Or so it seems. Judging by occasional leaks by actors and writers, Angel: AtF is Joss Whedon's "plan A" for season 6. And Joss has always been blatantly, glaringly antropocentric. Either the team Whedon/Lynch have some unexpected aces in their proverbial sleeves or... or Joss' worldview has changed.
Thank you so much for saying this. It's what I've felt ever since BtVS Season 7, that something very intrinsic about the overall attitude of the universe had been altered. For better or worse, it does seem a reflection of the post-9/11 American mindset (S7 Buffy's ticking timebomb-esque nation-under-siege plotline and desperate-times-require-desperate-measures attitude had a lot more in common with the likes of 24 than I would have previously expected from someone of Joss's political leanings). I've never been able to see the end of AtS as a fabulous example of Angel at his most heroic - the carnage he was set to unleash in the name of good was not a simple case of Good vs. Evil, but far more complex and gray, if not outright black, if you judge by results instead of intentions. Perhaps we're lucky that it's been a few years - if the first issue is any indication, we might be in for some good nuance on this topic which, as you say, is an extremely sensitive subject.
The originality of Angel: After the Fall lies in choosing the third way. Or, rather, paradoxically combining the first two. There is chaos, anarchy and barbarism in Hell - but bureaucracy still has the last word in every wrangle.
Great observation! Although I am finding a little similarity here to some post-apocalypse stories, where a vestige of civilization is struggling to survive or build anew in a barren, hostile environment - the wrinkle here seems to be that Wolfram & Hart's beauracracy is the vestige of civilization, because once-normal humanity seems well on the road to becoming part of the chaos (the "warriors" in the arena). Which, now that I think about it, makes Connor's multi-species gang sort of symbolic of that fusion.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-25 08:10 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for saying this. It's what I've felt ever since BtVS Season 7, that something very intrinsic about the overall attitude of the universe had been altered. For better or worse, it does seem a reflection of the post-9/11 American mindset (S7 Buffy's ticking timebomb-esque nation-under-siege plotline and desperate-times-require-desperate-measures attitude had a lot more in common with the likes of 24 than I would have previously expected from someone of Joss's political leanings). I've never been able to see the end of AtS as a fabulous example of Angel at his most heroic - the carnage he was set to unleash in the name of good was not a simple case of Good vs. Evil, but far more complex and gray, if not outright black, if you judge by results instead of intentions. Perhaps we're lucky that it's been a few years - if the first issue is any indication, we might be in for some good nuance on this topic which, as you say, is an extremely sensitive subject.
The originality of Angel: After the Fall lies in choosing the third way. Or, rather, paradoxically combining the first two. There is chaos, anarchy and barbarism in Hell - but bureaucracy still has the last word in every wrangle.
Great observation! Although I am finding a little similarity here to some post-apocalypse stories, where a vestige of civilization is struggling to survive or build anew in a barren, hostile environment - the wrinkle here seems to be that Wolfram & Hart's beauracracy is the vestige of civilization, because once-normal humanity seems well on the road to becoming part of the chaos (the "warriors" in the arena). Which, now that I think about it, makes Connor's multi-species gang sort of symbolic of that fusion.