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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 9:58:39 GMT 10
Post by Lizzie on Feb 21, 2007 9:58:39 GMT 10
The character of Dawn used to really annoy me. She was whingy and annoying. But I've actually come to feel sorry for her.
Apparently Joss first though of Dawn as a five or six year-old girl that Joyce would adopt. Obviously that became the whole Key storyline, but it's basically an adoption story. How would a young girl react if she found out her family was not her biological family? How would she react if she found out she didn't even really exist? This is going to cause some major issues.
Furthermore, Dawn is abandoned by several parental figures. First, her mother dies. The relationship between Dawn and Joyce was shown as very loving and warm. Dawn becomes desperate to get her mother back - we see that in Forever. Without her mother, she feels so lost that she'll literally try to raise the dead.
Then her sister dies. Dawn's interactions with the BuffyBot are interesting, she clings to it as though it was her own sister. Very sad. Then her sister comes back, and reveals that she didn't want to be back. She's never there for Dawn.
Tara was like an aunt to Dawn. They were the two Scoobies who never quite fitted. When Tara is killed, it's like losing a mother figure all over again.
So really, Dawn has had a pretty crappy life. She's a character I just feel sad for. She's a damaged child who just needs a family, and in season 6, that just doesn't happen. Her character begins to evolve more in season 7, but it's seasons 5/6 that are just terrible for her.
Thoughts?
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 11:44:32 GMT 10
Post by Allan on Feb 21, 2007 11:44:32 GMT 10
Dawn whinged and whined verbatim. I agree that she did have a lot to whine about, but it was very grating.
That said, I think a lot of it is to do with Michelle Trachtenberg's acting. It's probably something that looked great on paper... Than Michelle opened her mouth and it all went to hell.
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 13:22:06 GMT 10
Post by Lizzie on Feb 21, 2007 13:22:06 GMT 10
Disagree about that. I think Michelle Trachtenberg is a good actress.
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 13:30:08 GMT 10
Post by Bre on Feb 21, 2007 13:30:08 GMT 10
I agree w/ Liz, I think she's a good actress. As for the character, I've always been a fan. I could kind of relate to the whole feeling left out of the family thing (but I'm a middle child, she's the youngest ... but I understand her feelings) and I believe her whininess was understandable. I'm too tired right now to go into depth - but I really did love her character.
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 13:30:50 GMT 10
Post by Beck on Feb 21, 2007 13:30:50 GMT 10
Hmmm.... Dawn's part of the topic of the Battle of the sexes debate... (Dawn vs Conner) maybe I should move this and we'll use Liz's post as our opening stance? Any objection Liz, since its your post?
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 13:31:28 GMT 10
Post by Lizzie on Feb 21, 2007 13:31:28 GMT 10
No problem!
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Dawn
Feb 21, 2007 13:32:43 GMT 10
Post by Beck on Feb 21, 2007 13:32:43 GMT 10
OK then I'm going to fork your opening post, and lock this until the debate is over
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Dawn
May 18, 2007 8:54:02 GMT 10
Post by Glenn on May 18, 2007 8:54:02 GMT 10
Well i guess this thread is available again.
It took me way too long to warm to her character. She irked me in season 5, flat out irritated the hell out of me in season 6. And only towards the end of season 7 did i warm to her slightly. However she seems to be a major success in season 8.
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Dawn
May 18, 2007 9:00:45 GMT 10
Post by Kana on May 18, 2007 9:00:45 GMT 10
I think Dawn was somewhat young for her age in a lot of ways although I think the part was intended for a younger atress anyway.
I was reasonably indifferent to Dawn for Seasons 5 and 6 but in 7 I liked her. She had grown. Her actions in Potential were spot on.
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Dawn
May 23, 2007 21:33:59 GMT 10
Post by Beck on May 23, 2007 21:33:59 GMT 10
Dawn annoyed me bigtime in seasons 5 and 6. Buffy and the scoobies were FAR more mature when they were Dawn's age. And her constand whining for attention - go find your own friends! Did she invite Buffy whenever she went out with her friend? No! And seriously, who wants their sister tagging along Season 7 was a much much improved Dawn.
