*NOTE: This was posted on whedonesque's twitter some Fridays ago. I wrote about it in my livejournal and am reposting it here so as to avoid missing days while I am on vacation in Ireland. Hopefully my friends and family won't mind reading it again, but it will be new to any readers not privy to my livejournal.
As viewers of the show are aware, both Angel and Spike want to become Human again. (cue: Disney song) They both posses souls and a certain amount of passion for one blond slayer. Angel has had a chance at being human, in season 1 of Angel, and gave it up for a very specific reason; he can't be a hero if he's human. Being human is very important in the Buffyverse, but not in the way we think it is. All of the main characters in the Buffyverse walk a thin line between being a monster and being human.
Through seven seasons, we see Buffy struggle with her supernatural abilities and her very human life. So we know that one must have a healthy dose of both in order to be a successful slayer. One must have a reason to make the right choices. Faith has major problems because she doesn't have that motivation. She doesn't have the "normal" things that Buffy does and therefore succumbs to the "monster" within. Angel without his soul is simply a monster. Spike, now he's a different story. As I've said before, he and Drusilla have a very different vampire relationship. They "stink of humanity" in that they have the ability to love.
Let's start with defining "human" in terms of the Buffyverse. Human will refer to one's physical state of being and should not be confused with behavior. Being Human means that one does not have a supernatural ability. They do not heal quickly, nor do they possess any inherent martial arts abilities. Of all the characters in BtVS, only two of them are true humans: Xander and Dawn. (Dawn is definitely questionable since she started out a ball of energy and was formed into a human being, but for our purposes she is plain old human.) Giles is not entirely a regular human. We know he dabbled in magic in his past and has some extra abilities. Willow starts out a plain old human until she begins her magic training. Then she becomes a powerful Wicca, capable of destroying the Earth (until her friend appeals to her human side). At several points in the show, Xander is cruelly reminded of his inadequacies and he helps Dawn to deal with her own lack of "specialness." Yet, they are still able to hold their own when fighting with Buffy. They come up with plans and make connections that further the efforts of their supernatural friends. They are also, in many cases, the anchor that keeps their friends tethered to their individual humanity. In other words, just because they don't have super powers it doesn't mean they are completely useless.
Spike and Angel are different from other vampires in the show because they possess a certain amount of humanity. They are, by no means, human but they do feel love and pain as human characters would. They are vital to Buffy's struggle against the Hellmouth in that they have both the desire to stop evil and the means to do it. (Obviously, Spike does not start out helpful but by the end of the series is on par with Angel.) As we learned in "I Will Remember You", Angel is unable to protect Buffy with normal human strength. He is injured and feels useless. No doubt, in time he would have been able to find a niche in her life; some way to help her in the battle. But he knows that being human has tipped the balance in favor of evil and made Buffy's struggle more difficult. She needs warriors as well as friends around her, in order to succeed.
There are obvious reasons why a vampire would like to be Human again.
1) Sunlight. - Angel relishes being in the sun on the rare occasions he is allowed to exist in it. (The Gem of Amarra being one such time, his journey to Pylea being the other.)
2) Food - A vampire with a soul can't really enjoy snacking on humans and must exist on animal blood instead. Hamburgers must seem a lot more appealing.
3) Family - Vampire don't have the ability to father children. When you live forever there's no need for a legacy.
4) Dying - As Darla expressed in Season 2 of Angel, some things were meant to end. As a vampire there isn't much more than a pile of dust when one dies. The soul departed when one became a vampire. So what happens to a vampire that's been en-souled? Certainly after a few centuries there must be something appealing about growing old and dying naturally.
2) Food - A vampire with a soul can't really enjoy snacking on humans and must exist on animal blood instead. Hamburgers must seem a lot more appealing.
3) Family - Vampire don't have the ability to father children. When you live forever there's no need for a legacy.
4) Dying - As Darla expressed in Season 2 of Angel, some things were meant to end. As a vampire there isn't much more than a pile of dust when one dies. The soul departed when one became a vampire. So what happens to a vampire that's been en-souled? Certainly after a few centuries there must be something appealing about growing old and dying naturally.
Plus, I believe there's a certain amount of wanting to be "normal." Having a soul in the body of a vampire can't be easy. To have the knowledge of what you once were and what you are now must be very troubling. A feeling of being "unnatural" must color every part of your life. Which bears mentioning the gay-allegory in vampire mythologies. (Of course, this can also be true for any group of people who are seen as outside the acceptable culture.) The desire to be like everyone else. The feeling that something isn't right, or that one is evil. Wouldn't life be easier if one were like them?
For a Buffyverse Character, I would say this isn't true. Being Human isn't going to make all your troubles go away. The "bad guys" aren't going to leave you alone because you changed, it will simply make you easier to kill. It will have you relegated to minor parts within story-lines and won't get you your own spin-off comic/tv show. Does Xander have his own comic? Would they build an entire series around his character? No. He's an integral part of an ensemble, but not one that would be able to carry his own franchise without developing some sort of special ability.
I don't think either Spike or Angel should attain their heart's desire. For that (being regular humans) would render them uninteresting. There wouldn't be any more to their story, except the humdrum the rest of us deal with. It would be the "happily ever after" of a fairy tale. The thing about life is that there are rarely "happily ever afters." There is always something else, some other obstacle. These obstacles are interesting only to those involved. For a fictional character, this is equivalent to death. We watch the shows and read the comics as a way to escape the mundane as well as to understand ourselves. A fictional character like Spike or Angel has to have larger than life issues in order to reveal a truth about our own. Their struggle to deal with their issues, their internal contradictions, and their hope for something better makes them more human to the audience than a mortal life ever could.
For a Buffyverse Character, I would say this isn't true. Being Human isn't going to make all your troubles go away. The "bad guys" aren't going to leave you alone because you changed, it will simply make you easier to kill. It will have you relegated to minor parts within story-lines and won't get you your own spin-off comic/tv show. Does Xander have his own comic? Would they build an entire series around his character? No. He's an integral part of an ensemble, but not one that would be able to carry his own franchise without developing some sort of special ability.
I don't think either Spike or Angel should attain their heart's desire. For that (being regular humans) would render them uninteresting. There wouldn't be any more to their story, except the humdrum the rest of us deal with. It would be the "happily ever after" of a fairy tale. The thing about life is that there are rarely "happily ever afters." There is always something else, some other obstacle. These obstacles are interesting only to those involved. For a fictional character, this is equivalent to death. We watch the shows and read the comics as a way to escape the mundane as well as to understand ourselves. A fictional character like Spike or Angel has to have larger than life issues in order to reveal a truth about our own. Their struggle to deal with their issues, their internal contradictions, and their hope for something better makes them more human to the audience than a mortal life ever could.
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