Xander Harris

Capturing a comment of mine about the character of Xander from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, from a discussion of the article about Joss Whedon which revealed that his misconduct is even worse than previously known in public.

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The new interview drops something into place which I think many of his critics, as well as relative apologists like me, missed in trying to understand both his life and his work. It reveals Whedon as more deeply narcissistic than was publicly evident before.

So I strongly disagree with suggestions that the Buffy character reflecting Whedon is Parker Abrams, the fella who seduces Buffy shortly after her arrival at college by pretending to be a stand-up guy but then coldly dropping her immediately after they sleep together. Parker is deliberately deceitful and manipulative. That is a villain Whedon can comfort himself in rightly thinking is very different from him. Whedon’s poisonousness is not cold and calculating; it is, instead, deeply felt and rationalized.

Nor do I think the geeky, villainous Trio are quite the key example of Whedon Telling On Himself which critics of his have long suggested. There is a lot to be said for that reading, and how the reading of them which Whedon was trying to invite — there but for the grace of feminist sensibilities go I — was always a smokescreen.

But I differ from many critics of Whedon who see his professed feminism as nothing other than a deliberate trick. I read Whedon and Buffy — much as I still love Buffy, in spite of it all — as often poisonous and misogynistic and yet also sincerely feminist. That is not a defense. It is an indictment; Whedon had reason to know better, and failed. Alas, Whedon is hardly the only person to mix poison with feminism.

I think that Whedon’s narcissism makes Xander his analogue. Genuinely committed to caring for other people, and often successful at it … but also so far up his own ass that he at least as often deeply hurtful to his friends and lovers, over and over again … with the show expecting us to forgive Xander for these being innocent, honest mistakes … despite the insincerity of his remorse and his failure to make recompense, because he is always prioritizing his own feelings. The quotes from Whedon in the the new article reveal the same pattern in him.

So I think that it is far from accidental that Whedon constructs Xander with his boneheadedness to superficially seem as different from himself as possible, despite this core similarity. That is not simply a smokescreen for us, it protects Whedon from seeing himself.

Similarly, it is often suggested that Xander is meant as a point-of-view character for fellas watching the show, and seeing him as a projection of Whedon’s particular toxicity supports that reading … but that is not quite my own take.

I prefer to focus on Xander being the Token Ordinary Guy, and a dip into how the core characters are designed in light of what we now know about Whedon makes Xander an even more unwholesome figure.

One can think of them this way:

Buffy	bold	brawn	Kirk
Willow	anxious	brains	Spock
Xander	steady	heart	McCoy

This structure reveals a lot about Whedon’s sensibilities in action.

There’s the Feminist Inversion in which we have the token “heart” figure as a fella and the commonly male-coded archetypes as women. The Feminist Inversion move has serious limits & problems, which much more insightful people than me have described at length ... but it is easy to forget how much life and value there was in it 25 years ago.

Significantly, Xander is relentlessly brave, never hesitating to put himself between danger and the others in the Scooby Gang. The show never points to this directly, but it is a constant in his characterization and part of why it expects us to count him as heroic. But it very often makes him a liability. Whedon has talked about how when all else failed, they could motivate the plot (especially in early seasons) by putting Willow in danger … but if you think about it, Xander’s bravery is also often used to create plot complications because repeatedly facing danger when he is outmatched is a liability, forcing the other characters to set aside their goals to rescue him.

Which brings us back to my original point that Xander is an asshole who creates a trail of wreckage with his shortsightedness and egocentricity, and the show expects us to simply forgive him because he quips and means well and has Feelings. But astute watchers of the show tend to say Xander Is The Worst because he is dangerously irresponsible both as a Monster Fighter and in relationshipping. Dude is an asshole, and the voice of the show really does not seem to register it.

And I must also observe that wow does the show work hard to get Xander laid. Gross once you notice it. Doubly so when you consider what a hurtful person he is. Trebly so if you read him as reflecting Whedon’s personal dreams. Ew.