude, mean spirited Dung Beetle! I just don't think "THANKS FOR WASTING OUR TIME WITH YOUR BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL HANG UPS, YOU STUPID COW. POP SOME PROZAC, BITCH, AND GROW THE HELL UP" is an acceptable message. What ? You say you've received more profound wisdom from Fortune Cookies ? Silly Tadpole! Now you're just being snarky! Your mood seems to have improved (GrassHopper is cracking her knuckles, and sharpening her set of Ginsu Knives). I think it's time to talk about Whedon's final message, the one everybody has been waiting for. The message of Female Empowerment.

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