Post by Zab Jade on Dec 23, 2018 12:45:08 GMT -8
In seasons four, five, and six of Buffy, it's a situation where we have a group of "white" hats with a couple of gray thrown in. The gray hats in question are Spike and Anya. You'll notice that I used quotation marks around white in white hats, but didn't do the same with gray. That's because the Scoobies aren't white hats at all, no matter what they think.
The Scoobies have engaged in a lot of pretty murky activities (especially Willow), but since they think of themselves as white hats, they just sort of shrug it aside. They do the same with Spike. Despite him becoming a gray hat, they continue to think of him as a black hat, and any good deed he does is ignored. Triangle is a good example of both of these things. Because of Willow (I personally do not blame Anya. She was trying to stop Willow from stealing supplies and messing with stuff she doesn't really understand) the troll was released. He caused massive amounts of property damage along with maiming many people and likely killing others. Willow is indirectly responsible for the maiming and/or death of several people, but she's never really called to task for it. Spike is seen saving lives and is considered vile for wanting a little bit of recognition for it.
The thought process here seems to be that if a good person does something bad, it doesn't matter because that person is good. And if an "evil" person does something good, it doesn't matter because that person is evil. Their actions are always to be reviled, no matter what they are.
Some of that does splash over onto our obvious gray hats. Anya is one and knows that's what she is. She's proud of it. But by being paired with Xander, the others are trying to see her as a white hat. Xander is a "white" hat, so therefore, his girlfriend must be, too. He wouldn't date a black hat, and they don't understand the concept of gray.
It's not just in morality, either. Willow is a good example of this. She used to be all about technology. She was their tech girl. Then she go into magic. Except for a tiny bit of overlap near the beginning, she was never really into both tech and magic at the same time. Once she was fully immersed in magic, she left the tech behind until season six, when she was trying to give up magic.
Her sexual orientation is the same. She went from being straight to being gay, not realizing that it doesn't really work that way. I'm a lesbian, and it took me until I was 19 to realize it, so that does happen. The thing is, though, that I was never physically attracted to men. I bought into the idea that most women just aren't into sex and figured that everyone is attracted to breasts. Willow very obviously had a physical attraction to Xander (most likely Oz as well, but it could be argued that she went with the physical out of love rather than physical attraction). She also had a physical attraction to Tara. Willow isn't a lesbian. She's bi.
Something interesting starts to happen around the end of season five. With the death of Joyce, Buffy is forced to really start growing up. As that happens, Spike starts being allowed in as part of the group. Xander has been making his own journey towards adulthood (a steady, adult job and his own apartment), and is one of the first to follow Buffy's lead. That's why we were able to have the scene in Spiral where Xander lights Spike's cigarette and forgets for a moment that Spike is a vampire. Right there, Xander is recognizing the gray.
This actually continues into season six. I love the scene where Tara, Giles, and Spike are patrolling together. He's one of them. He's so much a part of the group that Tara feels safe and comfortable joking when something goes wrong. Then Buffy comes back, and everything changes.
My personal head canon is something I've been working into my fic Under Your Spell. Willow used magic to mess with everyone. Another possibility, though, is that with Buffy back, they reverted to an earlier time. To one from before Joyce's death. They reverted to childhood and forgot about the grays. They could never see a soulless vampire as being a white hat. Not after how many of them they'd killed, but they couldn't acknowledge Spike as a gray hat anymore. All except for Dawn, who actually was a child.
The Scoobies have engaged in a lot of pretty murky activities (especially Willow), but since they think of themselves as white hats, they just sort of shrug it aside. They do the same with Spike. Despite him becoming a gray hat, they continue to think of him as a black hat, and any good deed he does is ignored. Triangle is a good example of both of these things. Because of Willow (I personally do not blame Anya. She was trying to stop Willow from stealing supplies and messing with stuff she doesn't really understand) the troll was released. He caused massive amounts of property damage along with maiming many people and likely killing others. Willow is indirectly responsible for the maiming and/or death of several people, but she's never really called to task for it. Spike is seen saving lives and is considered vile for wanting a little bit of recognition for it.
The thought process here seems to be that if a good person does something bad, it doesn't matter because that person is good. And if an "evil" person does something good, it doesn't matter because that person is evil. Their actions are always to be reviled, no matter what they are.
Some of that does splash over onto our obvious gray hats. Anya is one and knows that's what she is. She's proud of it. But by being paired with Xander, the others are trying to see her as a white hat. Xander is a "white" hat, so therefore, his girlfriend must be, too. He wouldn't date a black hat, and they don't understand the concept of gray.
It's not just in morality, either. Willow is a good example of this. She used to be all about technology. She was their tech girl. Then she go into magic. Except for a tiny bit of overlap near the beginning, she was never really into both tech and magic at the same time. Once she was fully immersed in magic, she left the tech behind until season six, when she was trying to give up magic.
Her sexual orientation is the same. She went from being straight to being gay, not realizing that it doesn't really work that way. I'm a lesbian, and it took me until I was 19 to realize it, so that does happen. The thing is, though, that I was never physically attracted to men. I bought into the idea that most women just aren't into sex and figured that everyone is attracted to breasts. Willow very obviously had a physical attraction to Xander (most likely Oz as well, but it could be argued that she went with the physical out of love rather than physical attraction). She also had a physical attraction to Tara. Willow isn't a lesbian. She's bi.
Something interesting starts to happen around the end of season five. With the death of Joyce, Buffy is forced to really start growing up. As that happens, Spike starts being allowed in as part of the group. Xander has been making his own journey towards adulthood (a steady, adult job and his own apartment), and is one of the first to follow Buffy's lead. That's why we were able to have the scene in Spiral where Xander lights Spike's cigarette and forgets for a moment that Spike is a vampire. Right there, Xander is recognizing the gray.
This actually continues into season six. I love the scene where Tara, Giles, and Spike are patrolling together. He's one of them. He's so much a part of the group that Tara feels safe and comfortable joking when something goes wrong. Then Buffy comes back, and everything changes.
My personal head canon is something I've been working into my fic Under Your Spell. Willow used magic to mess with everyone. Another possibility, though, is that with Buffy back, they reverted to an earlier time. To one from before Joyce's death. They reverted to childhood and forgot about the grays. They could never see a soulless vampire as being a white hat. Not after how many of them they'd killed, but they couldn't acknowledge Spike as a gray hat anymore. All except for Dawn, who actually was a child.
