Aaaargh. wes help needed.
Jan. 26th, 2004 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
burntcopperHave essay on Wes' dad issues. Has been stumping me for three weeks as I know something's missing form the middle but can't think what. help, please?
Father Issues
For years, since the first hints we've had of Wes' childhood, we've know Wes had some few small issues with his father. For a start, it's a fact that Wes used to get locked under the stairs as a punishment on a regular basis. From what we can tell of hints he's dropped, his father was strict, and had a habit of putting Wes down constantly, not acknowledging his achievements, or at the very least belittling them. For more evidence, see the phonecalls, previously our only on-screen acknowledgement of Wes' blood relations. Wes calls to give ostensibly good news to his parents, and within ten seconds all his confidence and self-assurance that he's gained since coming to LA disappears and he reverts back to a cowed, brow-beaten shadow of himself, the Wes we saw many, many glimpses of during S1.
(For anyone questioning *why* Wes knew Roger was alive, unlike a large proportion of the Council, we presume he phoned right after the news that the Council had blown up to make sure he was still alive, so the possibility of seeing him again wasn't entirely unfeasible)
Wes shot him eight times. Eight times, people. The first one may have been for Fred, to stop him, but you do not keep shooting someone when they're dead unless you're pouring rage through that gun for some reason. And that reason sure as hell wasn't Fred. One shot for Fred, but every single one after that was all the internalised rage Wes felt towards his father, bottled up over the years - belittlement, the cupboard under the stairs, the inadequacy, the Council that his father represents - the list goes on. You may point out (in one of what we believe one of the worst cop-outs Mutant Enemy's ever done) that it wasn't his father, it was an android, so he could use it as a substitute and no real-world consequences. Like pasting a picture of your hatred to a punching bag and then beating the shit out of the bag. You've got rid of your anger, with no possibility of getting arrested for your actions. Nuh-uh. No getting out of it like that. As Wes said afterwards, he was convinced that said android *was* his father. Right up until that moment when he stopped shooting and went to examine the body. He wanted him dead, and for all intents and purposes he killed his own father. He has to deal with all those issues, and went on a sabbatical to do with just that.
If you want to have any of the characters sympathise with Wes about supposedly killing his father, the best one would probably be Gunn. Angel killed his whole family, but that was in blood-lust and childlike annoyance. He doesn't really feel that much remorse about killing his father - there's more remorse about monstrously killing his sister, as he still feels lingering resentment towards his father. Spike killed his mother because she suddenly turned on him after being vamped, as he pointed out, but he definitely feels no remorse about that. More like swatting a fly or draining a meal. You get the feeling Spike wouldn't really feel much remorse about killing any loved one, defending it to himself as 'I had to do it!' and it goes like water off a duck's back. Fred hasn't killed anyone. She was prepared to kill her professor, but never actually did it - Gunn stepped in and did it for her to save her from the emotions he knew about from killing his sister. Gunn had to kill his sister because she'd been turned into a vampire to stop her hurting anyone else. That's probably the closest parallel, along with Xander killing Jesse back in Ep2 of BtVS, so at least Gunn knows what Wes is going through emotionally.
Oh, and cue the final phonecall of that episode : Wes calls his parents to check on them, as it's quite conceivable the android's makers killed his parents to ensure no copies were hanging around, and how else did they get all the memories, personality traits and so on of Wes' father? Result of the phonecall : Exactly the same as all the other times. They're abrupt, dismissive, and Wes crumbles into the cowed child. The situation hasn't changed, aside from the lingering issue that Wes has killed his father once. Twice as screwed.
There's also an interesting point I wish to make : Roger Wyndham Price is terribly similar in outward appearance to outsiders. Don't believe me? Competent, knowledgeable, will correct at any given turn if he thinks you have the details wrong, tests you constantly, ruthless, practical, hard bastard and also damn charming when he wants to be. Okay, maybe we can't see Wes doing the smoothie that his father does so effortlessly, but that boy can charm when he wants to. Let us be wary of Wes not falling too far from the tree...
Father Issues
For years, since the first hints we've had of Wes' childhood, we've know Wes had some few small issues with his father. For a start, it's a fact that Wes used to get locked under the stairs as a punishment on a regular basis. From what we can tell of hints he's dropped, his father was strict, and had a habit of putting Wes down constantly, not acknowledging his achievements, or at the very least belittling them. For more evidence, see the phonecalls, previously our only on-screen acknowledgement of Wes' blood relations. Wes calls to give ostensibly good news to his parents, and within ten seconds all his confidence and self-assurance that he's gained since coming to LA disappears and he reverts back to a cowed, brow-beaten shadow of himself, the Wes we saw many, many glimpses of during S1.
