Angel Raped Buffy, Spike only tried
POSTED BY: FURYFIRE
UPDATED: Saturday, July 24, 2004 20:07
VIEWED: 35067
PAGE 4 of 9
Agreed.
This is legal semantics and Morality and Legality are different.
No matter how you phrase it, this whole argument undermines the sanctity of a person's body and the horrifying nature of rape.
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Maybe if you DID vote, the people in office (and making the laws) would be on your side. In a representative government, they can't represent you if they don't know how you feel. vote vote vote vote vote vote. One more time. vote. okay, two. vote! no, really, vote. Did I mention you should vote? And in between, call your representatives and tell them how you feel. And then vote.
Sorry for the rant. On the inane (yet amusing) argument that is this thread, I have one thing to add. Is Angel dead? Technically, vampires are called the 'undead,' yes? 'un' being a prefix meaning 'not' as in uninterrupted, or undisputed. So, philologically speaking, Angel is not-dead. Just a thought
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Simmer.
We're takling legal issues here. Angel is immortalized as a 25 year old and had sex with a 17 year old girl. Under 18, a mionr, you are a child. We're talking a dark and tall evil 25 year old man having sex with children. Kay, I'm stretching it, but yah, Spike was raping Buffy, Angel and Buffy both consented to having sex with each other but legally it is rape and that's undeniable. This topic was just to point out something I had noticed, and to stir some feathers. Don't get worked up. Rape is a serious issue, but sex with a minor with consent is "rape" to some people which is why I mentioned it. Simmers.
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ooookay.. finally it all makes sense now, as to why this whole thread refuses to die...
You've got your definition of rape in the wrong sense.
rape- The crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse
What you are suggesting, sex with a minor is pedophilia / corruption of a minor. Because Buffy fully understood her actions, and gave consent to them, its not rape.
The only time when rape would be considered, regardless of consent, would be if the raped individual did not fully understand the situation, such as from a seriously underaged individual, or from a person with a mental limitations (retardation, medical states, etc)
However, Buffy's legal guardians could very well press charges for pedophilia as Buffy was then a minor.
LOTV: Ima-who-whata-whoichy-whoda-whazza--huh?
Garapagosu Last Update: 6/24/03
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Quote:
Originally posted by zeke023:
Agreed.
This is legal semantics and Morality and Legality are different.
You're saying there's a difference between what's legal and what's right? Hmmm... I know a couple of other folks who have made similar distinctions.
"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"
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Vampires are not incuded in the legal system. If the authorities ever caught Angel, appearing as a 25 year old, who had sex with a 17 year old, he would be arrested if Joyce were to press charges. He would be tried and convicted. Nothing in the legal system speaks of vampires, he'd be imprisoned noetheless. Look at how many times that the poilce have fired guns at Angel, they don't understand. They'd arrest him under the normal law and never understand the difference. Angel's excuse that he's the living dead won't bode over well.
If you know anyone that can help my screenwriting career, please help! And yes, I am self-advertising here. Hehehe, me such a little devil.
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This is kinda a silly argument, but what the heck.
You mention Joyce pressing charges, and that is key. If she don't, then it is a rare prosecutor who will go ahead and press anyway, regardless of the technical matters concerned. Statutory rape, when the victim is 17, and willingly consented, is tough to convict on. And with the defendent an apparent 25 year old male, its not that good.
Think about it for a second. Yes, technically it is a violation of the law. But you go to trial, and this 17 year old girl starts talking about how she is in love, appearing mature, and not seduced. You have the defendent, who appears about her age.
Plus, if they ever get to telling the tale of the entire ordeal, the defeating the boxed demon that Spike and Drusila brought in, how Angel turned into an evil vampire, instead of a good one, how the statue was destroying the world, and how Buffy ran Angel through with a sword to prevent the world from ending, well, what do you think the DA would do?
Either lock them up as complete loonies, or kick them out of the office for wasting his time. No DA would waste the court's time or his own reputation going after him on this issue.
In technical terms, Angel committed statutory rape of a 17 year old girl. He is also guilty of murder, torture and a whole lot of poor behavior that would be legally actionable. Statutory rape of a consenting 17 year old is the least of his crimes. And it is highly doubtful that a DA would even pursue it.
Besides which, Joyce is dead, Buffy is over 21 now, and she is no longer in the country last we heard. Neither the victim nor the defendent are going to press charges, so, in practical effect, there is no crime.
"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"
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I don't know how anyone an defend a rapist
If you know anyone that can help my screenwriting career, please help! And yes, I am self-advertising here. Hehehe, me such a little devil.
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I thought it was said above that when the episode was filmed, the legal age in California was 17. Soooo technically, Angel isn't a rapist, statutory or otherwise.
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Actually, the arguments are flawed because the term "rape" isn't even used in the legal system anymore. I've worked in a prison. The term is Criminal Sexual Conduct.
Under strictly legal terms, what Angel did would be considered Statutory CSC and what Spike did was Attempted CSC III.
I'm probably one of the biggest Spike fans around, but I still know CSC when I see it. I also know pederasty, too. (Pederasty is when an adult has a romantic/sexual relationship with a teen rather than pedaphilia which is with a child) A man hiding in the bushes and "falling in love" with a girl eating a lollipop just makes my skin crawl.
--Kala
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