(no subject)

[frelling_tralk]

Eek it’s been quite a few months now since I’ve properly visited LJ, I’ve mostly been on Twitter this year and really lost track of this site I’m afraid, but I came across this article today and thought it was interesting after the many fandom debates there have been on this question


Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator would make Willow bisexual in modern-day remake after being persuaded against it: ‘We’re not ready for that’

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Joss says that some of the confusion regarding Willow’s sexuality would be cleared up today, since he was pressured to not make the character, over fears her same-sex attractions would feel like a ‘phase.’ ‘There are you things you can’t do, thanks to [the society at the time],’ the Marvel director explained.

‘It [was] like, “OK, you can’t make Willow bi, you can’t say this is a phase, because that’s what people do to deny their existence.”‘

Joss continued: ‘So, if I did it now, I’d be like yes she can be bi. Because some people are! But back then it was like, no…we’re not ready for that.’

Comments

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Oh boy. This is going to fuel the fire even more with how contentious the subject of Willow's sexuality has been in the fandom throughout the years.

I'm confused about what is being said here, though. Because yeah, there was a lot of restrictions of what they could or couldn't show and the network did want a lesbian couple featured on the show, but that didn't mean that bisexuality as a whole wasn't an option. It was implied through many interactions with other characters of this possibility. They mentioned they didn't want to do what other shows on networks were doing back then, they just wanted to focus on two women falling in love without any labels attached. They didn't even mention Willow being gay until the fifth season. She just said that Tara was her girlfriend. I do think there was a much needed transitional point of her questioning her sexuality, of her deciding if she was bisexual or a lesbian, before finally realizing and accepting that she was a lesbian. And in my headcanon, that is what I believe she did during the fourth season and in between S4 and S5 before she finally accepted herself to be a lesbian.

I think in a modern reboot version they would definitely need to have a scene or conversation of Willow questioning her sexuality, which was the missing piece in the original series, but her being a lesbian wouldn't change in the end. It would showcase that sexuality is a complicated, complex thing, and that people do go through transitional periods of their life and discovering themselves. That it's okay to be confused, to explore your options before finding that place where you are comfortable with accepting yourself. But just making her bisexual for the sake of it because you "weren't ready for it" back then? That makes no sense whatsoever.

I don't know, I just don't know what to make of this. Like others have mentioned, it's not like Joss couldn't explore the possibility of bisexuality with other characters that demonstrated this through plenty of subtext in the main series (Faith, Xander, Spike, Angel, etc). This just feels like Joss needs to interject himself in this conversation that fandom has been having for a long time discussing her sexuality. It feels off to me, somehow.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing! It’s a subject that people can take very personally, so I’m quite surprised that Joss wanted to get involved in it after all these years to imply that Willow would have been bisexual if only audiences were ready for that. If that’s really what they wanted to portray, but were supposedly just worried about giving anyone amo to describe it as a phase, well then they could have just left it to the audiences imaginations and not had Willow say anything one way or the other about being gay or straight? Many viewers were already taking for granted that Willow was bi anyway, the writers were the ones who made the choice for that character to instead describe herself as gay on quite a few occasions.

Seems a bit disingenuous to now come out with well we would have made her bisexual if it was being made today. People were still aware of the existence of bisexuality in the year 2000...

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

well then they could have just left it to the audiences imaginations and not had Willow say anything one way or the other about being gay or straight?

Exactly. They should have just played it out as such initially, that they wanted to focus on Willow and Tara's relationship without adding any labels to it and allowing audiences to come up with their own conclusions. While I don't think it would've stopped the fandom debates, it wouldn't be as severely intense as it has been and it certainly would've been easier as an explanation that they didn't want to have any specific labels instead of flip-flopping now with this excuse, because that's what I'm reading this as. An excuse.

I know that things were different when it comes to LGBT representation back in the day, and while it's still an uphill battle we have come a long way since then, and perhaps it would've been fine to make a comment in that regard. But it does feel disingenuous that he's coming out of the woodwork now to make such a statement when it adds nothing to the conversation at all.

And you're right, this is a very sensitive topic that people take very personally, as I've witnessed firsthand how nasty people can be during arguments and fights online simply debating this very thing. It's one thing to admit that they could've done better with having Willow question her sexuality during the fourth season when they were going this route with her character, it's another to basically backtrack their conscious decision to make Willow a lesbian and say that in a modern remake she would be bisexual instead, because many will read that as lesbophobic.

Just, ugh. I don't know. Not that many people are really taking Joss Whedon's word on anything anymore these days, as he's way behind the times on many things. But again, idk what to think other than, "just stop talking, Joss."