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So, LOGO has been replaying BtVS, and I've been coming home at lunch and watching while I eat my sandwich. I had an epiphany last week, which I know you're all dying to hear:
I have never understood why Jenny Calendar doesn't tell Angel that the consequence of a moment of true happiness is losing his soul. I've always read her as exacerbating the conditions under which she dies; if only she were honest with Giles & Co., Angel's transformation could be prevented. In fact, I always had this vague, nebulous idea in the back of my mind that the Gypsies who originally cursed Angel should have told him what would happen if he got a little too warm and fuzzy.
Then it occurred to me--the Gypsies don't tell Angel about the happiness clause of his curse because he would have immediately tried to use that to lose his soul again and return to a state in which he wasn't overwhelmed with guilt and emotional pain. Duh. (Although part of me is amused by the idea of writing a fic where recently-souled!Angel tries so hard to be happy and just keeps reverting to Broody McForehead Rat-Eater LOL)
And yet, while I understand why they don't tell him the sitch initially, as time passes, keeping Angel out of the loop makes less and less sense. The happiness clause isn't an effective punishment if he's not aware of it. If Angel knows he'll become the monster he once was through a moment of true happiness, then he's gonna gloom it up. Once he's firmly ensconced as a white hat, knowledge of the happiness clause is actually a more effective punishment than merely having his soul. (And what the Gypsies did to Angel is always presented in terms of punishment for him, both in the flashbacks we get of the incident and from Jenny Calendar's perspective.) It would make him constantly afraid he might become Angelus again, and it would drive him away from seeking any kind of pleasure or companionship. He'd be even more miserable and tortured than ever. I don't know that Joss Whedon could have found a wig to express that emotional state though.
So by the time we get to Ms. Calendar, whose sole purpose in Sunnydale is to monitor the whole Angel situation, I still don't understand why she doesn't tell Angel what's the what. Leaving him in the dark is dangerous and leads to more bloodshed. Are we supposed to assume that the motivation for giving Angel his soul back is solely revenge driven and not preventative?
So yes, a million years late to the party on this one. LOL
I have never understood why Jenny Calendar doesn't tell Angel that the consequence of a moment of true happiness is losing his soul. I've always read her as exacerbating the conditions under which she dies; if only she were honest with Giles & Co., Angel's transformation could be prevented. In fact, I always had this vague, nebulous idea in the back of my mind that the Gypsies who originally cursed Angel should have told him what would happen if he got a little too warm and fuzzy.
Then it occurred to me--the Gypsies don't tell Angel about the happiness clause of his curse because he would have immediately tried to use that to lose his soul again and return to a state in which he wasn't overwhelmed with guilt and emotional pain. Duh. (Although part of me is amused by the idea of writing a fic where recently-souled!Angel tries so hard to be happy and just keeps reverting to Broody McForehead Rat-Eater LOL)
And yet, while I understand why they don't tell him the sitch initially, as time passes, keeping Angel out of the loop makes less and less sense. The happiness clause isn't an effective punishment if he's not aware of it. If Angel knows he'll become the monster he once was through a moment of true happiness, then he's gonna gloom it up. Once he's firmly ensconced as a white hat, knowledge of the happiness clause is actually a more effective punishment than merely having his soul. (And what the Gypsies did to Angel is always presented in terms of punishment for him, both in the flashbacks we get of the incident and from Jenny Calendar's perspective.) It would make him constantly afraid he might become Angelus again, and it would drive him away from seeking any kind of pleasure or companionship. He'd be even more miserable and tortured than ever. I don't know that Joss Whedon could have found a wig to express that emotional state though.
So by the time we get to Ms. Calendar, whose sole purpose in Sunnydale is to monitor the whole Angel situation, I still don't understand why she doesn't tell Angel what's the what. Leaving him in the dark is dangerous and leads to more bloodshed. Are we supposed to assume that the motivation for giving Angel his soul back is solely revenge driven and not preventative?
So yes, a million years late to the party on this one. LOL
