"In The Garden of Whedon": Why Joss Whedon Is Awesome

Get it? Garden of Whedon/Garden of Eden? Seriously, if Joss Whedon doesn't already have a religion based on him for his fans I'm totally starting one. Joss Whedon has created so many wonderful shows, films and characters over the years. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Joss Whedon and his work. Therefore, as it is his birthday today, here is a list of awesome facts about Joss Whedon.

• Joss Whedon is a third-generation TV writer. As the son of Tom Whedon (who worked on Golden Girls) and John Whedon (who worked on the Donna Reed show) he is certainly carrying on the family tradition. 
• Joss Whedon shot his film "Much Ado About Nothing" in a matter of days at his house. In fact is was done in just 12 days. What have you achieved in 12 days? Was it as impressive as that? Yeah, I bet not.

• Whedon has provided female role models for a whole generation of young girls. In fact when I was growing up I had no queer female role models. No one ever explained to me that sometimes men can love men or women can love women. It was only really when I saw Tara and Willow's relationship that I even knew such love existed. Finally I didn't feel so alone. That little shred of queer representation really helped me and I am sure it helped so many others too. Representation matters. Also, characters like Buffy and Faith and Dawn and Anya who were not only compelling to watch, but complexly written female characters. 
• But, I mean, can we talk about Buffy a little more and how amazing that show was? All you need to do is watch episodes like Hush, The Body, Once More With Feeling and more to see how quirky and experimental the show could be. Joss Whedon gave us several kick ass female characters and many of them started on Buffy. Buffy was his pet project that started as a film. The film didn't quite capture Joss's vision so he created a version for television that could live up to his hopes for the show. Even on Angel, Joss Whedon would take opportunities to experiment with 'what if' style scenarios to explore characters and situations further.

• When Buffy ended her adventures on screen, Whedon partnered with Dark Horse Comics to share tales from the Buffyverse in comic book and graphic novel format. From further Buffy adventures to Fray: Future Slayer, the tales of girls fighting the forces of evil live on. Whedon has also written for popular titles from Marvel AND DC. He's bridging the gap, people!
• FIREFLY. Nuff said.
• Whedon co-wrote and produced the wonderful genre-busting film "Cabin In The Woods" which poked fun at the cliche pitfalls of the horror genre. This film is so good - definitely one you should sit down and watch without having read a review or watched a trailer. Horror connoisseurs are sure to love it.
• Whedon seriously wanted to write and direct a Wonder Woman movie. Whedon had previously been in talks with Warner Bros for such a project but, due to artistic conflicts, it never happened. Now we have Gal Gadot in the role, and all we can do is wonder.... what if?
• Whedon was one of the writers of Toy Story and if that doesn't impress you then clearly, unlike Angel, you have no soul.
• I'm sure you know who The Avengers are, right? Whedon's take on The Avengers has rejuvenated the superhero genre and set new levels of awesome for comic book adaptations. In fact The Avengers is the third highest grossing film of all time at the moment.
• As you may know, Marvel is now part owned by Disney. The Avengers and Toy Story are not Joss Whedon's only Disney credits. Did you know he worked on the script for Atlantis: The Lost Realm? Also Alien: Resurrection. Basically Joss Whedon is King of all your faves.  
• Joss Whedon still has many awesome projects yet to be created so here's hoping that those projects eventually come to fruition. 

EDIT: Please note that this article was written before rumours about Joss Whedon's conduct around women/comments from his wife were made about his treatment of her following their separation. While I can appreciate his art/work, these comments are noted.

24 Quotes That Will Inspire You To Write More

Buzzfeed has created an excellent post, just in time for NaNoWriMo, called 24 Quotes That Will Inspire You To Write More. It has quotes from authors like JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Maya Angelou, Joss Whedon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Kurt Vonnegut, Anaïs Nin and many more.

 My favourite quote of all is from the wonderful Toni Morrison:

Which of these quotes speaks to YOU the most?

Is there something you always say/think when it comes to writing?
What is your main item of advice for other writers?
Let me know in the comments below or tweet me an answer

31 Horror Films in 31 Days Challenge, Film Ten: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)

This is yet another blog-along post where I'll be blogging along as I watch another horror film as part of the 31 Horror Films in 31 Days challenge.  Warning: Since I'm blogging my thoughts whilst watching the film THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

These are raw blog posts. I start and I write until I finish without any editing afterwards. I just post the raw thoughts from the film as they occur. I enter this film with absolutely no prior knowledge. Enjoy, 

Note: Of course I've seen (and love) the Buffy TV series. It's one of my favourite TV shows of all time. I just never got around to seeing the film. I'm not sure how I'll feel about seeing someone other than Sarah Michelle Gellar in the role of Buffy but we'll see...

OK so I'm only a few minutes in to the film and I'm finding this version of Buffy really annoying and overplayed. 


"a really gross hickey"

The vampires and costumes are so bad in comparison with what was achieved in the TV series. 

Oh look... Courtney Cox's ex husband with some serious fringe action.

The vampires here aren't even scary. The ones in this graveyard scene are like humans but with a sprinkling of dirt.

Oh wow, Ruter Hauer is the Big Bad in this film. I fondly remember him as the Huntsman in The Tenth Kingdom.

If I wasn't such a fan of the show then maybe I could appreciate this film as a solitary piece, but even then it'd be a film that was much more like Clueless with vampires than anything else.  I think I previously avoided this one for good reasons...

TV Appreciation: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

We seem to be in a bit of a literary vampire renaissance. Twilight and True Blood in particular have managed to get younger generations into the vampire myth. Having recently done a dissertation on the ongoing popularity of vampire fiction I wanted to take some time to discuss one of my favourite shows of all time: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact at one point last year I found myself in a heated debate within a group of friends where the table was divided between Buffy fans and non Buffy fans where I ended up exclaiming "If you don't support Buffy, you don't support women!" because, you know, I'm a devoted fangirl.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a show that is currently shown on the SyFy channel, came out in 1997 and ran until 2003. The show followed young woman, Buffy Summers, who is a vampire slayer in the quaint town of Sunnydale.


"Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires,demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer."

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon: God of the Nerds, was an ambitious show with some really kick ass female characters. As a slayer Buffy took the stereotypical young, female victim often found in vampire books/films and empowered the image thus providing a strong, female role model. As the show goes on more complex and harrowing  villains are thrown her way and she, along with her friends, have to battle new foes. As the show goes on the villains, the plot, the characters etc all become more intense. Whedon and Noxon really know how to capture the attention of the viewer. As the series goes on it tackles a variety of problems: both demonic and human.


After the seventh season of Buffy, the TV show ended. Then "Season Eight" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out in comic book form via Dark Horse. Also whilst Buffy was on the air a spin off show based on the character Angel was created that ran concurrently with the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There has been a long series of Buffy comics, plus a handful of one shots, and a series of paperback stories from the Whedonverse.


Joss Whedon considered the Hollywood stereotype of 'the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie' and decided to subvert that idea so as to create someone who was a true hero. He explain that his main aim was to explore 'female power: having it, using it, sharing it'

Having been raised by two women himself, Joss Whedon creates strong female characters with complex emotions. His use of psychological theory, playful pop culture references and clever writing techniques are what make this show so special. If you've not seen it I highly recommend sitting down to watch it - especially if you're a fan of supernatural fiction. I can pretty much guarantee you won't regret it.



I highly admire Joss Whedon for tackling the infamous interview question:
Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters?
A: Because you’re still asking me that question.

Links:
Interesting Buffy Facts!