I originally had a very different topic picked out for this week’s DVD Diggers, but this is one of those rare cases where a timely alternative sort of fell from the sky… or rose from the flames, depending on how you want to see it.
The big film release this week is
Serenity, the big screen rebirth of Joss Whedon’s failed (some would say sabotaged) television series “Firefly”. Since the series theoretically failed due to low viewership, let me explain, “Firefly” is a rare concept. Set in outer space, “Firefly” is really a western. It tells the tale of Captain Mal Reynolds and his crew of bandits and outlaws, who are really nice people, just fighting on the “wrong side”. Much like
Star Wars, the bandits are the good guys, and the bad guys work for an intergalactic empire, or in this case, an alliance. It sounds like a melding of two genres that never should have been combined, but it works amazingly well. No big surprise since it comes from the same mind who decided to take a horror movie and let the “defenseless” blond that gets stalked down the alley turn around and beat the living hell out of the monster with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.
No Serenity for Fans?
For a movie named
Serenity, the Cinema Blend forums have been anything but. For reasons unknown, Joss Whedon is a dividing point for many people. There are those who have no appreciation for any of the work Whedon has done. Understandably so, since the guys greatest claim to fame right now consists of a total of twelve seasons of shows focused around the supernatural and teenage angst, and one failed season of an odd sci-fi western that never really got to find its feet, not to mention surviving through massive tampering from the network. Those who appreciate his acerbic wit and snappy, catchy dialogue, and find deeper meaning from Whedon’s tales are quick to spring to his defense, and there the battle lines are drawn. On one side are the Whedon lovers (or Whedonites/Whedoners as someone attempted to label them). On the other side are the Whedon detractors.
Let me tell you something about fan battles. When you have people obsessed with something, or truly appreciative of the work someone has done, as many people are about Whedon’s work, there are no winners. Detractors will never manage to beat the fans, and for the most part fans will seldom convert the detractors. It becomes a futile battle, but one both sides are so engulfed in that it permeates into every discussion around. “How was the new
Star Wars movie? Well, Whedon liked it”, so suddenly another battle starts. “How about
Lost last night? Did you hear Whedon didn’t even watch it?” Another battle. It’s not only futile, but it becomes rather ridiculous.
As for myself, for the most part I’ve stayed out of the battles. I kind of fall in the middle. I’m a former detractor. I would occasionally watch an episode of “Buffy”, but the teenage angst element bothered me. What I learned later was that I somehow had the tendency to tune into the
wrong episodes, and that placed in the context of an entire season, those episodes were actually quite good. Somehow I was converted into an appreciation of what Whedon was doing with “Buffy”. You have to appreciate a guy who has his heroes’ graduation ceremony interrupted with an apocalyptic battle that, when they’re victorious, causes them to reflect not on the battle, but on surviving high school. The metaphor runs rather thick at times, but also rather transparent, and I can appreciate that. The writing is clever, and I’ll take that any time over half the crap that seems to run on mainstream television.
I am not, however, a Whedon-apologist. If Joss doesn’t do good work, I’ll be the first to call him on it. The guy’s work in television started with a writing gig on my least-favorite sitcom of all time, “Roseanne”. You know what Joss fans? That sucks. The guy’s lucky he ever got me to tune into one of his shows, or pick up one of his comic books after that travesty. If
Serenity sucks I won’t make apologies for it. I’ll say flat out, “Joss screwed up”. Despite being a legend to many people out there, he’s human. Even Spielberg made
1941.
The truth is Whedon has talent. Why some people don’t recognize that is something I don’t quite understand, however I respect their opinion. I think the big problem has to come from Whedon constantly working in the same motif. From his big start with “Buffy” to upcoming projects
Wonder Woman and
Goners Whedon has a tendency to include some form of kick-ass kung-fu girl as a character. Obviously that’s the character that’s center stage for “Buffy” and
Wonder Woman, but the character shows up even among the crew of the
Serenity and is the character the Universal advertising centers around. Even his stint on "The Amazing X-Men" comic book has put Kitty Pryde center stage. So Whedon likes one plot device in particular. Would you ask Martin Scorsese not to make another mafia-themed movie? Would you ask Woody Allen to tell a less neurotic story? Sure, we’d all like to see director’s who stretch themselves somewhat, but if they do something well I don’t see the point in complaining about them continuing to do it. The day M. Night Shyamalan comes out with a romantic comedy I will congratulate him on moving to a new genre, but until then I’m not going to complain about his mysterious films, as long as they are good.
