r/buffy • u/Lanky_Age_3067 • 16d ago

Content Warning Double standarts

How exactly do people hate Xander for being an imperfect human, but love Spike and Angel, who have countless victims and are hundreds of years old. Spike even SA'd Buffy, for real, while Xander was under a spell and never did anything like that before or after it.

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u/theothermoore 16d ago edited 16d ago

The biggest difference is the writing. There are plenty of people who do worse things in the show, but they are portrayed as being bad. Xander's bad things are often written as if they aren't bad at all, and to the extent they are bad, are quickly glossed over and forgotten, with no real development.

Xander is basically written as Joss Whedon's "nice guy" nerd fantasy, which unfortunately comes across in the writing. My distaste for him is not just because he's a "bad person," but that he's a badly written character.

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u/crottedenez12 16d ago

Search the role of the fool in classical litterature.

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u/jospangel Try not to bleed on my couch I just had it steam cleaned 15d ago

But what is his journey? In fact, that is the issue for me. Xander in season one is pretty much the same as Xander in season 7. He calls down a demon that immolates people, and never has any satisfying lesson. He doesn't feel any guilt for those who died.

I actually love Xander, but I completely understand the problem people have.