Agree that Brian has the benefit of Joss's blessing. But I do read Joss as distancing himself from AtF in his recent interviews -- which is good for me because otherwise, massive cognitive dissonance.
I disagree with your take on Spike's portrayal in the show. Yes, different episodes brought out different sides of Spike -- he's a complex guy, he looks different in different situations, and he looks different from different perspectives. But I can tell a story about him that holds all those pieces together. I don't think there's anything in the series (or AtF) that made me think Spike was being made to do something that just didn't fit. Maybe a bit of dumbing down in AtS to make him a bit less threatening to Angel's status. But other than that, a rich portrait of one of the most interesting characters ever. It's a strength that you can't summarize Spike in one sentence or in one episode.
The problem with Lynch's Spike is exactly that you CAN summarize him succinctly. Maybe not in a sentence, but for sure in a paragraph. And that paragraph would hold ALL of Lynch's Spike. That paragraph lacks a sense of Spike's history, and a corresponding sense of how all the pieces that make up Spike fit together. Now, if I were writing fanfic, my Spike would also inevitably be a smaller Spike than the actual Spike. And compared to a lot of fanfic, Lynch's Spike is pretty good. It would take a whole paragraph to capture him. In a lot of fanfiction, a sentence would do.
I don't mind good entertainment. I just couldnt' be entertained when my ox was being gored. The story I was vested in wasn't continued by Lynch. It's not that he wasn't continuing the story at all... he was. He just wasn't continuing the story with the sets of meanings that I was watching. As a result, that never once was Angel in the book. Or Spike. Or Wesley. Or Lorne. Not for me. Now, I can read plenty of fanfic where the author isn't writing about my story. Indeed, that happens more often than not. And it's often entertaining. But I think I can relax and enjoy it because fanfic is a democracy. Everyone's entitled to their reading of the canon, and the way they want to continue those stories in fanfic. But as you said, Lynch got tagged with this special status. And with that comes the burden of telling a story that's big enough for us all. This one wasn't big enough to include me. So .... me all pissy.
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Date: 2009-02-13 01:07 am (UTC)I disagree with your take on Spike's portrayal in the show. Yes, different episodes brought out different sides of Spike -- he's a complex guy, he looks different in different situations, and he looks different from different perspectives. But I can tell a story about him that holds all those pieces together. I don't think there's anything in the series (or AtF) that made me think Spike was being made to do something that just didn't fit. Maybe a bit of dumbing down in AtS to make him a bit less threatening to Angel's status. But other than that, a rich portrait of one of the most interesting characters ever. It's a strength that you can't summarize Spike in one sentence or in one episode.
The problem with Lynch's Spike is exactly that you CAN summarize him succinctly. Maybe not in a sentence, but for sure in a paragraph. And that paragraph would hold ALL of Lynch's Spike. That paragraph lacks a sense of Spike's history, and a corresponding sense of how all the pieces that make up Spike fit together. Now, if I were writing fanfic, my Spike would also inevitably be a smaller Spike than the actual Spike. And compared to a lot of fanfic, Lynch's Spike is pretty good. It would take a whole paragraph to capture him. In a lot of fanfiction, a sentence would do.
I don't mind good entertainment. I just couldnt' be entertained when my ox was being gored. The story I was vested in wasn't continued by Lynch. It's not that he wasn't continuing the story at all... he was. He just wasn't continuing the story with the sets of meanings that I was watching. As a result, that never once was Angel in the book. Or Spike. Or Wesley. Or Lorne. Not for me. Now, I can read plenty of fanfic where the author isn't writing about my story. Indeed, that happens more often than not. And it's often entertaining. But I think I can relax and enjoy it because fanfic is a democracy. Everyone's entitled to their reading of the canon, and the way they want to continue those stories in fanfic. But as you said, Lynch got tagged with this special status. And with that comes the burden of telling a story that's big enough for us all. This one wasn't big enough to include me. So .... me all pissy.