Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy by James B. South

Author:James B. South
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Court
Published: 2011-03-29T04:00:00+00:00

Since Spike’s goal is to have a cooperative Buffy that will return his affection, and since the Buffybot meets this criterion exactly, it would be rational for him to love her - program and all. Yet Spike does not love the Buffybot. Realizing that Buffy’s feelings cannot be programmed, Spike, like Warren, concludes that “a robot is predictable. Boring” (“Bargaining, Part One”).

Because Riley and Buffy do not connect emotionally, their relationship is essentially robotic. Spike hints at this in “Into the Woods,” when he tells Riley, “the girl needs some monster in her man ... and that’s not in your nature.” Foreshadowing his own experience with the Buffybot, Spike goes on to say, “sometimes I envy you so much it chokes me. And sometimes I think I got the better deal. To be that close to her and not have her. To be all alone even when you’re holding her. Feeling her, feeling her beneath you. Surrounding you. The scent ... No, you got the better deal.” Spike soon discovers that this is not true. If we compare the relationship between Spike and the Buffybot to the relationship between Riley and the real Buffy, we can see that neither got the better deal. Thwarted with passionlessness, Spike and Riley got the same deal.

Buffy and Riley demonstrate the friendship of utility based on rationality. Their relationship makes sense and they are a great benefit to one another. In fact, their breakup is genuinely heartwrenching. First Buffy decides to let Riley go, and then she convinces herself that she could try harder to love him. She is too late to catch Riley, however, and this is just as well. Erotic love cannot survive on reason alone.

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