XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   "Ubiquitous"  wrote in message news:r9bq9n$rkb$6@dont-email.me...   
      
   Jonathan Levinson, a background character at Sunnydale High (played by the   
   brilliant actor and screenwriter Danny Strong), made his debut on Buffy the   
   Vampire Slayer as a joke. Popular dimwit Harmony refers to him as "just the   
   stallion" Cordelia needs to "mount" after breaking up with nerdy Xander   
   Harris. Jonathan's small stature and meek demeanor relegate him to the ranks   
   of the bullied, the insignificant, the type of student who just might get   
   fed   
   up and head into a bell tower with a rifle, intending to kill as many of his   
   tormentors as possible. In Season 3's episode "Earshot," Buffy finds him in   
   a   
   bell tower with a gun and talks him down. Buffy stops him by explaining to   
   him that everyone he sees and wants to shoot is going through their own   
   garbage, and that he's likely not even on their emotional radar. He then   
   explains that he intended to kill only himself. This lesson in empathy sends   
   him careening down a very different path.   
      
   Written by Jane Espenson, "Superstar" is the 17th episode of Season 4. The   
   Big Bad of the season is Adam, a seemingly indestructible,   
   government-created   
   demon and technology chimera. Buffy and Faith have just swapped bodies,   
   leading Buffy and Riley to a rough patch in their relationship. Xander and   
   Anya are navigating the waters of a human and former demon relationship, and   
   Willow and Tara's blossoming relationship is new and different. There's   
   drama   
   everywhere. Then the credits roll, and everything has changed.   
      
   Action shots of Jonathan seamlessly blend into the regular action shots of   
   our heroes, the Scooby Gang. Instead of a battle shot of Buffy at the end of   
   the credits, Jonathan's silhouette in a billowing trench coat slow motions   
   its way toward the viewer.   
      
   Throughout the entire series, Buffy struggles with integrating the burden of   
   the Slayer's power into her body, mind, and life. "She alone has the power."   
   Of course, she surrounds herself with friends and delegates some of her   
   responsibilities to their willing-yet-not-quite-capable hands. When she and   
   Faith first meet, they agree that being "hot chicks with super powers" is   
   pretty great. It "takes the edge off." However, even subtle differences in   
   their moral fiber move them miles and miles apart in purpose.   
      
   Jonathan, despite his new empathy skills and loads of therapy following his   
   suicide attempt, understands none of this. How could he? He's always been on   
   the outside of the circle, looking in. He sees Buffy and her friends as some   
   sort of golden circle, and her power and likability as the result of being   
   imbued with power. So he casts a spell, creating a demon in the process,   
   allowing him the power and respect he's been lacking his entire life. Power   
   and respect he did not earn. What could go wrong?   
      
   As it turns out, Jonathan's life, magically enhanced by power and respect,   
   doesn't exactly go as planned. There are delightfully funny moments in this   
   episode, like when Buffy and Jonathan are chatting about her relationship   
   with Riley. A fan approaches Jonathan for an autograph. "Sign it to Karen.   
   With a K." Buffy's power is dwarfed by Jonathan's. He's respected by the   
   military. Anya is obsessed with him. Giles owns his swimsuit calendar. Even   
   in a loving relationship with each other, Willow and Tara fawn over magazine   
   photos of him, making a collage on their wall like schoolgirls with crushes.   
   Buffy goes to him for advice. He's a beautiful singer, voiced by Brad Kane,   
   who was the singing voice of Aladdin in the Disney animated film.   
      
   When the chips are down, everyone in town turns to Jonathan for help. He   
   shows up, mugs for the camera, and quips advice, usually delivering it in   
   clever slogans. He charms the people who are compelled by magic to be   
   charmed   
   anyway. To be fair, he is very charming and very clever.   
      
   The problem with the town's dependence on him comes to a head when the   
   demon,   
   created by Jonathan's spell through thaumogenesis (which is explored further   
   in Season 6's "Bargaining, Part 1"), starts attacking people. Buffy figures   
   out something is wrong with Jonathan, and when Jonathan can't fight the   
   demon   
   aspect of himself, Buffy steps up and does the deed. This renders the town   
   free of the spell. Their memories return to normal, and Jonathan is once   
   again just a guy.   
      
   This time, however, he isn't just ignored, he's detested by the town. He's   
   played with their memories. He's wielded enormous power and failed the   
   people   
   he's forced to respect him. He had the power to do great things, but his   
   actions were far from the noble path Buffy's learned to take.   
      
   BUFFY: You get why everyone is angry, though, right? It's not   
   just the monster. People didn't like being the little actors   
   in your sock puppet theater.   
      
   JONATHAN: You weren't! You weren't socks. We were friends.   
      
   BUFFY: Jonathan, you can't keep trying to make everything work   
   out with some big gesture all at once. Things are complicated.   
   They take time and work.   
      
   Time and work. Vital ingredients for the care and maintenance of power, and   
   two things Jonathan neglected in his thirst for glory.   
      
   One hopes that Jonathan learns his lesson, but in Season 6, we'll see   
   Jonathan again playing with powers accessible to magic practitioners. In   
   "Superstar," though, his story shows the viewer just how much time and just   
   how much work Buffy has poured into her calling.   
      
   Showing the Slayer through the lens of a more powerful character like   
   Jonathan's augmented self, we see in stark relief how heroic a figure she   
   really is. She's smarter. She's stronger. She's better. Even without singing   
   talent, even without fame, Buffy's power transcends fisticuffs and monster   
   killing into kindness and compassion for others.   
      
   She is the superstar.   
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           Danny Strong doesn't look particularly impressive, but he has a   
   helluva good imagination.  He has done SO much behind the camera besides   
   actor (Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, Justified, et al ).  Writer (Empire,   
   Hunger Games 1 & 2), producer (Empire, Proven Innocent), director (Empire,   
   Proven Innocent). And too many other credits to list here.   
      
           Many many kudos to Danny!!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)