From: mjchappell@news.eternal-september.org   
      
   On Thu, 21 May 2020 16:46:15 -0400,   
   David  wrote:   
   >   
   >  https://screenrant.com/buffy-vampire-slayer-dawn-summers-worst-things/   
   >   
   >  Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Worst Things Dawn Did   
   >   
   >  Dawn Summers was the bratty little sister to Buffy - and she did some   
   >  terrible things in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.   
   >   
   >  BY CHRISTINA HAUBEIL   
   >   
   >  Dawn Summers is the younger sister to Buffy Summers in Buffy The   
   >  Vampire Slayer, but she wasn't always flesh and blood human girl. She   
   >  was mystical energy referred to as "the key" manifested by a group of   
   >  monks into Dawn so that Buffy would do whatever necessary to protect   
   >  her. As "they key," Dawn's blood can open other dimensions and so she   
   >  is coveted by the demon goddess Glory in season 5. Prior to that in   
   >  the show's timeline, Dawn didn't exist.  She just shows up and all of   
   >  a sudden Buffy has a sister.   
   >   
   >  Fans weren't exactly thrilled at this development and Dawn's   
   >  character arcs over time weren't well received. From her schoolgirl   
   >  crush on Xander to her general teenage angst and her on and off   
   >  loathing of Buffy, Dawn's character gets worse and worse as the   
   >  seasons progress.   
      
   Not much of a Dawn fan, but...   
      
   >  10 Dawn's Teen Angst Pales In Comparison To The Troubles Of Buffy And   
   >  The Gang   
   >   
   >  From the moment Dawn appears, she participates in the entire spectrum   
   >  of teen angst. She writes angrily in her diary, sends evil eye looks   
   >  to Buffy and her friends behind their backs, whines to Joyce about   
   >  everything, and acts up in school.  Dawn's angst only gets worse as   
   >  she finds out that she's different, discovers that she's the Key,   
   >  loses her mother, and has all kinds of big things to work   
   >  through. She matures slowly, if at all, and it does her character   
   >  development no favors.   
      
   Sounds fairly typical of sibling behavior (except for reference to the   
   key and loss of her mother.)   
      
   >  9 Her Reckless Behavior Caused Many Dangerous Situations   
   >   
   >  Like many teens her age, Dawn believes herself to be invincible. She   
   >  runs away, taunts monsters, sneaks out to hang with boys, and goes to   
   >  Spike's crypt looking for scary stories. With Buffy's life being what   
   >  it is, especially after Buffy and Dawn's mother Joyce dies, the gang   
   >  seems to spend an awful lot of time cleaning up Dawn's mistakes,   
   >  trying to find her, and rescuing her from things that could have been   
   >  avoided.   
      
   Taunting monsters might have been a bit dumb.  The rest pretty normal.   
   Children do need to reach a certain level of maturity before they start   
   worrying about how their actions affect their parents lives not just   
   their own.   
      
   >  8 Dawn Blamed Herself For The Entire Glory Problem   
   >   
   >  After discovering that she is the key, Dawn's behavior becomes   
   >  increasingly troubled. She cuts herself and asks if what she sees is   
   >  really blood. She burns all of her diaries. She blames herself for   
   >  Tara's brain being sucked out by Glory and for Spike being tortured   
   >  for information about Dawn being the key. She calls herself "a   
   >  lightning rod for pain." In the end, she resigns herself to being a   
   >  sacrifice but lets Buffy jump into the void instead.   
      
   The cutting was stupid, and so was burning the diaries in the house.   
   Children blame themselves for lots of things they have no or very   
   limited control over.   
      
   Most people aren't wired to sacrifice themselves, and Buffy really   
   wasn't arguing with Dawn on who was going to jump.   
      
   >  7 The Inflated Sense Of Self Importance   
   >   
   >  In Dawn's debut episode, her ominous last lines of inner monologue   
   >  are all about how Buffy underestimates her. This is before she finds   
   >  out that she's The Key. It goes along with the typical teenager   
   >  attitude but at the same time, her inflated sense of self-importance   
   >  is part of what keeps getting her into trouble. She thinks she can   
   >  handle anything and doesn't understand why she's not allowed to be   
   >  just like Buffy. This is an ongoing theme through the last season   
   >  when she believes she could be a potential slayer, and just becomes   
   >  more pronounced up to that point.   
   >   
   >                      [the typical teenager attitude .... the typical   
   >  teenager attitude ]   
      
   Sounds like a typical teenager to me.   
      
   >  6 Her Shoplifting Phase   
   >   
   >  Dawn lifts things off her friends, stores around town, and even from   
   >  The Magic Box, the store owned by Giles and frequented by the gang -   
   >  a habit that develops over the course of the show. She takes no   
   >  consideration for how important or sentimental each item might be and   
   >  she doesn't steal things because she needs them. She admits later on   
   >  that she even stole one of Buffy's birthday presents instead of   
   >  purchasing it.   
   >   
   >                  [the typical teenager attitude  ]   
      
   Everyone except Tara and occasionally Willow appeared to sideline and   
   ignore her.  She could have become simply emotionally screwed up,   
   started drinking, doing drugs, etc.  She succumbed to kleptomania   
   instead.  I'll agree this was a bad choice that caused her problems down   
   the road.   
      
   >  5 Taking Buffy Completely For Granted As A Parent   
   >   
   >  After Joyce dies, Buffy takes on the role of parent to Dawn. Before   
   >  long, the school is worried and Dawn's behavior leads to the   
   >  near-removal of Dawn from their household. Dawn doesn't seem to care   
   >  until the dire situation is revealed.  She frequently lets Buffy know   
   >  that she's not Joyce. Buffy takes a job at a fast-food restaurant and   
   >  works long hours to make ends meet but Dawn complains about the food   
   >  and often goes off with her friends, despite Buffy's hard work.   
   >   
   >                  [the typical teenager attitude ]   
      
   Children never take parents for granted?  Many of them do.  I don't   
   believe Dawn was ever portrayed as a mind-reader.  Her attitude always   
   struck me as I'll get what I want, or someone will pay attention.   
      
   >  4 Almost Married The Demon Sweet   
   >   
   >  In Season 6, Xander accidentally summoned Sweet via a talisman he   
   >  believes will bring more merriment and happy dancing to his upcoming   
   >  wedding.   
      
   In story, he was using it to make sure they got a happy ending and he   
   thought the talisman would result in merriment and happy dancing upon   
   use.  There was no indication that he expected this to supplement the   
   ceremony in any way.   
      
   >  Dawn, in her kleptomania phase, steals the talisman and leads the   
   >  demon to believe that she was the one who summoned him. He entices   
   >  her to follow him to his hell dimension as his bride and in her cloud   
   >  of teen angst, she almost goes with him [NO SHE DIDN'T!!]  - or would   
   >  have been forced to, if she didn't admit that she stole the talisman,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)