I just watched a very interesting Angel where the villain, Billy, was evil b/c his touch transferred a very powerful feeling of misogyny. Whenever he touched a man, that man would be overcome with all this angst towards the nearest available woman. So the show made explicit the link between macho men and evil: violence toward women becomes this sort of other wordly demonesque thing, not attached to any social structure. It was almost like a masculine acceleration- Billy's touch was a drug.
cordelia's pov provided the opposition: her crusade against the helpless/powerless feeling of misogyny. cordy's expertise is in her beauty and knowledge of the beauty world- the culture of women. she tells Lila that if she's going to be an ultra-bitch, then she should help Cordy- a sort of women banding together thing over stopping men and buying shoes. if cordy is buffy's opposite, then cordy's power doesnt come from any physical ability to kick ass but rather, more VM like, from an ability to manipulate her image, activate a network of women and negotiate her way through popular culture and the fashion world.
i like the way she describes Angel as "melodramatic," (and the way the two men argue over the definition, after Angel bursts in declaring he's going to kill someone) a sort of purposeful declaration of Angel's alliance with the female network. as an anguished hero of eternal unrequited love, Angel is a fantasy but also an avenger. He's the rescuer feminism shouldn't have to give up. Angel, Wes and Gunn are the men feminism needs on its side, along with women like Cordy, who can change. she represents a sort of arc from post-fem to feminism i think. so its interesting to think of Angel's status as a spin-off in relation to the ultimate feminist figure of Buffy
and then Cordy tazers Billy in the groin!
and Wesley cries at the very end. :(
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