One thing that immediately struck me about “Once More, With Feeling” was the reversal of the meaning behind platitudes, and how generally positive statements were shown to be dark. When Buffy sings, “What can’t we face if we’re together?” it’s not quite as uplifting as it sounds. Because Buffy is stuck feeling hopeless and numb, this lyric represents the monotony of her life rather than an appreciation for the community she’s in. Similarly, Tara’s “I’m under your spell” is at first a happy lyric, and then becomes dark when she realizes the implications of the fact that she is literally under Willow’s spell.
I had not thought much about the connections between “Once More, With Feeling” and The Nutcracker until I started reading other blog posts, but this phenomenon is equally present in The Nutcracker. We discussed at length the differences between the “happy and cute” Christmas ballet and the darker themes of the Hoffman version, and the same dissonance we see in “Once More, With Feeling” is clear here. The story is presented to us as if Marie gets everything she ever wanted, but the audience is left with a lot of questions about how to interpret the actual resolution. An eight-year-old getting married hardly seems like a dream come true, especially given the land that she’s entering. As dreamlike as Marie made Toyland out to be, I thought that the hints of darkness (such as the “pastrycook” scene, as well as the giant with the sweet tooth who demolished a tower of the castle) made it seem like it was teetering on the edge of nightmare.
So what comes next? After reading Katherine’s post, I started thinking about the resolutions of both the episode and the story. The oppositions in both serve to increase the tension, and make us feel uncomfortable about what should happen next (in the case of “Buffy”) or what is actually happening at all (in the case of The Nutcracker). The only difference is that “Buffy” continues and the characters get to work through the issues that “Once More, With Feeling” is about, while The Nutcracker ends without any real sense of resolution. The fact that we get no real sense of what happened in The Nutcracker is the main reason that it is creepy, especially because it is told in such sugary sweet language about how happy and wonderful the ending is.
This is all beside the fact that taking secrets and Buffy’s lack of feeling and broadcasting them in the most emotive and public way possible is just an awesome way for the Scooby gang to realize that they have to deal with their issues.
I definitely agree with the connection between "Once More, With Feeling" and "The Nutcracker", but I was also wondering why the authors used this as a method of approaching the two stories (this method being the lighthearted approach to dark material). I think part of it is that we sometimes need the happy outlook that music provides in order to deal with these very dark and scary situations. Some posts have addressed the concern that it was a cop-out on the part of Buffy to express herself in such a way, but I disagree. I think that the only way that these characters were ever going to be able to deal with these issues was simply by getting them out there and that wasn't ever going to happen by sitting everyone down for a living room conversation by the fireplace. I can absolutely understand the relationship problems that Anya and Xander, Willow and Tara are experiencing and unable to properly deal with. Especially for Anya and Xander, there comes a time in a relationship with anyone when there are things about a person that you dislike, but their other qualities outshine them and you can deal with the aspects that you don't like as much.
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