Joss Whedon

Why cast a spotlight on Joss Whedon? What is it about the body of work that he has to some degree overseen that warrants PopMatters publishing nearly 60 essays and interviews over a five-week period? Why do so many people care so deeply about his television series, comics, movies, and Internet musicals?

Whedon’s influence on pop culture has been so deep and wide-ranging it is hard to realize that we are only 14 years removed from the debut of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the fledgling WB network. The WB is long gone at this point, as is UPN, where Buffy found a home after the WB threatened to kill the show after a dispute over money, but Buffy continues to obsess and delight fans to a degree granted only a handful of shows.

Lest one try to marginalize the show by assigning it “Cult TV” status, one should also keep in mind that Buffy remains the most intensely studied television series by television critics and scholars in the history of television. Unlike many other series targeted by TV scholars, such as the shows making up theStar Trek franchise, studies of Buffy are almost entirely textual analyses of the show’s content and rarely tangential studies of the show’s fandom. People remain primarily concerned with what Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse have to say about culture almost to the complete exclusion of questions about who watches these shows or why.

Writing was almost literally in Joseph Hill Whedon’s blood (he later morphed his first name into “Joss”). While his mother was an active feminist, his father Tom was a television writer, working on series like Benson, The Golden Girls, and Electric Company. Joss’s grandfather was also a television writer, causing his grandson to assert that he was the first third-generation television writer. Grandfather John wrote for such famous ‘50s and ‘60s shows as The Donna Reed Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Andy Griffith Show. His brothers Jed and Zack followed in the family tradition, and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen (the self-described “Asian Whedon”) is also a TV writer.

Although Joss Whedon had a more than a minor impact on popular culture prior to Buffy—through his writing on Roseanne, screenplays for Titan A.E. , Toy Story (netting an Oscar nomination for best screenplay), Alien Resurrection, and (perhaps most famously) the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and for his work as a script doctor on films like Speed, Twister, and Waterworld—his real impact came with television. The success of Buffy created the demand for the spinoff Angel and created the opportunity for the space Western Firefly, which although it was quickly cancelled by Fox when it failed to be the hit replacement for The X-Files that they expected it to be, went on to be one of the most loved series ever. Due to remarkably strong DVD sales, Firefly was continued in a feature film, which while not a box office success (though it as well has gone on to be a consistent seller DVD and Blu-ray releases, so that the film has turned a substantial profit for the Universal), has grown in critical regard and today persistently makes lists of the best SF movies ever made.

After the cancellation of Angel by the WB and the box office failure of Serenity, Whedon turned to comics, no doubt because it gave him a degree of freedom that work on television and film, both of which are collaborative efforts in which networks and studios exercised constant veto power, had denied him. While still working in TV he had produced the critically acclaimed comic Fray, a story of a vampire slayer in the future, while his later work with John Cassaday on Astonishing X-Men resulted in one of the more celebrated superhero stories of recent years and created the Kitty Pryde story. He later took over from Brian K. Vaughan on Runaways, a comic that itself had been deeply influenced by Buffy.

Joss then embarked on one of this most ambitious comic book projects, working with the Dark Horse label to continue Buffy’s story by producing Season Eight in comic book form. Although there have been countless comic book continuances of movies and television series, having new and canonical versions of series was practically unheard of at the time (since then others have done so as well, such as Rockne O’Bannon writing Farscape stories; Bryan Fuller hopes to continue his late lamented series Pushing Daisies as a comic). Whedon has continued other comics as well, having done prequels to Serenity and picked up from the end of Angel Season Five in the IDW comic Angel: After the Fall.

Whedon returned to television in the flawed but often brilliant Dollhouse, a series that did not get much of a viewership—not least because Fox put it in its notorious Friday Night Death Slot—but did evolve into a fascinating series that showed enormous potential. Like Firefly, it may in the long run prove to have been a series that was a bit too far ahead of the curve.

Immediately after the announcement by Fox of the greenlighting of Dollhouse, Hollywood was hit by a strike by the Screen Writers Guild. During the strike Whedon conceived of writing a direct-to-internet musical, which he proceeded to write with members of his family, including Zack, Jed, and Maurissa Tancharoen. The musical, taking the form of an Internet video blog, was Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and starred Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, a would-be member of the Evil League of Evil, though in fact a bit of a moral anarchist trying to cause the downfall of the capitalist system. Vying with his arch nemesis Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) for the affections of Penny (Felicia Day), the musical was released for free on three consecutive days in July 2008, and later sold via iTunes and on DVD/Blu-ray (with a truly funny musical cast commentary) in an attempt to make back production costs and put a little money in the pockets of the people who made it.