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Dawn
May 23, 2007 23:47:03 GMT 10
Post by Glenn on May 23, 2007 23:47:03 GMT 10
I agree. You don't want your younger sibling going around everywhere with you. Especially when she craves attention all the bloody time. And like you said, Dawn didn't want Buffy to come along if she was going to Janice's. She had a very selfish attitude in the early seasons. The way she reacted to the fact she wasn't in Buffy's hallucination of a mental hospital. "Its your ideal world and im not there". Nearly made me shout out loud in annoyance. If only she had some amazingly attractive guy like me to hang around with she could have left the scoobs alone 36/50
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Dawn
May 24, 2007 0:13:18 GMT 10
Post by Allan on May 24, 2007 0:13:18 GMT 10
I don't know if Dawn was ever intended to be younger, but I think her immaturity is supposed to be juxtaposed by Buffy and her maturity. For better or worse, Joss and co wanted to play Dawn up as the younger sister. I think her character suffered for that.
She was greatly improved in season 7, though. The character was allowed to grow up a bit, and I think this was helped with all the development the character had during the season.
As for season 8, so far, so good.
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Dani
Commoner
<33 Vampire Diaries
Posts - 143
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Joined - July 2007
Jul 11, 2007 0:55:46 GMT 10
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Dawn
Jul 12, 2007 23:39:28 GMT 10
Post by Dani on Jul 12, 2007 23:39:28 GMT 10
I can honestly say I despised Dawn in season 5-6 she was a serious drama queen that craved way to much attention, the fact she couldn't sing to save her life made me rather ill. but all in all I think in the Final season of Buffy she evolved after realizing she was a junior watcher in training, as for Season eight didn't know they made one. unless you mean the comics which I haven't really read.
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Dawn
Jul 12, 2007 23:53:24 GMT 10
Post by shred on Jul 12, 2007 23:53:24 GMT 10
Didn't like Dawn much in season 5 but hated her violently in season 6. Her constant cry for attention in that season was tiring and annoying and irritating and just plain....ARGH!. I mean, we get it already. Geez! I hated her a lot in Older and Far Away. Her "Get out! Get out!" screams were grating! Season 7 helped me lose my hate toward her but she still remained as one of my least favourite characters. Though she got a lot more toleratable in that season. I'm enjoying Giant!Dawn a lot in season 8 though. ;D
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Dawn
Jul 13, 2007 0:12:14 GMT 10
Post by Allan on Jul 13, 2007 0:12:14 GMT 10
I'm loving giant Dawn. It's the first time I've actually liked her as a character. I hated her in 5-6 and couldn't agree more on the "Get out! Get out!", and only midly disliked her in 7.
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Dawn
Jul 13, 2007 0:20:34 GMT 10
Post by shred on Jul 13, 2007 0:20:34 GMT 10
She seems like a different character in season 8 now. It would be interesting to see how she behaves when she returns to her normal size.
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Dawn
Jul 13, 2007 7:35:34 GMT 10
Post by Bre on Jul 13, 2007 7:35:34 GMT 10
I liked her in all seasons, so I don't them to change her character too much in s8, although I do like her so far.
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Dawn
Jul 13, 2007 10:28:16 GMT 10
Post by Beck on Jul 13, 2007 10:28:16 GMT 10
I could vaguely understand some of Dawn's attitude in season 5, though they made her TOO bratty. Come on, she's 14 in season 5 - the same age Buffy was when she became a slayer at Hemery!
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Dawn
Jul 13, 2007 20:46:32 GMT 10
Post by Lizzie on Jul 13, 2007 20:46:32 GMT 10
I don't know if Dawn was ever intended to be younger, but I think her immaturity is supposed to be juxtaposed by Buffy and her maturity. She most definitely was intended to be younger. In fact, the first few episodes were actually written with Dawn at about 12 years old. That explains some of her lines, I think. Agree with you about the juxtaposition of her and Buffy. It really does show their character differences - Buffy could cope with being the chosen one, whereas Dawn was too wrapped up in her life as teenage girl. They're very different, like siblings often are. Dawn becomes a lot stronger as the series progresses.
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