Some fans got peeved at Skip later laughing at Cordelia being chosen because 'she's such a pure and radiant Saint, please ', but that's a retcon that actually totally works for me. It is very Cordelia to fall victim to her own pride, she was always very into this idea of her and Angel being special Champions set apart from other people, there are so many examples of her giving speeches to that affect, so the powers came up with the perfect plan to appeal to her pride and make it the tragic cause of her downfall.
It seems like the sex with Connor is the big black mark against Cordelia's arc in season 4 for many viewers, but that's ignoring the fact that it was never Cordelia in control at that time
ITA on everything. EVERYTHING. What really makes me suspicious of the fandom crit is people simultaneously saying that S4 was gross because Cordelia was possessed and didn't have control over her own body, AND that it "ruined Cordelia's character." OK, but if it wasn't her, then how can it possibly have been character assassination? It literally does not make logical sense. You can be upset at one or the other but not both at the same time.
I know fandom is never a monolith, but there are always some schools of thought that have more dominance and widespread influence than others, and in BtVS/AtS fandom there seems to be a big base that very much rooted for Cordelia and thus saw her as Morally The Best amongst the secondary characters (and specifically, Morally Superior to Willow and Xander) and is bitter because they felt like she was treated badly by the narrative whereas Willow and Xander "got off too easy." And it's resulted in a widespread fanon that utterly vilifies Willow and Xander as The Absolute Worst ZOMG Irredeemable Evol 5evah whereas Cordy is the Would-Be-Champion-Who-Was-Wronged-By-The-Writers (and the fanon spreads to the implication that Cordy was somehow Buffy's ~true ~friend whereas the other members of the Scooby Gang were the Worst Evah and it's just like… whut.) It's going to an extreme that misses a lot of the story, IMO. None of these characters are OTT faves of mine, but I like them all in different ways, and the extreme polarization in fandom just makes me ??? I get why Cordy's arc would make someone unhappy, if she were their fave, but that doesn't mean it was bad.
no subject
It seems like the sex with Connor is the big black mark against Cordelia's arc in season 4 for many viewers, but that's ignoring the fact that it was never Cordelia in control at that time
ITA on everything. EVERYTHING. What really makes me suspicious of the fandom crit is people simultaneously saying that S4 was gross because Cordelia was possessed and didn't have control over her own body, AND that it "ruined Cordelia's character." OK, but if it wasn't her, then how can it possibly have been character assassination? It literally does not make logical sense. You can be upset at one or the other but not both at the same time.
I know fandom is never a monolith, but there are always some schools of thought that have more dominance and widespread influence than others, and in BtVS/AtS fandom there seems to be a big base that very much rooted for Cordelia and thus saw her as Morally The Best amongst the secondary characters (and specifically, Morally Superior to Willow and Xander) and is bitter because they felt like she was treated badly by the narrative whereas Willow and Xander "got off too easy." And it's resulted in a widespread fanon that utterly vilifies Willow and Xander as The Absolute Worst ZOMG Irredeemable Evol 5evah whereas Cordy is the Would-Be-Champion-Who-Was-Wronged-By-The-Writers (and the fanon spreads to the implication that Cordy was somehow Buffy's ~true ~friend whereas the other members of the Scooby Gang were the Worst Evah and it's just like… whut.) It's going to an extreme that misses a lot of the story, IMO. None of these characters are OTT faves of mine, but I like them all in different ways, and the extreme polarization in fandom just makes me ??? I get why Cordy's arc would make someone unhappy, if she were their fave, but that doesn't mean it was bad.