Post by Sweet on Jun 11, 2016 18:45:53 GMT
In Normal Again (6x17) Buffy reveals to Willow that once her parents sent her in a clinic for 2 weeks. This is the dialogue from the transcript:
Now, it's really hard to believe that a mother could forget such a thing, especially when we have seen Joyce's reactions every time Buffy let slip something about vampires and her slaying. She always looked at Buffy as she was puzzled and found her daughter weird, while surely it would have been more plausible that she looked, I don't know, worried that Buffy was going mad again. And also it would have been more logical for Buffy to be more careful with her words choice.
And then there is the contradiction with The Origin, a comic series released in 1999 (3 years before Normal Again air date) that retells the story from the movie and is so much more faithful to Whedon's original script that, contrary to the movie, CAN be accepted as canon. In fact, at the time the series was released, Whedon commented:
Source
In The Origin we actually see Buffy's first encounter with vampires and there is nothing about her telling her parents about it and of course nothing about being sent to a clinic.
What's the 'truth', then?? Yes, I know, I could dismiss this with some easy answer: the writers forgot, it's a retcon, it's a mistake, it's a lie, it never happened... and I know that some fans do, but... where's the fun in it? also IMO we can't ignore something that happened in the show in favor of what happened in a comic that, although being approved by Whedon himself is still not written by him (contrary to the show). I believe that the show (and its legitimate comic sequel) should have the last word over all other sources.
So, what Buffy told Willow really happened, to me. Or at least, it happened in Buffy's memories. Because we could find an in-story explanation and attribute this anomaly to the monks and their memories manipulation. The motivation could be to undermine the relationship between Buffy and her mother in an attempt to reinforce that with her sister? That's the best I could make up
I'm curious to know now if and how you explain this contradiction and if you believe that Buffy was interned and that Joyce 'forgot'.
WILLOW: You are not in an institution. You have never been in an
institution.
BUFFY: (whispers) Yes, I have.
WILLOW: What?
BUFFY: (sighs) Back when I saw my first vampires... (shot of the
photo) I got so scared. I told my parents ... and they completely
freaked out. They thought there was something seriously wrong with
me. So they sent me to a clinic.
WILLOW: (shocked) You never said anything.
BUFFY: (tearful) I was only there a couple of weeks. I stopped
talking about it, and they let me go. Eventually ... my parents just
... forgot.
WILLOW: God. That's horrible.
institution.
BUFFY: (whispers) Yes, I have.
WILLOW: What?
BUFFY: (sighs) Back when I saw my first vampires... (shot of the
photo) I got so scared. I told my parents ... and they completely
freaked out. They thought there was something seriously wrong with
me. So they sent me to a clinic.
WILLOW: (shocked) You never said anything.
BUFFY: (tearful) I was only there a couple of weeks. I stopped
talking about it, and they let me go. Eventually ... my parents just
... forgot.
WILLOW: God. That's horrible.
Now, it's really hard to believe that a mother could forget such a thing, especially when we have seen Joyce's reactions every time Buffy let slip something about vampires and her slaying. She always looked at Buffy as she was puzzled and found her daughter weird, while surely it would have been more plausible that she looked, I don't know, worried that Buffy was going mad again. And also it would have been more logical for Buffy to be more careful with her words choice.
And then there is the contradiction with The Origin, a comic series released in 1999 (3 years before Normal Again air date) that retells the story from the movie and is so much more faithful to Whedon's original script that, contrary to the movie, CAN be accepted as canon. In fact, at the time the series was released, Whedon commented:
"The origin comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical. They did a cool job of combining the movie script (the SCRIPT) with the series, that was nice, and using the series Merrick and not a certain OTHER thespian who shall remain hated."
In The Origin we actually see Buffy's first encounter with vampires and there is nothing about her telling her parents about it and of course nothing about being sent to a clinic.
What's the 'truth', then?? Yes, I know, I could dismiss this with some easy answer: the writers forgot, it's a retcon, it's a mistake, it's a lie, it never happened... and I know that some fans do, but... where's the fun in it? also IMO we can't ignore something that happened in the show in favor of what happened in a comic that, although being approved by Whedon himself is still not written by him (contrary to the show). I believe that the show (and its legitimate comic sequel) should have the last word over all other sources.
So, what Buffy told Willow really happened, to me. Or at least, it happened in Buffy's memories. Because we could find an in-story explanation and attribute this anomaly to the monks and their memories manipulation. The motivation could be to undermine the relationship between Buffy and her mother in an attempt to reinforce that with her sister? That's the best I could make up
I'm curious to know now if and how you explain this contradiction and if you believe that Buffy was interned and that Joyce 'forgot'.
