Whereas technology requires no such belief, only knowledge - how to pull the trigger, so to speak?
Very fitting, since for the most part, firearms are shown to be utterly useless on Buffy. :) They can only kill, they can't defeat.
What's that Picasso quote? "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Of course, Willow's spells fail partly because she ignores the context of them - she tries to just take the bits she needs and ignores everything else. She can't fully control her witchdom until she understands where it comes from, much like Buffy can't pass on the Slayer spell until she owns that narrative. Which, IMO, is where Whedon makes Buffyverse magic different from (the simplified view of) religion. There's plenty of magic, but there's no magical thinking, no mysterious ways to move in. Everything, including magic, hellgods, and mystical destinies, have a cause and an effect, and their moral consequences relate to how they affect others, not some preconceived notion of sin and virtue. Things, for the most part, don't Just Happen, and you can't wish the world better.
Does Buffy belief in The Slayer mythos more than she believes in herself, ironically?
That's an interesting question. Hmmm. I would say it depends a lot on when in the series we're talking about and in what situation. By the end of the series, I'd say she's mostly reconciled the two.
how do the comics, esp S8 and the undoing of the Slayer spell (with the guilt and blame raining down on Buffy's head) extend Joss' existentialist philosophy?
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Very fitting, since for the most part, firearms are shown to be utterly useless on Buffy. :) They can only kill, they can't defeat.
What's that Picasso quote? "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Of course, Willow's spells fail partly because she ignores the context of them - she tries to just take the bits she needs and ignores everything else. She can't fully control her witchdom until she understands where it comes from, much like Buffy can't pass on the Slayer spell until she owns that narrative. Which, IMO, is where Whedon makes Buffyverse magic different from (the simplified view of) religion. There's plenty of magic, but there's no magical thinking, no mysterious ways to move in. Everything, including magic, hellgods, and mystical destinies, have a cause and an effect, and their moral consequences relate to how they affect others, not some preconceived notion of sin and virtue. Things, for the most part, don't Just Happen, and you can't wish the world better.
Does Buffy belief in The Slayer mythos more than she believes in herself, ironically?
That's an interesting question. Hmmm. I would say it depends a lot on when in the series we're talking about and in what situation. By the end of the series, I'd say she's mostly reconciled the two.
how do the comics, esp S8 and the undoing of the Slayer spell (with the guilt and blame raining down on Buffy's head) extend Joss' existentialist philosophy?
Don't know, don't care. :P