...don't want anybody to be influenced by Xena's message of freedom. It's like they don't want their Gabrielles to be influenced by Xena...
There is also a question in some people's minds about the violence of the show(s). While there may be debates about why,
7TH HEAVEN had an episode where the youngest daughter, Ruthie, got in trouble at school for playing "Xena" in the school playground, complete with the war-cry and pretend sword.
In the Xena series, Gabrielle was always against killing, but had few objections to fighting using her wooden staff, and even a sword for defense and as a club - not a killing weapon. On the other hand, she orders *her* (Xena's) army into battle against the Romans, complete with killings. This was in the episode broadcast on Saturday Feb 27, with Xena tricking Ceasar's and Pompi's armies into fighting each other, and exterminating both armies. The Greek former soldier that helped Xena and Gabrielle was killed in the battle, and might have been saved by Gabrielle, if she had killed one of the Roman commanders with a javelin she picked up from the battlefield. She debated whether to do it, and did throw the javelin, but it did not hit the commander, just harmlessly stuck in the ground. It was not clear if she threw it in frustration knowing that the only way to save her new friend and ally was to kill someone, and deliberately missed. The commander killed her friend, and seconds later was struck down by an archer's arrow, and it is shown that a young man/boy fired that arrow, and this was the youngster Xena had tried to keep out of the fighting.
So, there is the obvious question put to the audience...
Is killing ever justified, even to save another person's life? (i.e. Did Gabrielle "miss" out of frustration or because she was conflicted, or, was she unable to make her throw hit the commander?)
A secondary question is whether there is any real difference between personally killing, and ordering someone else to kill?
Do *you* think Xena would have hesitated if the javelin was the only way to save her friend's life?
(IMHO, probably not in that situation.)
(Yeah, yeah, Xena **might have** thrown the blunt end and knocked the guy down instead, but Gabrielle didn't try that either... just sayin'.)
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