Oh Cordelia
Jun 24, 2017 10:22:19 GMT -8
Post by Noah on Jun 24, 2017 10:22:19 GMT -8
For a while now I have dissented from the view that the end of season 3 and season 4 destroyed Cordelia's character without giving reasons. I'm working on a much longer piece about this, which I may publish here or somewhere else, but since Quiara has finished with season 4 I think giving my basic reasoning as to why I think Cordelia's character arc is not only not ruined but brought to a brilliant consummation by the Jasmine arc is in order. It won't be very hard, since a uniquely insightful commenter on Ryan's "Tomorrow" review sums up a lot of the major points really, really well. Here's Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner for the win:
This says all of the most important things. This whole arc sets up season 4 brilliantly. Season 4 is about Jasmine, the higher being who murders thousands of innocent people and enslaves the world in order to bring about peace. Remember, originally there wasn't supposed to be a Jasmine. It was originally going to be Cordelia all along. The logic of Roland explains this perfectly: Cordelia believes she is a higher being, and she also has come to care about other people and their suffering. The natural response for her is to decide to substitute her will for everyone else's, to take away their freedom in order to end their suffering. She's better than everyone, so she knows what's best for everyone; it because we don't know and even if we do because we don't do what is best for us that there is suffering. This would all have been a bit clearer with Cordelia saying Jasmine's lines in Peace Out. But it still works quite well if we consider Jasmine a metaphor for what Cordelia has become. Instead of being the false savior, she gives birth to her. We get a preview of this in season 2: Cordelia becomes princess of Pylea. Her response:
bout damn time somebody recognized that I'm a queen. But she has made progress. Instead of being better because she has dresses and purses that "cost more" than everyone else's, she's better because she Cares More about people's suffering than everyone else does. So what does she do? As a queen, a higher being, if you will, she passes decrees that are meant to help everyone. And how does that work out? Well, Groo tells us when he arrives in Couplet:
Pylea definitely isn't a communist dictatorship now in which everyone is told what to do by the government that knows what's best for them and substitutes its will for their own... Just like Jasmine's paradise.
Cordelia's arc is a brilliant critique of the authoritarian tendency in leftism. Cordelia's character is not ruined, and not assassinated. Rather, season 4, as Roland says, is the consummation of her character's downfall due to a "fundamental, well established character flaw." This arc is also deeply connected to the show as a whole. As I said about Jasmine on the old Forum:
And indeed, after Angel takes away a) she attempts b). As Home shows us, all of seasons 3 & 4 has been about Angel trying to make the world safe for his son at the same time that he is trying to be a good person who helps the helpless. It because he is worried about his son's safety that he slides back from his acceptance of the absurdity of the world and the absence of safety in "Reprise/Epiphany." How does it end? With him taking away Connor's freedom and selling out to Wolfram and Hart in order to provide Connor with a happy home. It's a beautiful metaphor for how we leftists like Whedon, in our everyday lives, consent to the systemic evils of the world's institutions of power, like W&H, in order to provide a safe home and reduce the suffering of the people close to us, even if it means participating in the suffering of people far away. In other words, he kills innocents to protect others, just like Jasmine/Cordelia.
So, that's why I love Cordelia in seasons 3 & 4 (I could go on forever about how season 3 sets all of this up perfectly -- it really does). I think it's great stuff, and I completely disagree with anyone who says her character is destroyed: it's fulfilled.
"The Phantom Cordelia. What the hell? Really, uh, what the hell?"
I’m pretty sure this was intended to be Cordelia’s vision of herself talking to Skip. Each line was taken from that exchange (except one, “Maybe on some level I’ve always known it’s true,” which probably ended up being cut for time). I think this was the powers trying to warn her about this encounter. Of course, as per usual, they remain maddeningly vague and, given Cordy’s reflection on her feelings for Angel, she can only see this as an affirmation of what’s foremost on her mind.
The timing of the ascension wasn’t a problem for me; by virtue of being a plot point on a TV series, naturally it’s not going to happen until an optimal ratings period. As for why it didn’t happen sooner after “Birthday,” it seemed pretty obvious that Cordy had to do this willingly and freely. As Skip said, all she had to do was say yes. But look back at the episodes immediately following “Bday” – she’s unsure of what her new part-demon state entails. She repeatedly worries she’s going to grow horns and a tail or that other such side effects will manifest. She wasn’t going to take such a radical step as ascending to another plane of existence until she felt at ease with the transformation she had already gone through. And I think that point came in the previous episode, when she “healed” Connor.
Her resolution to the season makes me angry, even if it seems like a semi-logical endpoint for a woman who’s made the ultimate transition from irreconcilable material bitch, to a truly selfless champion.