As I said, I originally had a different subject picked out for this week’s column, but I changed it because of the negative portrayal of Whedon the site seems to have in our news stories. I’m not saying Josh, who presents most of the non-Whedon friendly material, is wrong. He is after all entitled to his opinion. However I’m tired of getting comments from friends and readers about how I’m dogging on Whedon when I haven’t actually written a word about the man. So here: I like Joss Whedon. He does good work. I wouldn’t quite call him “my master now”, but what the man creates has been nothing short of brilliant most of the time. “Buffy” may have been a silly concept, but so were the Emmy worthy ideas of presenting an episode with no dialog for 28 minutes, or a musical episode that actually furthered the plot of the season instead of just being a flashy device for that week’s ratings (“Hush” and “Once More with Feeling” respectively). That’s the sort of creativity we need more of on television. So give me another Whedon series with a kick ass teenage girl in it. I’ll take that over the one-billionth legal drama any day of the week.
Other Whedon Works of Wonder on DVD
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Whedon originally wrote Buffy as a theatrical release, which was drastically changed when it was put in the director’s hands. Personally I’m still a fan of the Buffy movie, which provided me with laughs for quite a few years before the television show came about. Subtract a lot of the teen angst and add in Paul Reubens (on the rebound from his little adult theater escapade) and Rutger Hauer as the main vampire and you’ve got a fun story.
That said, I’m sure Whedon’s original script was full of lots of things closer to how the tv show ended up - more dramatic with some comedy, more a metaphor for teenage life, that sort of thing. I’m not saying what ended up on screen is a work of art by any means, but I still enjoy watching it. Check out Ben Affleck’s brief appearance, and future Oscar winner Hillary Swank in a supporting role. You have to wonder what Academy Award winners think of their former projects sometimes...
|
X-Men
Whedon isn’t credited for his work in X-Men since most of his changes weren’t adopted for the final project, so here’s the rumors as I’ve heard them.
Fox asked Whedon to do a rewrite on the screenplay for the movie, which he did. Unlike their intended quick pass through punching up some jokes though, Whedon did a massive rewrite, most of which wasn’t what they wanted, so it was discarded. Rumor has it only two bits of Whedon’s were kept: the “you’re a dick” interaction between Cyclops and Wolverine, and Storm’s line “Do you know what happens when a toad gets hit by lighting?”.
As I said, I’m more then happy to point out where Whedon sucks. If that line really is his...
|
Toy Story
This is the one that always catches me off guard. No matter how many times I learn it, I tend to forget Whedon’s involvement with Toy Story. As much as I’d like to declare Whedon’s brilliance right here, the truth is there was a slew of writers on this script, and the original story did come from most of the other writers, not Whedon. Still, for those looking for something Whedon did that didn’t involve much kicking of ass by a young girl, look no further. Space toy... cowboy... no little girls in sight. What I want to know is how do you go from “Roseanne” to this? Who did Joss have to bribe or sleep with in order to get any kind of shot at a movie after “Roseanne”, a television adaptation of “Parenthood” and his altered Buffy movie? Maybe there’s a chance for people like Uwe Boll after all.
Naaah!
|
Alien: Ressurection
Yes, Joss Whedon wrote Alien: Ressurection. No, I’m not going to apologize for it. Honestly, I’m one of the few people out there who don’t really mind any of the Alien movies, and that includes Alien3. Besides, you have to admit Whedon came up with a decent way to bring Ripley back for another movie (good enough that Sigourney went along with it) and he introduced a few new elements into the Universe as well. Besides, any movie that puts Ron Perlman and Brad Dourif together can’t be completely bad, right? Right?
Nobody’s even reading this anymore are they? Everyone tuned out back when I brought up the toad line from X-men didn’t they?
|
to tell me how Joss Whedon is awesome... or not.
