Why was Sarah Michelle Gellar known as the 'Duchess'?
POSTED BY: rkwalsh
UPDATED: Thursday, January 22, 2004 07:44
VIEWED: 33796
PAGE 2 of 7
Sorry, didn't mean to imply that I had seen the sequel already. I just was not a fan of the first one at all, so I assume that I would not like the sequel. No interest in it what so ever.
May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.
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There is a danger here. An insensitivity. As fans we must be aware that at best, our knowledge about behind the scenes events is tertiary. Meaning it's gone through at least two other individuals or organizations before it gets to the general public. Such information probably wouldn't be accepted in a court of law, and yet we use it to judge celebrities without a second thought. Now, I'm just as guilty as the next fan in regards to negative comments made about SMG, but perhaps we should give her the benefit of a doubt. The truth is we don't know, and we should realize and preface all our opinions with this mantra. Even fifty years from now when someone produces a quickly forgotten tv movie that tells about the behind the scenes exploits of Whedon and the gang, based on the memoirs of a gracefully aging Emma Caulfield, we won't learn the real truth, just one deeply filtered side of the multifaceted story.
IF SMG behaved as a Diva during her time on BtVS, it is perhaps not forgiveable behavior, but it is understandable. She was proud of her work on that show. She was playing the lead character of a show named after the lead character. It is to her credit that the series survived as an ensemble work. She allowed the limelight to be shared by a great deal many others, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, because she knew it'd only make her look better. There were many times where had she made an appearance publically, at say a convention or whatnot, she would have stolen limelight from others. Whether her real reason was selfish or selfless, it all worked out for the best.
We seem to forget that SMG, like all the players who brought BtVS to life for us, is above all else, human. I'd like to see anyone walk in her shoes for a mile and not feel a bit egocentric about her accomplishments and place in life. What some may call spoiled behavior, another might see more as survival in a spoiled Television City world. Don't hate the playa. Hate the game.
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"Hang on, travelers..."
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I disagree with ZachsMind somewhat. Of course the info we get is likely to be less than perfect, but if similar sentiments come out from several different sources, then I think that's enough for us to form opinions and discuss them.
I also don't agree with the "Television City" absolution. People are responsible for the way they treat others.
I do want to point out that I think she can do some excellent acting. Without which BtVS wouldn't have been nearly as good. That became very obvious to me in season 7 when she seemed to just phone it in and the show suffered greatly for it.
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Didn't mean it as an absolution. Just that, if one is to (pre) judge SMG's behavior, it's not like she's the only diva from TV City.
It's much more believable to assume that all the regular actors in BtVS had been at it for close to a decade and just wanted a break. Even Charisma Carpenter left ultimately. The whys and wherefores have been purposefully left vague, and one can imagine there's cat fights and heated bitter words shot like cannons across some political landscape only M.E. is privy to..
It's equally plausible to surmise that anything made public is done on purpose, and that they want us to think there's ire when truly they just like to see us grabbing at straws and endlessly arguing over the whys and wherefores in forums like this, because it stirs up publicity, or at least it did at one time, and why stop now? I prefer to believe they're having one on us, and quietly chuckle amongst themselves that we even care whether or not SMG sent out Christmas cards to anyone this year, and who she snubbed at the last awards program, et cetera.
I mean, really. DOES it matter? Either way, show's over. My lips are sealed. I take the fifth. Nothing to see, move it along. I'll never tell.
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"Hang on, travelers..."
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Hey, no fair quoting the musical!
Quote:
Originally posted by ZachsMind:
.... My lips are sealed. I take the fifth. Nothing to see, move it along. I'll never tell.
Now my head is filled all the good times I've had thanks to that episode. I can't debate a gorram thing with all these positive emotions going on. That's just cheating.
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Selma Blair, on the other hand, is talented! Anyone who can deliver that much humour with a complete deadpan manner is just incredible. And that 10-paks a day throaty voice (Jaime Pressley as well...)...