Dr. Horrible is in many ways the most unique and perhaps in the long-run the most important of Whedon’s achievements. It was widely regarded as the first great thing produced directly for the Internet and the way the participants self-funded the project could provide a template for other producers of scripted content who want to work around the studio system. The entertainment industry didn’t quite know how to categorize the musical. The American Film Institute dubbed it one of “Eight Moments of Significance” of 2008, while it won an Emmy despite never having appeared on TV (though when Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Emmys, he and his fellow Dr. Horrible cast members did a short reprisal of their roles onstage). But what Dr. Horrible showed was that it was possible to produce exceptionally fine direct-to-Internet content without the help of the studio system.

In the future, the Internet could well be where Whedon does much of his work. He had announced intentions to do so but Dollhouse and film projects intervened. It will be surprising if Dr. Horrible, or even the highly anticipated sequel to Dr. Horrible, is the last Internet production in which Whedon is involved. Many have yearned for an Internet that provides a platform for innovative and experimental content that is not limited by the lowest-common-denominator mentality that afflicts so much Hollywood thinking. There have been some excellent ongoing Internet series, not least The Guild, the superb series starring, created, and written by Dr. Horrible’s female lead, Felicia Day. But the sense remains that there is untapped potential there. Whedon could well be the person to tap it.

But before he gets back to the Internet, Joss Whedon has some movies to make or release. Whedon and former Buffy and Angel writer Drew Goddard (who later gained acclaim writing for Lost and for writing the script for Cloverfield, but who also managed a cameo in Dr. Horrible as Evil League of Evil member “Fake Thomas Jefferson”) wrote the script for Cabin in the Woods, which Whedon produced and Goddard directed. Although the film—which stars Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, and Chris Hemsworth (who will be reunited with Whedon, playing Thor in The Avengers) was in the can, MGM decided to delay the release in order to convert it to 3D. Meanwhile MGM experienced a complete financial meltdown and the release was delayed indefinitely. With MGM having finally worked through its financial woes, it is possible that Cabin in the Woods will finally be given a release date, hopefully for some time in 2011.

If there is a significant delay in Whedon fulfilling his Internet dreams, it will be because of the biggest project of his career. In the spring of 2010 rumors began circulating that Joss Whedon was being tapped to direct what many anticipated as being the most ambitious superhero film of all time, Marvel’s The Avengers, the film to which the two Iron Man movies, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger were all building. The Avengers, slated for a May 2012 release, will expose Whedon to a larger audience than anything else in his career.

For the next five weeks the essays and interviews in this Spotlight on Joss Whedon will cover in detail all of the TV series, comic, and movies that have been outlined here. Some of the essays will examine themes in particular shows, while others will trace ideas that cut across all of his work. Some essays will explore specific characters in detail, while others will ask what his work has meant for the depiction of gender or heroism or sexuality. Other writers will examine specific episodes in especial detail, while others will look at how his work interacts with studios and the power of fandom. Meanwhile “Joss Whedon 101” essays serve as introductions to all of Whedon’s best known productions and even many of his minor ones, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer all the way down to his one-shot comic Sugarshock. We will also feature in depth interviews with prominent figures from the Whedonverse.

Why do his shows resonate so strongly with his viewers? And indeed, his shows do seem to matter to people a bit more than those of others, which was Whedon’s explicit intention. He has said that he would rather have 100 viewers who “had” to watch one of his shows than 1,000 who “liked” to watch. What are the qualities that have made viewing his shows or reading his comics so compulsory?

Answering the last question adequately would require at least a book-length reply, and even in a short essay a dozen or so possible answers are possible. Hopefully the essays comprising our Spotlight on Joss Whedon will over the the next five weeks provide many answers to this question, but let me focus on just three. 1. Joss Whedon Likes What We Like

In a recent interview SF writer China Miéville explained why he disliked J. J. Abrams projects like Cloverfield and Star Trek:

“I think part of my problem is that I feel like the relationship between J.J. Abrams’ projects and geek culture is one of relatively unloving repackaging—sort of cynical. I taste contempt in the air. Now I’m not a child—I know that all big sci-fi projects are suffused with the contempt of big money for its own target audience. But there’s something about [JJ’s projects] that makes me particularly uncomfortable. As compared to somebody like Joss Whedon, who—even when there are misfires—I feel likes me and loves me and is on some cultural level my brother and comrade.”