(For anyone questioning *why* Wes knew Roger was alive, unlike a large proportion of the Council, we presume he phoned right after the news that the Council had blown up to make sure he was still alive, so the possibility of seeing him again wasn't entirely unfeasible)
Wes shot him eight times. Eight times, people. The first one may have been for Fred, to stop him, but you do not keep shooting someone when they're dead unless you're pouring rage through that gun for some reason. And that reason sure as hell wasn't Fred. One shot for Fred, but every single one after that was all the internalised rage Wes felt towards his father, bottled up over the years - belittlement, the cupboard under the stairs, the inadequacy, the Council that his father represents - the list goes on. You may point out (in one of what we believe one of the worst cop-outs Mutant Enemy's ever done) that it wasn't his father, it was an android, so he could use it as a substitute and no real-world consequences. Like pasting a picture of your hatred to a punching bag and then beating the shit out of the bag. You've got rid of your anger, with no possibility of getting arrested for your actions. Nuh-uh. No getting out of it like that. As Wes said afterwards, he was convinced that said android *was* his father. Right up until that moment when he stopped shooting and went to examine the body. He wanted him dead, and for all intents and purposes he killed his own father. He has to deal with all those issues, and went on a sabbatical to do with just that.
If you want to have any of the characters sympathise with Wes about supposedly killing his father, the best one would probably be Gunn. Angel killed his whole family, but that was in blood-lust and childlike annoyance. He doesn't really feel that much remorse about killing his father - there's more remorse about monstrously killing his sister, as he still feels lingering resentment towards his father. Spike killed his mother because she suddenly turned on him after being vamped, as he pointed out, but he definitely feels no remorse about that. More like swatting a fly or draining a meal. You get the feeling Spike wouldn't really feel much remorse about killing any loved one, defending it to himself as 'I had to do it!' and it goes like water off a duck's back. Fred hasn't killed anyone. She was prepared to kill her professor, but never actually did it - Gunn stepped in and did it for her to save her from the emotions he knew about from killing his sister. Gunn had to kill his sister because she'd been turned into a vampire to stop her hurting anyone else. That's probably the closest parallel, along with Xander killing Jesse back in Ep2 of BtVS, so at least Gunn knows what Wes is going through emotionally.
Oh, and cue the final phonecall of that episode : Wes calls his parents to check on them, as it's quite conceivable the android's makers killed his parents to ensure no copies were hanging around, and how else did they get all the memories, personality traits and so on of Wes' father? Result of the phonecall : Exactly the same as all the other times. They're abrupt, dismissive, and Wes crumbles into the cowed child. The situation hasn't changed, aside from the lingering issue that Wes has killed his father once. Twice as screwed.
There's also an interesting point I wish to make : Roger Wyndham Price is terribly similar in outward appearance to outsiders. Don't believe me? Competent, knowledgeable, will correct at any given turn if he thinks you have the details wrong, tests you constantly, ruthless, practical, hard bastard and also damn charming when he wants to be. Okay, maybe we can't see Wes doing the smoothie that his father does so effortlessly, but that boy can charm when he wants to. Let us be wary of Wes not falling too far from the tree...
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 11:13 am (UTC)In other words, the transition isn't as smooth as it could be. So I suspect that you need a para or so before this, something that puts it in context. Something that says 'Wes definitely has issues. And if you needed any evidence of this, let us consider Episode X. In which Wes shot his father eight times.'
But that's just my thoughts :)
The rest of it seemed fine, and I thought it interesting the parallels you drew between Wes's patricide and Angel's and Spike's matricide. If you still think something is lacking, maybe you could expand on this - I suspect that there's lots of interesting stuff you could draw out. However, I'm not sure of your audience, or how knowledgeable they'll be, so maybe not :) It's made me go, 'Hmmm... intriguing' though :)
There was one thing that struck me though, and that's that you didn't have any parallels with Connor, which might be interesting too, in that Connor wanted to kill his real father (Angel) and yet didn't want to kill his surrogate father, the one who technically put him into a very dangerous environment and who was, in his way, as abusive as Wes's father appears to be. That might be something worth exploring.
And is it worth elaborating on the change in Wes once he'd failed in his role as Watcher, and become free from his father's immediate influence. I always thought that Wesley did a lot of growing as a person once he hooked up with Angel and Cordy.
And finally (just thinking of these things ::g::) it's interesting that as Wesley grows up (and presumably 'away' from his father), he actually demonstrates much more of that ruthlessness you mention than he did while in the Watchers Council employ.
Just some stray thoughts :)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 11:17 am (UTC)In other words, what I was trying (and failing) to say, is that once Wesley has made the move out from under his father, and the Council's thumb, he actually shows much more sign of becoming his father's son, which I think is fascinating. Are the influences of the formative years so very strong, and do we become what he hate while trying hard to do the opposite?