I remember a while back I had mentioned on An Unexamined Life… that the answers to all of life’s questions could be found in the movies. An ironic quote from the movie Grand Canyon and also quite true considering that storytelling on paper or storytelling on celluloid remains the same. We are still telling the same stories since the dawn of humanity.
Of course some constipated bookworm apologist attacked me with all his nerdiness that it just wasn’t so. Just another defensive pseudo-intellectual elitist bourgeois who believes that movies and television are utter and complete crap and I would agree on just about 90% of what’s out there. But even B movies can have sparks of genius that make you reflect human madness or its deviancy. It all depends how you approach it.
And tonight as I was going through yet another episode of my ongoing Angel Broodathon and I had reached the epic 5th season moment where Illyria rises, killing Fred in the process. After a battle, Illyria realizes her kingdom is gone and returns to Wesley, disarmed and asking for help. After a discussion Illyria wonders about grief:
Illyria: We cling to what is gone. Is there anything in this life but grief?
Wesley: There’s love. There’s hope…for some. There’s hope that you’ll find something worthy…that your life will lead you to some joy…that after everything…you can still be surprised.
Illyria: Is that enough? Is that enough to live on?
Probably the wisest reflection on the human condition I’ve heard in years. I felt a rush listening to the words: “That after everything… you can still be surprised.” Yes. Surprised. Isn’t that what we look for the most in this age of deconstruction? It was enough to get this armchair philosopher giddy. I needed to be surprised and still need to and not much does.
maybe the hopeless are just that, unsurprised. but I think that you have to be willing to be. it’s with a closed mind that most march on and complain about the lack of surprise in their lives. I might be a cynic, but deep down, it’s all I hope for, to be surprised.
The Illyria storyline was, in my opinion, one of the best, most thought-provoking, deepest storylines (and most surprising) written in television.
Joss Whedon is amazing. I can’t even begin to tell you how many life lessons I’ve learned from watching his shows. If I could have just a portion of that talent, I’d be happy.
héhé, don’t bother approving… I just realized I made a typo in my handle… sorry!
maybe the hopeless are just that, unsurprised. but I think that you have to be willing to be. it’s with a closed mind that most march on and complain about the lack of surprise in their lives. I might be a cynic, but deep down, it’s all I hope for, to be surprised.
and uhm, I found the post, I remember it quite well. I was a bit sad about the argument, because I really like both of you, and on top of that, I thought the post had some significance, which kind of got lost.
goddd I’m dense tonight :s
here’s the link: http://aspinelesslaugh.com/2007/12/20/jingle-this/
Well for my POV on Will power I’ll point you to this POST instead of reiterating it here.
I hated it when Fred had to “die” and Illyria came alive. It was great for the story but I then knew that the series was ending (this was before I knew that it was not going to be renewed for a 6th season). I hold “Angel” above most tv series that I have seen and I think it was way better than Buffy ever was. It was just underrated. But I have the dvds and I’ll watch them for as long as I can.
I think they were going all out to keep the show alive. But after this story line, where could they have gone?
That’s also true but perhaps they used that storyline because of the upcoming cancellation. Also there is a book series that continues from the final episode, I think it’s called Angel : After The Fall.
Do people really read the book series? Or the post-Buffy comic series?
I do not. Buffy ended with Sunnydale cratering itself and Angel ended with Team Angel getting to work. I don’t take the comic books as Buffy-verse Canon . A story has to end no matter how much the fans want it to go on.