["but he makes some bad choices. Like Willow says, he didn't have to keep the fact the Veruca situation secret. That's certainly the case if you argue that the only reason he slept with her was the wolf (and in the first instance, I'd agree with you). I also think the "Come to my den of luuuurve" approach to entrap Veruca was kind of dumb. I think there's a definate overlap with his behaviour towards Tara - it's not unprecendented for people to get possessive of their exes, and his innability to fully get a handle on his wolfy side simply gets the better of him."]
Oz screwed but the deciding factor was the wolf. If it weren't for the wolf he wouldn't have done any of that. Remember, it's stressed that the wolf can influence him when he's not in wolf form. So I think it clearly influenced his ""Come to my den of luuuurve" approach to entrap Veruca" and it may well have influenced his decision to keep the Veruca situation to himself. And the aggression in his reaction to Tara was blatantly obviously influenced by the wolf. So much of what Oz did wrong was under the influence of the wolf to one extent or another, he wouldn't done those things if it weren't for the wolf, but the eps kept acting like it was just Oz being bad. The reality is that Oz was afflicted with a disease that caused him immense pain and trouble (far more serious than anything it put Willow through) but the eps treated him like he was the problem rather than the victim. And in New Moon Rising he was very conspicuously punished for all of it, like the writers were making a judgement on him and punshing him.
["I don't really buy Buffy as being too hard on him either. Buffy's certainly mad at him at the end of 'Wild at Heart', but that's pretty understandable given that Willow was hurting so badly."]
Not considering that Oz was in a considerably worse state than Willow with much bigger problems than her. Plus it wasn't just at the end of the ep that Buffy was treating him like he was the bad guy, that was going earlier on too. And considering the fact that HE was the real victim her behavior was out of line. But the ep seemed to side with her attitude.
["When he shows up again, both her and Xander step in and make the small-talk with Oz."]
When he showed up again Buffy gave him the cold shoulder very conspicuously. Again, like it was all just Oz being a bad boyfriend, when what really happened was he was a victim much more than Willow. And again the ep seemed ok with Buffy's attitude, as if Oz-was-bad was the ep's attitude.
["I think there's a definate overlap with his behaviour towards Tara - it's not unprecendented for people to get possessive of their exes, and his innability to fully get a handle on his wolfy side simply gets the better of him."]
Open aggression toward Tara was totally out of character and in fact he didn't get aggressive until he started wolfing out. That was very clearly the influence of the wolf. And the non-wolf side of Oz tried to save her by warning her away. So the aggression toward Tara was very clearly the wolf and not Oz being flawed.
["Don't get me wrong, I love Oz's character but that doesn't mean I think he should behave like a saint. I think characters are actually MORE interesting if they're flawed."]
The way the story laid it out, much of the "flawed" behavior Oz showed was under the influence of the wolf. It's not simply a matter of whether the character is flawed or not. Certain types of behavior were out of character for Oz and were clearly shown as being under the influence of the wolf (the urge to mate with Veruca and behavior conducive to mating with her, open aggression toward Tara (and he was wolfing out when that was coming out, the non-wolf side of Oz actually tried to save her by warning her away)). So it's not a matter of whether you want Oz to be flawed or not, it's a matter of what was actually the case in the story. But despite showing his behavior as being under the wolf influence the eps insisted on judging him as if that wasn't the case, which was massively unjust.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-18 10:51 pm (UTC)Oz screwed but the deciding factor was the wolf. If it weren't for the wolf he wouldn't have done any of that. Remember, it's stressed that the wolf can influence him when he's not in wolf form. So I think it clearly influenced his ""Come to my den of luuuurve" approach to entrap Veruca" and it may well have influenced his decision to keep the Veruca situation to himself. And the aggression in his reaction to Tara was blatantly obviously influenced by the wolf. So much of what Oz did wrong was under the influence of the wolf to one extent or another, he wouldn't done those things if it weren't for the wolf, but the eps kept acting like it was just Oz being bad. The reality is that Oz was afflicted with a disease that caused him immense pain and trouble (far more serious than anything it put Willow through) but the eps treated him like he was the problem rather than the victim.
And in New Moon Rising he was very conspicuously punished for all of it, like the writers were making a judgement on him and punshing him.
["I don't really buy Buffy as being too hard on him either. Buffy's certainly mad at him at the end of 'Wild at Heart', but that's pretty understandable given that Willow was hurting so badly."]
Not considering that Oz was in a considerably worse state than Willow with much bigger problems than her. Plus it wasn't just at the end of the ep that Buffy was treating him like he was the bad guy, that was going earlier on too. And considering the fact that HE was the real victim her behavior was out of line. But the ep seemed to side with her attitude.
["When he shows up again, both her and Xander step in and make the small-talk with Oz."]
When he showed up again Buffy gave him the cold shoulder very conspicuously. Again, like it was all just Oz being a bad boyfriend, when what really happened was he was a victim much more than Willow. And again the ep seemed ok with Buffy's attitude, as if Oz-was-bad was the ep's attitude.
["I think there's a definate overlap with his behaviour towards Tara - it's not unprecendented for people to get possessive of their exes, and his innability to fully get a handle on his wolfy side simply gets the better of him."]
Open aggression toward Tara was totally out of character and in fact he didn't get aggressive until he started wolfing out. That was very clearly the influence of the wolf. And the non-wolf side of Oz tried to save her by warning her away. So the aggression toward Tara was very clearly the wolf and not Oz being flawed.
["Don't get me wrong, I love Oz's character but that doesn't mean I think he should behave like a saint. I think characters are actually MORE interesting if they're flawed."]
The way the story laid it out, much of the "flawed" behavior Oz showed was under the influence of the wolf. It's not simply a matter of whether the character is flawed or not. Certain types of behavior were out of character for Oz and were clearly shown as being under the influence of the wolf (the urge to mate with Veruca and behavior conducive to mating with her, open aggression toward Tara (and he was wolfing out when that was coming out, the non-wolf side of Oz actually tried to save her by warning her away)). So it's not a matter of whether you want Oz to be flawed or not, it's a matter of what was actually the case in the story. But despite showing his behavior as being under the wolf influence the eps insisted on judging him as if that wasn't the case, which was massively unjust.