Post by Sweet on Jun 9, 2016 20:59:38 GMT
Tbh my opinion about Angel's motivation for breaking up with Buffy and leaving Sunnydale are very different, but that could be a topic for another thread 
I'd like to focus on Joyce now because there are conflicting opinions about Joyce as a mother, some think she was a good mother, supporting, caring and so on, others describe her as the worst mother ever. I'm more inclined to the former but I can't deny that there are some instances in the first 3 seasons where she really misbehaves toward Buffy.
In this specific case I believe that she had good reasons but at the same time she acted wrong, going behind Buffy's back and intruding in her love life. I agree with you that the interaction was realistic and that she comes out as a mother who truly loves her daughter and is (rightly) worried for her, that's why as a viewer I can't really fault her, but because I don't believe she is a bad person I feel that even with all the good reasons she had, she ought to feel at least a little guilty, believing that her daughter was suffering because of her (she didn't know about the Major's speech so it's logical that she assumed Angel had left because of what she had told him).
And I think that from Buffy's pov, her mother's action could be percieved as a betrayal, possibly the worst of all. Yes, I agree that eventually she would have forgiven her but how long would it take for their relationship to go back to normal? In S7 Buffy accuses Willow and Xander of having cheered her to kill Angel (in S2) and this makes me think that in spite of her extraordinary ability to forgive everything and everyone, she is still human and doesn't forget.
I'd like to focus on Joyce now because there are conflicting opinions about Joyce as a mother, some think she was a good mother, supporting, caring and so on, others describe her as the worst mother ever. I'm more inclined to the former but I can't deny that there are some instances in the first 3 seasons where she really misbehaves toward Buffy.
In this specific case I believe that she had good reasons but at the same time she acted wrong, going behind Buffy's back and intruding in her love life. I agree with you that the interaction was realistic and that she comes out as a mother who truly loves her daughter and is (rightly) worried for her, that's why as a viewer I can't really fault her, but because I don't believe she is a bad person I feel that even with all the good reasons she had, she ought to feel at least a little guilty, believing that her daughter was suffering because of her (she didn't know about the Major's speech so it's logical that she assumed Angel had left because of what she had told him).
And I think that from Buffy's pov, her mother's action could be percieved as a betrayal, possibly the worst of all. Yes, I agree that eventually she would have forgiven her but how long would it take for their relationship to go back to normal? In S7 Buffy accuses Willow and Xander of having cheered her to kill Angel (in S2) and this makes me think that in spite of her extraordinary ability to forgive everything and everyone, she is still human and doesn't forget.