Without passing judgment on J. J. Abrams [for my part I suspect that he cares for SF and fantasy more than Miéville imagines; after all he has continually returned to action, SF, and fantasy genres, and even Felicity—a show grounded in everyday reality if any is—featured an alternative reality segment], there is no question that Joss Whedon is not merely a TV creator and writer: he is a fan. He has frequently expressed his love for other TV series, such as Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica, appearing in a guest cameo in the former and allegedly being invited to direct an episode of the latter, though work on the Dollhouse Pilot prevented his involvement. He writes comic books as an insider, and his shows are littered with references to other TV series, movies, books, and comic books.

Many TV series name check movies, TV series, and comics, but all too frequently with the unloving care that Miéville detects. Not Whedon. His shows are filled with geeks and nerds, and even when their obsessions are treated humorously, it is done so with a degree of affection. Take the Season Six episode of Buffy where Spike goes to Warren and his fellow geek villains to have him check to see if the chip the Initiative implanted in spike’s skull was still working. Warren resists and Spike, unable to hurt Warren or his friends because of the chip, picks up a figurine of the Star Wars character Boba Fett and threatens to decapitate him if he won’t help. Warren and the others react as passionately as if a gun had been pointed at a baby’s head, considering Spike a monster obviously capable of any atrocity.

To the degree that he is able—given network and studio interference—Whedon tells the stories he does because he belongs to his target audience. Miéville’s criticism of Abrams is grounded in the fact that he believes Abrams is not himself a member of his target audience and that therefore his movies and shows are imbued with a degree of condescension and even cynicism. Whether this is true of Abrams, it is true that too many SF series and movies feel like they were made by people who look down on those they hope will buy tickets to see their films or tune in on their TVs..

This is one reason why the announcement of Whedon’s appointment to direct The Avengers was greeted with such enthusiasm: he not only likes comics but writes them. One senses a deep affection for these characters on the part of Whedon and the well justified hope is that he will produce a film that will not just have a mass appeal, a film that will be loved by average filmgoers intent on seeing the latest blockbuster, but will have credibility for have hardcore comics fans who grown up reading about Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, and Black Widow.

Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Fray, Amazing X-Men, and Dr. Horrible were all made by a SF and fantasy insider for people who enjoy SF and fantasy stories. And while he has directed memorable episodes of other shows, such as especially fine episodes of The Office and Glee, the kinds of genre shows he has excelled in represent a kind of home base for him.

2. Joss Whedon Thinks We are Smart Most TV writers assume that their viewers are idiots, or at least not terribly intelligent. The mass of series are invariably targeted at the lowest common denominator and series and only rarely demand that the viewer pay close attention to what is going on. Whedon, on the other hand, credits his viewers with a high degree of intelligence and assumes that they are capable of absorbing a considerable degree of detail. He assumes a high level of literacy on the part of viewers, such as making nods to highbrow films and movies. For instance, in the Season Four Buffy episode “Goodbye Iowa,” the Cyborg Adam encounters a young boy in a scene that is supposed to remind viewers of a comparable scene in James Whales’s original Frankenstein (1931), in which the Monster meets a little girl as he first goes out in the world.

Or take the Season Six episode “Older and Far Away”, in which all the guests are unable to leave Buffy’s birthday party after Dawn made an unfortunate wish to the vengeance demon Halfrek that people stop leaving. As a result no one is able to leave the Summers’ residence, upon reaching the door finding themselves unable to go further. Students of Luis Buñuel will recognize it as the central plot device in his great 1962 film The Exterminating Angel, and the conceit is used in precisely the same way. In both film and TV episode there is no discernable physical barrier, but a mental, psychological one that prohibits them from leaving. Knowing the Buñuel film is no hindrance to enjoying the Buffy episode, but it adds to the fun.

Sometimes the writing requires more than a little knowledge to make sense. When Oz is captured by the Initiative in Season Four, Buffy and the Scoobies break in to rescue him. They encounter a group of soldiers, Buffy with a crossbow to the head of the Initiative’s commanding officer, whom they are holding hostage:

Buffy: Stay back, or I’ll pull a William Burroughs on your leader here.

Xander: You’ll bore him to death with free prose?

Buffy: Was I the only one awake in English that day?

If the viewer is unaware that William S. Burroughs often employed free association in his writing (so that Xander was in fact paying a little bit of attention) one might not get Xander’s reference, but if one were unaware that Burroughs accidentally shot and killed his wife while playing a game of “William Tell” while drunk, one would not get Buffy’s.

