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The way I see it is this. JM is the only one who knows what he's thinking about when he plays Spike. He's the only one who knows that his mind is chanting, "I'm evil, I'm bad" as he reads a line or makes a gesture. In that sense, he is the ultimate authority on what goes into Spike.
However, he's not acting facing a mirror so he can't see what comes out. That's our job. So when we look at that gesture, or hear that line and thing, "I see a heartbreaking vulnerability and a slowly burning spark of humanity" we're equally correct. A thousand viewers, a thousand interpretations of course.
So although I was annoyed by what has been reported about his words as my initial reaction, I'm not so much now. It might seem arrogant of me, but JM doesn't know Spike any better than I do, than any of us do. He's never seen him objectively. How can he?
Moving onto a less theoretical plane, does JM actually watch the episodes? Does he watch them over and over, and spend hours analysing them online and off? Does he read books, articles and such about the show? Because if all he does is act in it, saying lines in a jumbled up sequence, only seeing the bits his character is in then can he really get the big picture?
But he has my gratitude for his part in creating a character I love and my respect for his acting. Even if he's totally wrong about Spike ;-)
However, he's not acting facing a mirror so he can't see what comes out. That's our job. So when we look at that gesture, or hear that line and thing, "I see a heartbreaking vulnerability and a slowly burning spark of humanity" we're equally correct. A thousand viewers, a thousand interpretations of course.
So although I was annoyed by what has been reported about his words as my initial reaction, I'm not so much now. It might seem arrogant of me, but JM doesn't know Spike any better than I do, than any of us do. He's never seen him objectively. How can he?
Moving onto a less theoretical plane, does JM actually watch the episodes? Does he watch them over and over, and spend hours analysing them online and off? Does he read books, articles and such about the show? Because if all he does is act in it, saying lines in a jumbled up sequence, only seeing the bits his character is in then can he really get the big picture?
But he has my gratitude for his part in creating a character I love and my respect for his acting. Even if he's totally wrong about Spike ;-)