I would argue that she wasn’t quite selfless. In her discussion with Skip, very little is actually said about how her ascension will help in the struggle as opposed to staying earthbound. He makes a vague reference to the fight taking place on multiple planes but doesn’t go into any specifics other than, “You’ve outgrown this one.” In fact, his plea to her rests entirely on flattery. “You’ve outgrown this,” “You’re a higher being.” There’s a clear point when he’s gotten through to her, when, based on the awed look on her face, her assent is clear: it’s when she echoes, “I’m a higher being.”
Cordy has indeed grown from the shallow, self-absorbed Sunnydale High homecoming queen. She does now think about others’ pain and puts easing that pain above her own wellbeing. But she’s still proud. And Skip seems to have a sense of that pride and plays off of it masterfully. One of the dangers of being a champion, an activist, an instrument of change is believing not that you have a mission but that you are the mission, that it could not possibly go on without you. And even if only for a moment, Skip touched something akin to that belief in Cordy, and thus ensured her downfall. Despite all of her growth over the previous six years, the character came to a tragic end in this episode, ultimately destroying herself and, over the next season, very nearly her friends and arguably the world, due to a fundamental, well-established character flaw. The more I think about this, the more I love how her “real” arc ended...
I’m pretty sure this was intended to be Cordelia’s vision of herself talking to Skip. Each line was taken from that exchange (except one, “Maybe on some level I’ve always known it’s true,” which probably ended up being cut for time). I think this was the powers trying to warn her about this encounter. Of course, as per usual, they remain maddeningly vague and, given Cordy’s reflection on her feelings for Angel, she can only see this as an affirmation of what’s foremost on her mind.
The timing of the ascension wasn’t a problem for me; by virtue of being a plot point on a TV series, naturally it’s not going to happen until an optimal ratings period. As for why it didn’t happen sooner after “Birthday,” it seemed pretty obvious that Cordy had to do this willingly and freely. As Skip said, all she had to do was say yes. But look back at the episodes immediately following “Bday” – she’s unsure of what her new part-demon state entails. She repeatedly worries she’s going to grow horns and a tail or that other such side effects will manifest. She wasn’t going to take such a radical step as ascending to another plane of existence until she felt at ease with the transformation she had already gone through. And I think that point came in the previous episode, when she “healed” Connor.
Her resolution to the season makes me angry, even if it seems like a semi-logical endpoint for a woman who’s made the ultimate transition from irreconcilable material bitch, to a truly selfless champion.
I would argue that she wasn’t quite selfless. In her discussion with Skip, very little is actually said about how her ascension will help in the struggle as opposed to staying earthbound. He makes a vague reference to the fight taking place on multiple planes but doesn’t go into any specifics other than, “You’ve outgrown this one.” In fact, his plea to her rests entirely on flattery. “You’ve outgrown this,” “You’re a higher being.” There’s a clear point when he’s gotten through to her, when, based on the awed look on her face, her assent is clear: it’s when she echoes, “I’m a higher being.”
Cordy has indeed grown from the shallow, self-absorbed Sunnydale High homecoming queen. She does now think about others’ pain and puts easing that pain above her own wellbeing. But she’s still proud. And Skip seems to have a sense of that pride and plays off of it masterfully. One of the dangers of being a champion, an activist, an instrument of change is believing not that you have a mission but that you are the mission, that it could not possibly go on without you. And even if only for a moment, Skip touched something akin to that belief in Cordy, and thus ensured her downfall. Despite all of her growth over the previous six years, the character came to a tragic end in this episode, ultimately destroying herself and, over the next season, very nearly her friends and arguably the world, due to a fundamental, well-established character flaw. The more I think about this, the more I love how her “real” arc ended...
bout damn time somebody recognized that I'm a queen. But she has made progress. Instead of being better because she has dresses and purses that "cost more" than everyone else's, she's better because she Cares More about people's suffering than everyone else does. So what does she do? As a queen, a higher being, if you will, she passes decrees that are meant to help everyone. And how does that work out? Well, Groo tells us when he arrives in Couplet:
Endless committees were formed. Committees splintered into factions, the factions into coalitions, the coalitions turned into subcommittees, until finally the more radical element, spurred by a charismatic leader, did the dance of revolution.
Cordelia's arc is a brilliant critique of the authoritarian tendency in leftism. Cordelia's character is not ruined, and not assassinated. Rather, season 4, as Roland says, is the consummation of her character's downfall due to a "fundamental, well established character flaw." This arc is also deeply connected to the show as a whole. As I said about Jasmine on the old Forum:
She seems to follow the only other path left open to Angel after Holland's elevator speech if he wants to defeat evil for all time: since evil lives in the hearts and minds of human beings, the only ways to defeat evil finally are a) to take away humanity's free will, or b) to kill every single person on earth.
So, that's why I love Cordelia in seasons 3 & 4 (I could go on forever about how season 3 sets all of this up perfectly -- it really does). I think it's great stuff, and I completely disagree with anyone who says her character is destroyed: it's fulfilled.
