In defense of "The Scene" in Seeing Red

[u/NationalCamp2740]

(TW: Discussion of sexual assault)

Season 6 of Buffy is my favorite. I think it has some of the most masterfully-written, character-driven arcs in the show. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea—if you didn't have a very self-destructive phase in your early 20s, I can see it being hard to relate to—but as someone who watched it during said phase it was incredibly cathartic.

One thing I've noticed on this subreddit though is that people seem to almost universally regard Spike's attempted assault of Buffy in Season 6 as a huge misstep. Not as something that they didn't enjoy watching, but as something that was poorly executed and should not have been in the show.

Whether the show could have not included that scene...that's up for debate. There's a strong argument for minimizing sexual violence in media for many reasons. It was also a bad experience for the actors and not handled as well as it should have been behind the scenes, as many things were not in the filming of Buffy.

However, I wanted to point out that it is one of the best executed instances sexual violence I have ever seen. And I took a full class in college called "Sexual Violence in the Media" (would not recommend unless you enjoy being triggered for 4 months straight). Let me tell you there are so many poorly executed scenes of sexual violence in incredibly well regarded pieces of media. And this one doesn't fall into any of what I would call the cardinal sins of depicting assault on screen.

1. It in no way confuses sex and rape. Despite Buffy and Spike having a lot of hot sex in the season, this scene is absolutely not one of them. The way it's filmed is clinical, cold, and removed. It is deeply and deliberately unsexy in a way that is undeniable. Everything about it makes it clear that this is an act of violence. The framing does not excuse it or enjoy it on any level. I cannot express to you how common it is for rape scenes that are supposedly condemning the act seem to relish in it. Rape-revenge movies in particular looooove to show excessive and confusing imagery that frames the moment as hot even while wagging a finger. The camera is not voyeuristic; it's almost documentary like. The fish-eye lens in particular makes the image sickening.
2. It's not gratuitous. The entirety of Season 6 has been exploring power and the abuse of power in intimate relationships. This is the culmination and natural conclusion of Buffy and Spike's poor boundaries, violence, and lack of respect for each other. Sure, hypothetically, maybe the plot could have accomplished this some other way, though I'm not convinced. And unfortunately, it's realistic. In one study, 44% of reported assaults were from a partner or former partner, so it's not like this is some kind of made up and impossible scenario. It also parallels the trio and Katrina.
3. There's realistic fallout. While obviously it affects her deeply, Buffy doesn't become an irreparable shell of a person, or fall into the broken doll trope. However, it's still obvious that it does affect her, and probably will continue to affect her on some level forever.
4. On the other side of the equation, Spike isn't excused by the narrative or other characters. Even after he gets his soul back, he doesn't act like it's a get out of jail free card (unlike Angel on some level). He has to follow the very hard and painful path of restorative justice. As he works to redeem himself, his goal is not to get back with Buffy, but to in some way atone. He never treats the restoration of trust as a foregone conclusion.

Jessica Jones and I May Destroy You are probably the only shows I've seen personally that handle the matter with as much care and respect. There's always room for improvement, so I would definitely not endorse the depiction 100%, and I think critique is entirely valid. I totally understand hating the scene—that's a very healthy reaction. But I think it deserves its due as a very nuanced and well done portrayal of sexual violence in a sea of exploitative media.

[u/Aggravating-Bug9407]

Okay, this I agree with. I think not enough focus was put on the aftermath and Buffy. They could've and should've made her the focus of the scene and the aftermath not Spike.

But I disagree on "it wasn't necessary". I don't think the impact would've been the same had they gone with another option.

I think that piece of behind the scene information should've never been shared and that writer should've had legal consequences for her actions towards her ex. Who had been victimized again by her sharing the story. 

[u/AliceArsenic → u/Aggravating-Bug9407]

I think the reason that Spike gets the aftermath treatment, let's call it that, is because of the origin of the story, it's written from the perspective of the perpetrator after all, so it makes sense, in a way, that he gets the attention so to speak and not Buffy, callous as that is.

And yeah, I agree there should be consequences for the writer, both for the assault and for the publicizing of it, but knowing what we know does frame it differently, sadly, in my opinion.

[u/Aggravating-Bug9407 → u/AliceArsenic]

I agree, but they could've showed both perspectives. I would've prefered that. I get why they showed Spike's, I just don't get why they didn't show a little more of Buffy's. While it fits her character to not share her feelings, I still would've liked to get something more. Does that make sense? I'm not sure how to explain it.

I'm not sure if it frames it differently for me but I guess in a way it taints the scene. And what I think is almost worse is that she flipped it and had the woman be the victim. Don't get me wrong in the context of Buffy it made sense and I think it was important to be her for so many reasons. But it's like if a man had tried to SA his ex and then write a scene about it and made her the aggressor it would've gotten a lot of backlash and I think it would've been important. Men getting SAed by women is still something that isn't really talked about or gets brushed under the table and things like this makes it even worse. I can't even imagine how her victim must have felt.

[u/AliceArsenic → u/Aggravating-Bug9407]

Not only could they have shown both perspective, they /should have/ done so, 100% agree! Even if Buffy is not one to share her feelings, they've still shown how she's been feeling before on the show, so they definitely could have shown her emotional state in other ways, it's a huge disservice to her character to not show it.

Taints is a good word for it but to me, the scene is still framed differently by the original story behind it, because the sentiment wasn't focused on the act itself but the emotional aftermath of it; it was about the perpetrator's worst day, the lowest they've felt in their life, and that's the weight of it, not the act itself, like I said, and that changes the framing of it; does that make sense?

There definitely needs to be more awareness and acceptance of male victims and it's tragic that it gets brushed aside so often. Even here, in Buffy, there's multiple examples of male rape being not taken as seriously, there's of course the example of Faith and Xander but I actually think the most egregious example of it is the scene in, I think it's Gone, where Buffy's invisible, and she goes down on Spike after he clearly says no but Buffy continues anyways, and it's played for laughs, which has always rubbed me the wrong way, so to speak, it's never taken seriously, neither by the show itself and, to me, definitely not by the audience in my experience and observations.