Buffy the Vampire Abuser? - Page 2
© Ellen Ross
The viewers adore Spike, evil though he is; and Buffy is, after all, the heroine of the show. Reviewers have expressed concern over the depiction of this mutually violent, abusive relationship on a show which has often been perceived as offering a positive role model for young women.
Part of Buffy's dilemma as a slayer is that she cannot allow herself to see vampires as people; after all, it is her calling to stake them and reduce them to dust. Like a soldier at war, she must view her enemies as non-human, as soulless, in order to be able to destroy them with a clear conscience. But that is becoming more and more difficult for this particular slayer.
As fans have repeatedly pointed out, Spike's chip is not a soul, and yet he behaves in a very human way, including the human capacity to change for the better. If a soulless vampire can love Buffy, and she can find herself strongly attracted to him in return, then how can she continue slaying creatures who might also be capable of good, as Spike has shown himself to be?
The concept of a vampire slayer works well if we assume that all vampires are evil and incapable of redemption. In the Jossverse, however, there are always shades of grey - and sometimes, as here, they cut to the very heart of the premise on which the series is constructed. How can we, the viewers, reconcile ourselves to a protagonist who slays vampires, in a world in which "soulless" vampires show all the signs of having souls after all?
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