First, I really was just mentioning the folks who really do say it's all about getting into her pants, even though there were obviously places in his story that can't be accounted for on those grounds.
Yeah, I get that now. When I first read your post, not knowing the source of the debate, I read it as more of a general argument against "selfish motives negate good deeds" than specifically directed at the haters. So it seemed like it was your argument that was weak - "Spike's good because he's not trying to get into Buffy's pants" - not theirs.
In other words, they are holding Spike to a different standard than the one they hold Buffy to or any other character whom they happen to admire.
That seems to happen a lot, even on the show. Instead of expecting Spike to be a vampire and being proud of him when he goes against his nature and does good, the characters often expect him to act like a human, and then look down on him when he screws up.
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Date: 2009-01-27 01:10 am (UTC)Yeah, I get that now. When I first read your post, not knowing the source of the debate, I read it as more of a general argument against "selfish motives negate good deeds" than specifically directed at the haters. So it seemed like it was your argument that was weak - "Spike's good because he's not trying to get into Buffy's pants" - not theirs.
In other words, they are holding Spike to a different standard than the one they hold Buffy to or any other character whom they happen to admire.
That seems to happen a lot, even on the show. Instead of expecting Spike to be a vampire and being proud of him when he goes against his nature and does good, the characters often expect him to act like a human, and then look down on him when he screws up.