It is bad enough in the original, but the majority of fan fiction tries to top the Joxer bashing, usually thru actions and words of Xena and Gabrielle. The show not getting it right does leave an opportunity for improvement, but that is not the objection – using the heroines to do so is.
Tearing down takes no effort; building up is hard work. Joxer earns the initial reception of mockery by blindly charging in and demanding a duel with Xena. In a way it helps to think of it as an initiation: once over and done, he becomes a welcome friend. There is no mean edge to the humor – okay, maybe from Xena. Still, give the Warrior Princess a break for the fleas are eating her alive; grumpy does not begin to describe her foul mood.
“The bell does toll for him that thinks it does; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that this occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God.”
Note: substitute God for Higher Power or whatever floats your belief boat.
The prior blog discussion of John Donne and the meaning behind the passage does fit the final version. Joxer’s waste of given life on trivial, empty pursuits screeches to an abrupt halt in presence of Xena and Gabrielle. He acknowledges the new path and works with the rest of the team to achieve common goals. No longer alone, but part of something larger, he finds a purpose.
The titular bell rings for us all. Don’t stand there, pretending confusion, expecting someone else to lay claim. The bell tolls for you. Come; belong. Discuss in FORUMS.