Quote:
Originally posted by rkwalsh:
I know people dis her often but i really admire her as an actress. She's quite talented Buffy was an excellent showcase for her and i hope she appreciated it. She and Selma Blair made Cruel INtentions
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Quote:
Originally posted by captaincdc:
From what I have read Sarah and Freddie Gellar are snobs.
Whenever this word is used, I have to smile.
Someone recently informed me that the word derives from French, and was used to describe members of the upcoming and increasing more wealthy bourgeious who attempted to affect the attitudes and behavior of the aristocracy, and getting it horribly wrong.
We've all met people who have "arrived" who are considered, for good reasons, to be the best at their particular profession, job, or goal. And we've also met those who aren't there yet, but are pretending to be, with their excessive self concern, and their rude dismissal of lesser beings.
In the military, its easy to spot the Majors, Lt. Colonels, and Commanders, those who have not made Colonel, or (in the Navy) Captain. The difference in attitude toward enlisted folks is startling.
"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"
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Quote:
Originally posted by ZachsMind:
IF SMG behaved as a Diva during her time on BtVS, it is perhaps not forgiveable behavior, but it is understandable. She was proud of her work on that show. She was playing the lead character of a show named after the lead character. It is to her credit that the series survived as an ensemble work. She allowed the limelight to be shared by a great deal many others, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, because she knew it'd only make her look better. There were many times where had she made an appearance publically, at say a convention or whatnot, she would have stolen limelight from others. Whether her real reason was selfish or selfless, it all worked out for the best.
I have to disagree with you whole-heartedly...
I don't think SMG brought anything special to BtVS.. I can think of a number of actresses that would have played the role better and more convincingly. I only ever watched the show for the rest of the cast, and dreaded the time she was on screen... It seems to me from numerous interviews and articles that she didn't get along too much with Joss, (especially near the end) and I don't think she ever really appriciated what BtVS did for her.
There have been numerous interviews with her and Joss stating she has been asked to do any kind of appearances on Angel now that buffy is no more, and simply put, she's not interested in coming back.... she's moved on with her life.. yes.. on to scooby doo... a terribly written and badly animated 2 film series.. wow.. what a springboard.
The only reason I feel so negativly about the kinds of things she's said and done after Buffy is that I've seen so many more actors retire from a show just as long and be so damn gracious about it. Look at the countless star trek actors who really do appriciate the fans and the show they were on... Hell, look at Firefly.. I know it was only half a season and who knows what the future would have brought.. but there are 9 people.. 9 lives.. 9 personalities.. who are all willing to drop anyhting thing to come back and make a movie.. they have all expressed a wish to return to the show.. this could be because they haven't done it for 7 years.. hell it proly is.. but in my mind these are good actors with great personalities as people. I've been watching Nathan since his fiirst episode on OLTL and he's always been this awesome guy off screen.. funny, nice, humble.. SMG from all the info I have read/seen... not so much...
~~~Robb of Winterfell~~~
~ http://winterfell.org ~
~High Fantasy Heavy Metal~
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Ugh. What a thankless task to defend this woman. I will grant you that the role of Buffy could have been played by any number of actresses, and in fact there was a time when I questioned why they couldn't just drop SMG and go with someone else. One of the predominant reasons why I was late in the game with BtVS was because I found SMGs performance lackluster in those few episodes I caught early on (predominantly the ones with Oz in them, as I thought Seth Green was capable; to do so much with so little). She turned me off from the show. I found her performance little more than that of a daytime soap opera star, phoning home emotions externally and not bringing the audience into the experience of the story.
Even today, there'd be a line of women half a mile long at Joss Whedon's door if he announced a reprisal of the series with an all new cast, and they'd all wanna play Buffy. SMG is painlessly replaceable and she was painlessly replaceable a decade ago, excepting of course for something Joss Whedon has shown repeatedly: loyalty.
