Romance =/= Geometry
Oct. 2nd, 2010 10:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalYou may have noticed that there's a poll up about the best TV love triangle. This baffles me, for several reasons.
First of all, it's a complete oxymoron to me, since I hate love triangles as a general rule, so "best" doesn't really enter the picture. I absolutely despise when shows derive their drama from all the back-and-forthing and "who will he/she choose??" Especially high school love triangles, because they're always so absurdly melodramatic and unrealistic.
I usually end up having one of three reactions when a love triangle is introduced:
1. "Obviously these two should be together, and the third wheel should take a long walk off a short pier." See: Logan/Veronica/Duncan, Pacey/Joey/Dawson.
2. "I hate every possible outcome and I want all three of them to knock it the fuck off and move on." See: Buffy/Xander/Willow, Amy/Josh/Donna.
3. "Actually, it's more of a foursome, and two of them should've just kept their damn hands off each other and not ruined their existing relationships." See: Sam/Kara/Lee/Dualla, Oz/Willow/Xander/Cordelia.
So, yeah, overall, I'm not feeling the "bestness" of the love triangle poll. But there's a particular reason this one aggravates me.
Buffy/Angel/Spike is WINNING. By a ridiculous margin.
That may come as a surprise to those who know me, given that my favorite show, my favorite character, and my favorite pairing are all to be found somewhere in there. But bear with me on this...
See, I'm over here thinking, "Seriously, people, what fucking show were you watching?" Because the thing I loved most about Buffy and her vampires is that there was none of that shit happening on the show. Buffy and Angel had their time, and then it ended. Buffy and Spike had their time, and then it ended, and except for a bizarre OOC appearance by Angel in "Chosen," it NEVER OVERLAPPED. There was never any back-and-forth about which vampire Buffy should be with (on the show at least, fandom is a whole different, absurd story, which, given the disgusting level of hatred there, ought to earn them WORST TV love triangle), because there was never more than one choice at a time. And even in Angel season 5, when Angel and Spike are fighting - sometimes literally - over Buffy, the thing that made it tolerable is that Buffy's not there. Maybe if she was there, it'd be a difficult choice for her, or maybe it wouldn't, but either way, the show never goes there. It subverts the entire idea of the triangle, because while Angel and Spike are jockeying to be the one Buffy chooses, there is no choice, because Buffy's not there to make it.
So yeah, I am completely boggling that people find that to be the best love triangle, when I see it as the ANTI-love triangle.
If you're wondering, I picked Damon/Stefan/Elena for the poll, because that is one triangle where I really enjoy the dynamic of Damon interfering in Stefan and Elena's relationship. As I mentioned in my TVD post, Damon makes everything more interesting. Without him, Stefan and Elena are BORING, but I also don't just want Damon and Elena together and Stefan out of the picture. It's the love/hate thing that Damon/Elena and Damon/Stefan have going on that makes them interesting, and that goes away if Elena decides she loves Damon enough to be with him instead of Stefan, and if Stefan doesn't care. I also wouldn't mind a straight-up threesome, lol, but I'm sure the show would never go there, as much as it flirts with the idea.
First of all, it's a complete oxymoron to me, since I hate love triangles as a general rule, so "best" doesn't really enter the picture. I absolutely despise when shows derive their drama from all the back-and-forthing and "who will he/she choose??" Especially high school love triangles, because they're always so absurdly melodramatic and unrealistic.
I usually end up having one of three reactions when a love triangle is introduced:
1. "Obviously these two should be together, and the third wheel should take a long walk off a short pier." See: Logan/Veronica/Duncan, Pacey/Joey/Dawson.
2. "I hate every possible outcome and I want all three of them to knock it the fuck off and move on." See: Buffy/Xander/Willow, Amy/Josh/Donna.
3. "Actually, it's more of a foursome, and two of them should've just kept their damn hands off each other and not ruined their existing relationships." See: Sam/Kara/Lee/Dualla, Oz/Willow/Xander/Cordelia.
So, yeah, overall, I'm not feeling the "bestness" of the love triangle poll. But there's a particular reason this one aggravates me.
Buffy/Angel/Spike is WINNING. By a ridiculous margin.
That may come as a surprise to those who know me, given that my favorite show, my favorite character, and my favorite pairing are all to be found somewhere in there. But bear with me on this...
See, I'm over here thinking, "Seriously, people, what fucking show were you watching?" Because the thing I loved most about Buffy and her vampires is that there was none of that shit happening on the show. Buffy and Angel had their time, and then it ended. Buffy and Spike had their time, and then it ended, and except for a bizarre OOC appearance by Angel in "Chosen," it NEVER OVERLAPPED. There was never any back-and-forth about which vampire Buffy should be with (on the show at least, fandom is a whole different, absurd story, which, given the disgusting level of hatred there, ought to earn them WORST TV love triangle), because there was never more than one choice at a time. And even in Angel season 5, when Angel and Spike are fighting - sometimes literally - over Buffy, the thing that made it tolerable is that Buffy's not there. Maybe if she was there, it'd be a difficult choice for her, or maybe it wouldn't, but either way, the show never goes there. It subverts the entire idea of the triangle, because while Angel and Spike are jockeying to be the one Buffy chooses, there is no choice, because Buffy's not there to make it.
So yeah, I am completely boggling that people find that to be the best love triangle, when I see it as the ANTI-love triangle.
If you're wondering, I picked Damon/Stefan/Elena for the poll, because that is one triangle where I really enjoy the dynamic of Damon interfering in Stefan and Elena's relationship. As I mentioned in my TVD post, Damon makes everything more interesting. Without him, Stefan and Elena are BORING, but I also don't just want Damon and Elena together and Stefan out of the picture. It's the love/hate thing that Damon/Elena and Damon/Stefan have going on that makes them interesting, and that goes away if Elena decides she loves Damon enough to be with him instead of Stefan, and if Stefan doesn't care. I also wouldn't mind a straight-up threesome, lol, but I'm sure the show would never go there, as much as it flirts with the idea.
no subject
Date: Oct. 4th, 2010 12:16 pm (UTC)I do think it's so interesting that we all agree that Stefan/Elena/Damon is fun and works; I feel like meta needs to be written about this....
no subject
Date: Oct. 6th, 2010 03:24 pm (UTC)I also appreciate that it's not presented as a competition. It's not like Elena's merely a prize to be won (*cough* Fred - or Buffy in AtS s5). She's a real human being, and in fact, she's the one person that makes Damon act like a real human being, instead of an asshole. So it's not like I'm rooting for Damon to win because he's sooo much better than Stefan (although I do like Damon better). It's more that I like who Damon is when he's around Elena.
And although I could see her breaking up with Stefan and then ending up with Damon eventually, I think it would be more like Buffy/Angel/Spike, where things just end naturally and she moves on, not some angsty, endless "omg who do I choooose" thing.
(If I were going to make it happen, Elena and Stefan would break up because of something that happens with Katherine, and has nothing to do with Damon. Then Elena and Damon gradually start getting closer again and maybe start dating the next season, so that she doesn't go right from one to the other.)
Um... I may have accidentally written that meta, lol!