My initial reaction to the rape scene was "What the FUCK -- did I accidentally change the channel???" I thought the scene was so poorly executed from a production standpoint that I couldn't even think about it in terms of character motivations for a long time afterwards. I found the nat-sound/handheld camera to be waaaaaay too overtly manipulative to have any emotional impact, and it pissed me off that ME thought it would.

Oh, I thought it was a fabulous scene. I thought it had a much greater impact for exactly th reasons you thought it was poorly executed. It was so stark, and so clear.

And I think that is why I was so annoyed that people said it wasn't an attempted rape, just attempted sex (whatever the hell that is).

Cindy Ah right, I see where you're coming from now. It's because of what happend in S7 that you would've preferred they went with vamping.

Rape is all about power, and S7 was all about "the power", Buffy getting it back, sharing it, etc. However I get the impression that rather than dealing with Buffy dealing with the attempted rape in the grand over riding "theme" of S7, you would've liked to have seen it dealt with at a more emotional, "gut" level?

Lady o' Spain said all the things I wanted to say, but oh so much better.

And I think her point is supported by the discussion of how the attack was filmed; it was made as realistic as possible, and whether you as a viewer responded to that by getting hit in the gut (as I did, and Cindy did) or by feeling manipulated, it definitely stood out as Different From the Rest of BtVS, just as The Body did. But they didn't follow through. And that irks.

UTTAD - I don't see how she dealt with it on any level.

She shrunk from his touch in Beneath You. She was using him as her guide dog the next episode. Soon, he was living in her house.

Argh. I have to go. Scott stayed home today so we could get things done, and we're not (especially not the "me" part of "we"). Later gators.

Well, not only different from the rest of BTVS but different from the rest of the episode. If they'd filmed the rest of the episode the same way -- it might have felt slightly less manipulative.

Cindy Sorry I meant Buffy as a TV show, not as an individual. They dealt (or tried to deal) with it, as the over-riding theme of the season, her getting her power on.

In much of S7, people had to really struggle to take their power, and had to go through a lot of emotional & mystical crap to get there - whether it was Anya's confrontation with d'Hoffryn, Willow's invisibility, Buffy's face-off with the African guys, or Dawn's realization that she's valuable even if she's not a potential. Buffy's way of getting her power back from Spike seemed to be to simply ignore that they had ever had an unhealthy relationship that culminated in a rape. That's a cop-out.

Nice article in the LA Times about AH here.

She has some awfully nice words for BTVS fans:

" 'Buffy' fans know my name and are really sincere and articulate in how they talk about the show. You can feel the work has touched them in some way or that my character has helped them in their life. You walk away from a fan experience like that and just feel so proud to have been a part of something that could have been such a part of people's lives."

Buffy's way of getting her power back from Spike seemed to be to simply ignore that they had ever had an unhealthy relationship that culminated in a rape. That's a cop-out.

Yes. Yes it is.

but isn't better that they tackle these things head on?

But they didn't tackle anything.

Attempted Rape.

Mystical Magical Sunblocking Flying Motorcycle to Africa to Get a Soul

Gee Buffy, Spike Tried to Rape You

Yeah, but it was no Big. 'Sides, he went and Soulified, Dawnie!

He has a soul.

He has a soul.

He has a soul.

Crazy Basement Spike.

Annoyed Buffy.

Too Many Potentials.

Spike turns water into wine and dies for our sins.

Everything at Mutant Enemy seems to have fallen apart in 6-7. Folks confuse the word "dark" with the word, "crap."