Can't even shout, can't even cry...

[conuly]

The Gentlemen are coming by
Looking in windows, knocking at doors
They need to take seven and they might take yours
Can't call to mom, can't say a word
You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard...

Is it bad that I have this stuck in my head now? I've been singing it off and on all day. I love that episode.

Question. Are the gentlemen really fairy tale creatures, or did Giles just make that part up?

Comments

[katschakai.livejournal.com]

Do you mean: Giles made it up within the show, or do you mean that the write's made it up? Cause in the show they are real fairytale monsters but I don't think there are any real fairytale monsters called that

[conuly]

Writers, of course.

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the episode so I may have no clue what's being talked about, but the only fairy-tale-type reference I could come up with was the men in grey from Michael Ende's Momo and it's been so long since I've read that that it may be a big stretch. (But if you haven't read it, read it.)

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

The writers often made up the monsters because they had so many to create, and because if they used real mythological type monsters, they feared doing the creatures injustice, or pissing off fans for changing the character to fit the storyline or whatever.

The monsters Buffy battles always reflect whatever she's dealing with. For example, in Hush, she wanted to tell Riley that she was the slayer, only she couldn't. He wanted to tell her he was in the Initiative, but couldn't. Thus, we have the Gentlemen who make it so NO one can speak & Buffy has to deal with that. I loved how at the end of the episode, she and Riley said, "I think we should talk," only neither of them spoke. They had the ability, yet still didn't know what to say.

In Band Candy, to use another example, Buffy wanted to illustrate that she was mature enough to handle certain things, and she wanted to be taken seriously. So, all the adults around her ate the tainted candy and became like teenagers, causing Buffy to prove her mettle in a more 'grown up,' role reversal sort of way.

It would be too difficult to have that kind of theme going with every episode if the writers used 'real' monsters.