Giles Fan's BG List, THE LIST

You are either here as a believer, so you don't need this, or you're most likely scoffing and not going to really care about these arguments anyway...this is written for that very welcomed small percentage of guests who need just a few notes to see the Light!


Arguments Made Against BG	The Counter For Your Consideration

He's like her father.	This argument is made solely on the fact that Giles is older and male. It has never been stated on the show, despite plenty of opportunities. The only reference made was by Travers in Helpless, a man who never saw them together until that moment and it was not something that they acknowledged as true. Buffy has a father and Giles certainly is nothing like Hank Summers. Giles is always there, while Hank never is. In Restless, Xander acknowledges Giles as a father figure, Buffy does not. In fact, in Giles' own dream, there is obvious confusion in his feelings, has he is torn between the world's perception of her has his child and his own feelings for her as a woman, and we all know how "men and women have behaved since the beginning of time!" In the early seasons, Giles is certainly a mentor, and in my personal belief, neither of them look at each other in a sexual light in those early years. However people, relationships and feelings change. Buffy's an adult now. She doesn't need a father. She needs a friend and stable, caring lover. See the BG Timeline for how the relationship has developed and changed.

He's too old for her.	As opposed to Angel, who is over two CENTURIES older or Spike is well over a century too old? And how many times has it been said that Buffy is old for her years, aged by her duty and destiny (and several deaths)? Giles will almost certainly outlive Buffy under any circumstance. Ironically, the actors who play Spike and Giles are only 8 years apart in age, yet, somehow, Spike is seen as sufficiently young even if the character is centuries old!

Buffy herself has said he's old and gross.	Under almost every circumstance when Buffy's made a derogatory comment about Giles, it has been when someone else showed an interest in him or when he showed an interest in someone else. From season one when Giles remarks that Ms. French (the Praying Mantis teacher) was "lovely," to when Jenny, Kendra, Faith, Olivia, and Buffy' own mother, all indicated interest in or tried to make a connection with Giles, Buffy has reacted with immediate jealousy: Giles is HERS and she doesn't like to share.

They have nothing in common.	They have more in common then one might think, and a relationship is based more on than a shared taste in music... Both rebelled against their destiny: the roles assigned to them before birth. But both have come to accept their roles and even relish them at times. Both have determined that they will do what must be done, at any cost. A relationship must be built on trust and mutual respect and that they share together, more then either has been able to share with any one else they've been involved with on the show.

Its not healthy/natural.	And dating vampires is? First we have Buffy dating a vampire who keeps secrets and manipulates her and her friends. I won't even bother with the whole "go evil if we have sex" thing... Then we have her dating several guys who use and abuse her (Scott & Parker), and then comes Captain Cardboard, who tries to change her into his image of an ordinary girl. Then we see her dating some one who tries to rape her, with the entire relationship being based on violence and Spike convincing her that she wasn't good enough? Giles would be the best thing that could ever happen to her! He's always supported her in every way possible and accepted her fully for what she is. They have more trust in each other then in anyone else in their lives, and can you really think of a better friendship on which to build a relationship? It would be the most healthy and natural relationship Buffy ever experienced!

He met her in High School, for god's sake!	Yes, and get over it! Hey, people change, right? Relationships and roles evolve and people grow up. The person Buffy was in Welcome to the Hellmouth is not who she was in Grave. And Giles is not merely the "Tweed clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin" anymore... Just because there are a few years separating them in physical age, don't you think that mentally and emotionally they are a lot closer from their experiences then most anyone else (on or off the show!) To quote the title of one of the great pieces of fanfiction, "Death brings clarity" to a person and in 7 years, quite literally, our Chosen Two have gone through several lifetimes together. Think how many fine shows existed for years without the characters ever changing. You could interchange the characters in many sitcoms from one season to another and there would be no difference. While we don't always like or know where our characters are going on Buffy, we know that they are not static and every year will move them further along. People change. Relationships change. A romantic BG relationship in season one would have been wrong (on many levels) and nor, more importantly, would it have fit who they were then. But now, its time has come. (Hell, its past due!)

	A few final thoughts: Would a daughter really be comfortable if her father looked at her the way Giles looked at Buffy at the Prom? I think she'd call social services! Would a college-aged daughter be jealous of her father's new girlfriend? Would a father start drinking simply because he was being ignored by his daughter? (Somehow Joyce managed to survive Buffy's neglect without turning to the bottle!) Would a father dream of his daughter in terms of "how men and women have behaved since the beginning of time?" with a bed displayed so prominently in the dream?

	And a final note: I find it interesting that many people who come late to the show, who started watching in the later seasons are much more open to BG. Many who see Pangs, Checkpoint, Spiral either before going through the whole Angel angst or while they catch up on the earlier eps immediately see the BG potential. So much of the anti-BG sentiment seems to come from early Buffy fans who decided from episode one that Angel was hot and Giles was not and that was the way it was going to be. Unfortunately, the show has changed and their opinions have not... Ok, my rant's over! Your turn! Send your arguments to tonycomeback@yahoo.com, preferably without flames of consisting solely of "you're sick" and I'll see about updating this with good ones. And remember:
	All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. (Arthur Schopenhauer)