(no subject)

[beccaelizabeth]

I was reading TVtropes
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Spikeification
Spikeification
A truly inexplicable belief persists among television writers that, if the audience takes a liking to a real badass character who fears nothing, has infinite confidence and even carries off defeat with panache, it must mean that what they most want to see is that character reveal a vulnerable side and all manner of inner demons. After all, viewers can't deal with a truly dark character, so we have to water him down.

Note that this isn't the same as Character Development, where extra dimensions are added to an existing character. In this case, the original characterization is stripped away, to be replaced by a thinly-veiled woobie.

And I can see how that applies to Buffy's Spike, but down the end it reckons

Spikeification of Loveable Rogue Captain Jack seems to be the entire premise of the first series of Torchwood, especially "Small Worlds" and "Captain Jack Harkness."

... and I totally don't see it.
I mean yeah there were differences, but... no.
Opinions?

Comments

[louiex.livejournal.com]

I can sort of see what they mean. Considering that DW!Jack was arrogant, overly sexualized, and rather cavalier when we compare it to TW!Jack who's much more quiet and angst ridden, it is almost like there's two differenct characters there. Though I don't think anyone doubted there was more to Jack like there was with Spike.

Its kind of apples and oranges with Spike and Jack regardless...

[bramblyhedge.livejournal.com]

That would only be relevant in terms of seeing Jack as being the ex-time agent conman...

...the guise that he had already left behind by the end of 'The Doctor Dances'. (And it was a guise in the first place. It was obvious immediately that Jack wasn't what he appeared to be. Aaaaand I would hardly say that Torchwood "stripped away" his characterisation, that's a huge unfounded exaggeration.)

[ivy-b.livejournal.com]

Jack used to live each day to its fullest. Remember in "The Doctor Dances" when he thought he was going to die? It didn't see like he had any regrets and he was heroic back then. Now make him unable to die, abandon him and stick him in 1869 Earth and what you get is TW Season 1's Jack. Now being able to die takes all the fun out of everything. And he can't travel back and forth, galivanting across the universe without a care in the world- he's stuck, he's doomed to lose anyone he might care about and he's all alone. I can totally see DW's Jack morphing into TW's Jack, I just hope in season 2 he finds a balance between them. Keep the darkness beneath, but live a little!