I get where you live. I have that emotional response to Spike apologies. Canon!Spike, I don't see him as a fluffy guy. The Spike I see is a horrific monster, and that's part of what makes his story compelling and tragic, and ultimately triumphant.

Here's the rub: emotionally it pushes my buttons. Maybe it's a dog in the manger thing? If my Spike can't be a hero, no one's Spike can? But rationally, I can't honestly think what the harm is in choosing to see Spike in another way. A person could legitimately decide that Spike is pretty much all talk and that he's been secretly rescuing people all along. Writers with a capital 'W' retcon things all the time. I'm not sure how retconning with a motivation to make money is somehow more noble than retconning because someone prefers it when the guys they are attracted to are not mass murderers.