thoughts on Giles and rebellion

[beccaelizabeth]

Some vague thoughts on why exactly Giles ran off to be Ripper.

That pressure of destiny thing, what precisely was bothering him about it? Was he scared? Of what, being expected to fight vampires all his life? Big scary monsters? Doesn't seem to fit.

Thing about Watchers is, they're taught since they're small that Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires. They are taught that *only* the Slayer has that strength.

I just watched 'Alien Nation', where there was much funny made of the human ideas of masculinity not meshing with the newcomers.

In the dominant western culture, men are expected to be physically strong, to prove themselves in tests of strength and courage, to get in fights a lot.

In Watcher school they are taught not to fight. They are instead taught that they must hide, teach a little girl to fight, and send her out to get killed instead.

Methinks that doesn't mesh so very well.

So Ripper is Giles trying to be hyper-masculine to prove that he doesn't need a little girl to do his fighting for him.

But then there's the demon-drug high, and the messing with magic. So there's more going on there, probably a more general rebellion against the order imposed by the Watchers Council.

But it could start with simply physical stuff. If he proves that he is in fact strong and skilled enough to kill a vampire, then he has proved that the basic foundation of the Watchers way of life is not so simply true as they make out. From there, start to question. Other things they say are too dangerous to do start looking like the next big test. Being stronger than they thought you could be.

Ends up a big mess. Starts out as not wanting to be useless.

Comments

[versaphile.livejournal.com]

I think there's also the very classic issue of teenage rebellion in there. Many children rebel simply because they're being forced into a path by their parents. Giles was forced into the Council as of age 10, IIRC, and he rebelled in his late? teens. I imagine he was resentful of being sucked into the family business from the start.

[beccaelizabeth]

*nods*

[wolfling]

That doesn't really resonate at all with how I see Giles, or what the Watchers seem to emphasise.

Giles was ten years old when he was told that he had *no* choice in his future, no say in what he could be or do, that he entire life was laid out for him and that he must follow that plan... I think you underestimate the impact of that.

I don't think he was scared, I think he was angry, and just like many other kids/teenagers whose parents try to dictate their life path, he rebelled and pretty much went and did the exact opposite.

And I just can't see Giles -- even young Ripper/Pre-Ripper Giles worried that being a Watcher means he's not macho enough -- not allowed to be macho enough. It's a lot more complicated than that.

And Watchers capture and kill vampires and other things without the Slayer and always have (they had to get the vampires that Wesley killed "under controlled circumstances" somewhere and it wasn't from Buffy. As well as the vampire they had captured in Helpless for Buffy's test.) So it's not like their doctorine is that the only power lies within this little girl -- just that the Slayer is their greatest weapons and must be treated as such. A weapon and not a person and certainly not a little girl.

It's that last bit that always seemed to be the sticking point for Giles and while that may be something he developed more as an adult, I suspect at least the seeds of it were there when he was young as well.

But Giles -- even in his Ripper days (using the hints we've got and the glimpse we got of Ripper in Bandcandy) does not strike me as someone who felt the need to prove how macho he was. Usually in those types of cases there's an insecurity that is just under the surface, the sense that someone is trying too hard. I never got that sense with Giles -- in fact the only time he felt like he was trying too hard was when he was trying to be the perfect Watcher, trying NOT to be "Ripper" as it were.

Just my two cents.

[beccaelizabeth]

I think you underestimate the impact of that.
No. I just figure that Giles fans already thought of that.

I don't think he was scared either. Thats why I said scared don't seem to fit.

but the bits about masculinity I been reading lately do seem to fit. and it isn't always anxiety based, just people trying to live a script.


or in other words, all good points you say, but I like my points too and will sulk because its 5am and no one agrees with me.
;-)

[beccaelizabeth]

*waves at the linked here people*
*hides*

(everyone is looking at meeee!)