Killed a Long Time Ago
Jan. 12th, 2017 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsnotmymindOne argument that irritates me from many fans who believe SPN's Amy Pond should have been killed is how much importance they place on the fact that she killed recently. Specifically, Amy kill recently, Benny killed a long time ago, therefore Benny should be allowed to live with no punishment or restrictions, and Amy should be killed. I have no problem with the recent-ness of a monster's killed being a factor in how they were killed, but the entire judgment? That makes no sense. In the real world, there is no statue of limitations on murder, and there's a reason for that.
And in terms of Amy's motivations, it makes no sense. Amy worked hard to create a lifestyle that didn't involve killing. She's not going to start doing it again just because she was forced to to save Jacob. And by the same token, if Jacob got sick again ten years later, I don't think she's going to say, "Well, it's been a long time since I killed anyway, so I guess I'll let him die." Time has nothing to do with her motivations.
In terms of Benny...well, I was thinking about how AtS/BtVS handled this very issue. Take a look at Holtz and Wood: The loved ones of people killed by vampires long ago are still shown to have legitimate grievances. Holtz literally came from the past (And time travel is a thing on SPN). Angel’s murders of Holtz’ family as any less serious because they occurred long ago.
Nikki Wood was also killed decades prior to Robin Wood's appearance on the show. while I do have some issues with how Robin’s story was handled, the writing did make Robin’s pain very real. He lost his mother. This isn’t something disappears overnight. You simply cannot just dismiss it as, “Well, Spike killed her a long time ago." With Robin a character on the show, so clearly shaped by his lost, it would be impossible. We have the privilege of dismissing Benny’s murders as “a long time ago” because we know nothing about those people. Except that they took pleasure cruises, or worked for pleasure cruises.
And in terms of Amy's motivations, it makes no sense. Amy worked hard to create a lifestyle that didn't involve killing. She's not going to start doing it again just because she was forced to to save Jacob. And by the same token, if Jacob got sick again ten years later, I don't think she's going to say, "Well, it's been a long time since I killed anyway, so I guess I'll let him die." Time has nothing to do with her motivations.
In terms of Benny...well, I was thinking about how AtS/BtVS handled this very issue. Take a look at Holtz and Wood: The loved ones of people killed by vampires long ago are still shown to have legitimate grievances. Holtz literally came from the past (And time travel is a thing on SPN). Angel’s murders of Holtz’ family as any less serious because they occurred long ago.
Nikki Wood was also killed decades prior to Robin Wood's appearance on the show. while I do have some issues with how Robin’s story was handled, the writing did make Robin’s pain very real. He lost his mother. This isn’t something disappears overnight. You simply cannot just dismiss it as, “Well, Spike killed her a long time ago." With Robin a character on the show, so clearly shaped by his lost, it would be impossible. We have the privilege of dismissing Benny’s murders as “a long time ago” because we know nothing about those people. Except that they took pleasure cruises, or worked for pleasure cruises.