The effect of watching Whedon’s shows carefully repay all the effort, and then some. The payoff comes in both large and small ways, but either can exhilarating. Near the end of Season Six of Buffy, after her girlfriend Tara has died by a stray bullet, Willow is hell-bent for revenge. Catching up with the gunman, Warren, in the woods, he frantically begs for his life before Willow says, “Bored now” and through magic flays him alive. Views of the show instantly recognize the phrase from the Season Three when we meet a vampire version of Willow from an alternate world. That Willow, thoroughly evil, often utters “Bored now.” The message is that our Willow—goodhearted, sweet, reliable Willow—whom viewers have loved or six full seasons of Buffy has become as corrupt as her evil doppelganger. Marti Noxon, the writer of the episode, does not underscore or emphasize the reference and not getting it doesn’t detract much from enjoying the episode, but for those who recognize the reference, it provides an additional layer of explanation for just how dark Willow has gone.

The same kind of intelligent care has gone into the narrative structuring of the show. Stories are structured not merely over several episodes but extend even into future seasons. Although Buffy’s sister Dawn does not appear until Season Five, in a Season Four dream sequence depicts the rogue slayer Faith and Buffy making a bed together. Recognizing that Buffy has places she needs to be, Faith remarks, “Little sis coming, I know. So much to do before she gets here.” No explanation of what Faith’s words mean; they just left there. But fans rewatching the episode after Dawn’s mysterious appearance at the beginning of Season Five delights fans, juust as they have noted Tara’s words to Buffy in another dream sequence in the Season Four finale “Restless”: “Be back before dawn.”

All this points to the depth of Whedon’s shows, the sheer quantity not merely of text but subtext. That Whedon is aware of the layering is obvious. Giles even remarks to Buffy in one episode that subtext had become text; that is unceasingly true of the show.

In a Season Two episode, Giles, Buffy’s middle-aged Watcher, becomes interested in asking his coworker Jenny Calendar out on a date. When Xander, Willow, and Buffy see Giles nervously waiting, hoping to run into Jenny to ask her out, we get the following exchange:

Xander: [Seeing Giles] And speaking of love.

Willow: [Confused] We were talking of the reanimation of dead tissue.

Xander: Do I deconstruct your segues?

It is the deep embrace of subtext that has resulted in the exhaustive examination of productions like Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, Dr. Horrible, and Dollhouse by television critics and scholars from a bewildering range of disciplines. Buffy has provoked narratives about its narratives. Seven years after the final episode of Buffy there seems to be no end in sight of books and essays and academic conferences covering every conceivable aspect of the series. Even critically acclaimed series like The Sopranos and The Wire receive only a small percentage of the critical attention that Buffy. The reason, I believe, lies in this rich subtext undergirding the show. We can say so much about Buffy because it says so much on so many levels.

3. Joss Whedon Truly Likes and Respects Women Buffy Summers was not the first female hero on television, but her appearance was a pivotal moment in the history of women on television. Prior to Buffy, one could count the number of heroic females in television on the fingers of both hands with several digits left over. Although Xena was an inspiration to her fans, she was not someone that many could closely identify with nor was she a character who could inspire imitators. But after Buffy, there has been an unceasing string of female heroes who follow the pattern established on Buffy.

Because so many other essays in this Spotlight will delve into Whedon’s regard for women there is no need to explore this more fully here. His shows reflect again and again his respect and appreciation of women, and he consistently places heroic women in his every show. Anyone who has heard his remarkable acceptance speech upon being given an award by Equality Now understands much of what goes into his portrayal of strong female characters. And this is truly one of reasons his shows have been so passionately embraced.

Why is this important? Why particularly is it crucial that there be these vital, strong, heroic women?

Here I must turn personal. As a single-father raising a young girl, I quickly appreciated how desperately my daughter wanted to see heroic girls and women in movies and on TV. Watching Peter Pan, she unexpectedly viewed Wendy as the hero of the story. Many classic films were rejected when we visited the video store, my daughter asking instead for movies “with girl heroes.” This was immediately before Buffy, and after The Wizard of Oz, The Journey of Natty Gann, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind we were faced with slim pickings.

All this changed with Buffy. Instead of a handful of movies or television series with strong girls and women, there are a host. It is possible that shows like Fascape, Roswell, Dark Angel, Alias, Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Fringe would have appeared anyway, but the fact is that it was only after Buffy that such shows hit the networks in any quantity.

I learned firsthand just how important it is for young girls—or even older girls—need to feel that it is OK to be strong. It is just as important for men to grasp and understand that it is a great thing for women to be every bit as strong and heroic as we popularly assume that men can be.

My daughter wanted “girl heroes” that she could identify with and whose exploits she could enjoy. Unfortunately, she had few. Today, post-Buffy, there are many. Anyone who has helped change the cultural landscape to that degree deserves considerably more than a Spotlight.