Kendra really did get the short end of the stick in so many ways. I really am sad we didn't see more of her.
Agreed. They really mishandled her story in a lot of ways - and of course killed her off quickly to make way for another white Slayer. I'm not saying it was deliberate on the part of the writers, just badly done. (But you knew that.)
I was intrigued by the notion of a Slayer who even in the 20th century lived in a culture where Slayerness was somehow honored, was part of the community and needed to be trained as a shaman would be. The gist we got on the show was that the way Buffy did things was superior - although in some ways the show also undermines that. (And Buffy's dismissive "You're not the boss of me" in Restless is something she regrets later. )
Actually it is sort of complicated (Buffy going from someone who lives entirely in the "here and now" to having to connect with the origins of Slayerhood) but it's still all about Buffy. Ok, it's her show, so duh, but it means once again, the black girl is not important in and of herself, except what she represents to the white girl. (Which is also true of the First Slayer.) And it's interesting because that's the way the dynamic has usually worked in terms of men and women in movies/tv (esp in certain genres like "buddy" or "action" films), and BtVS reverses this in terms of gender but not race.
Your Kendra drabble reminds me (in spirit, not style) of Lizrael's Potentials fic, "Prism" http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/356065.html?replyto=11955169
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-12-13 02:49 pm (UTC)Agreed. They really mishandled her story in a lot of ways - and of course killed her off quickly to make way for another white Slayer. I'm not saying it was deliberate on the part of the writers, just badly done. (But you knew that.)
I was intrigued by the notion of a Slayer who even in the 20th century lived in a culture where Slayerness was somehow honored, was part of the community and needed to be trained as a shaman would be. The gist we got on the show was that the way Buffy did things was superior - although in some ways the show also undermines that. (And Buffy's dismissive "You're not the boss of me" in Restless is something she regrets later. )
Actually it is sort of complicated (Buffy going from someone who lives entirely in the "here and now" to having to connect with the origins of Slayerhood) but it's still all about Buffy. Ok, it's her show, so duh, but it means once again, the black girl is not important in and of herself, except what she represents to the white girl. (Which is also true of the First Slayer.) And it's interesting because that's the way the dynamic has usually worked in terms of men and women in movies/tv (esp in certain genres like "buddy" or "action" films), and BtVS reverses this in terms of gender but not race.
Your Kendra drabble reminds me (in spirit, not style) of Lizrael's Potentials fic, "Prism"
http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/356065.html?replyto=11955169