ext_17151 ([identity profile] penny-lane-42.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] lirazel 2012-01-26 05:36 pm (UTC)

which makes all these characters a stunning accomplishment in subtlety and nuance by the writers.

Yes. There are so many things I can pick on Joss about, things that matter and things that don't, but I will give him this: he knows how to create fantastically real characters.

that high school girls mostly don't confront guys about this stuff, and we're seeing it from their viewpoint.

This is a good point. I didn't figure out that I was a feminist until I was in college, and while a lot of what Xander says would have made me uncomfortable at that age, some of it it would have gone over my head. And I probably wouldn't have called him on anything but the most egregious statements.

I can see a possible less bigoted future for him. He's not irredeemable, even on social justice issues. He's very young and very typical. But he's not a lost cause.

I agree with this completely, and I certainly hope a lot of guys (and ladies!) grew in similar ways.

I don't have an answer, except to say that it's understandable that authors interested in these issues are lured into SciFi. It's really hard to do it in the "real" world.

Yup. I think of Star Trek TOS and how backwards it seems now, but it really was so forward-thinking for that time, and the writers used the fact that it was set in the "future" to envision a world that's a little more equal. I think that's really cool.

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