(The following was added in edit format as an afterthought)
"It seems to me from numerous interviews and articles that she didn't get along too much with Joss..."
THIS IS WHAT I'M ARGUING AGAINST. Not whether or not SMG was brutal or 'a duchess' but that we don't know. Everything we get is scant and questionable information at best. You assume everything you read from the press to be true? That's idealism. No, it's not idealism. It's ignorant arrogance, the very thing some of you are accusing of Gellar. I have never met SMG personally, nor do I wish to ever meet her. I suspect anyone who reads these words has never met her personally, certainly not in any meaningful way that would indicate one actually knows her on a personal level.
We can't jump to conclusions. As fans of the series it is diminishing to be hateful or spiteful towards any person who brought one of Whedon's works to life. And isn't this supposed to be a Firefly forum? Why use this place to bash Gellar? What's she done? She breathed life into a character who under Swanson's efforts would have fallen into oblique obscurity. Gellar did something right. She should be commended, not showered upon by the groundlings.
(end afterthought)
Judge not lest ye be judged. We can sit on our high and mighty pedestals of armchair quarterbackdom, wielding our remote control sceptres and claiming that we'd have done it all differently. We are not Joss. Nor would anyone in their right mind wish to walk in his shoes. Yet metaphorically we must. He had his reasons. He obviously does not wish ill on her. He jokes now and then but certainly the people at Mutant Enemy would be upset if their fan base were this petty and superficial, as to kick at Gellar when she's down.
There's also the karma factor. Whatever she deserves, good or ill, will come in its own time. Don't like her? Don't support her future efforts. I for one have no interest in Scooby Doo 2, The Grudge, or Romantic Comedy, although I am happy for her that she can still find work after Buffy. I don't wish her ill, but except for a few impressive, scatterd moments in BtVS seasons five and six I wasn't moved by her performances as Buffy, so I'm not inclined to blindly follow her in whatever future efforts she portrays.
And maybe that's why SMG doesn't put a lot of stock in the fans of BtVS, because not all of us put a lot of stock in her. If the fanbase for a series named after my character found me to be the weakest link, I'd want off the island at the earliest opportunity too.
SMG's attitude may be, "let them watch reality game shows" much in the same way Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake." But then, there's no evidence Marie Antoinette actually said that bit about the cake. Yet everyone believes she did.
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_334.html
Funny how a lack of evidence can make people believe in anything.
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"Hang on, travelers..."
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Zachsmind,
I appreciate your contributions to this (to me) tiresome, seemingly never-ending discussion of whether SMG is evil or not. Her talent and portrayal of Buffy is definitely up for discussion and evaluation, but honestly, unless you were a member of the BtVS cast or crew, what the heck can you really say with any authority about her as a person? It's all speculation. Gossip and rumors repeated and spread around on websites and crappy newspapers ain't necessarily the truth. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Who's to know for sure? And, as you rightly point out, even if you were someone close to the set, whether someone is evil or nasty or whatever is your own subjective opinion.
I am not a SMG fan. I suspect that where there's smoke, there's fire -- so many hints of strained relations between SMG and at least some of the BtVS cast/crew towards the end of the series probably means that at least at some point, things got strained. But when? Why? How? To complicate the situation you hear also really good things late in the series about SMG as a person from various actors -- James Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg, David Boreanaz (until his most recent statement to TV Guide, revealing his frustration that she won't make an appearance on Angel this season), and D.B. Woodside. Joss himself said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he and Sarah had gone through periods when they'd been friends and when they hadn't gotten along. To me, anyway, this makes it a bit more complex of a situation than a straight-ahead, simplistic "SMG is an out-and-out bitch" theory. Sure, she may have been a total bitch at times or all the time. But unless you've got some sort of real insider evidence, how can you say for sure? And perhaps more importantly, what's the point of saying it?
This is a discussion board so people will and should discuss anything they want to. Go for it. For my part, I'll say that I think Zachsmind best captures what I'm thinking.
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