I actually admit to having defended Joss Whedon a little bit when the news of the affairs first came out just because I did not (and still do not think) basic infidelity is enough to completely discard someone. Of course since that time there's been so so many more details that have come out and oh dear god man...reading this interview...he just keeps digging the hole even deeper. Feel free to shit on the quips comrades but I can't deny the man produced some of the more formative works in my life...and I am sad to see what a POS he turned out to be.
Sidenote regarding Buffy: one of the more interesting parts of the shows legacy to me is that while the show overall has aged very poorly in so many respects and is difficult to get into now....its interesting that the season generally regarded (at the time) as its worst was season 6 when he virtually stepped out of the picture entirely to go do Firefly.
I say interesting: because not only has Season 6 aged the best of all the seasons by far to the point I would say its the crowning achievement of the series: I would dare to call it prophetic and vastly ahead of its time. Was there any other show in 2001 that was casting a light and doing warning sirens on toxic masculinity in nerd culture at the time? I sure can't think of it...and yet in hindsight the joke season arch villains nobody took seriously in hindsight are obvious proto-redpillers and have come around to being arguably the most horrifying villains of the series. Likewise the way it deals with themes of addiction and the millenial struggle of being technically an adult but perpetually stifled and never quite making it. It really had its finger on the pulse in a way that most of us were genuinely not quite ready for.
To me it says a lot that the shows best season is far and away the one Joss had the least involvment with, and that his return to the franchise in the comics with Buffy season 8 where he was basically unfiltered was received with mixed opinions at best.
Feel free to shit on the quips comrades but I can’t deny the man produced some of the more formative works in my life…and I am sad to see what a POS he turned out to be.
Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Ninth Gate were excellent movies. Roman Polanski still sucks.
It really had its finger on the pulse in a way that most of us were genuinely not quite ready for.
Whedon was a manchild and you can't help but pick up those themes in his work in retrospect. I think the whole Resurrecting Buffy plotline hampered the show upfront, but turned the season into a very about-the-characters arc in the end. And Buffy is a good show, more than anything, because of the character-studies and the relationship drama.
With Whedon gone, you got a lot more meta-commentary and self-critique. Once the show had time to age a little, I think it gave the season more of a kick. You can watch it without feeling jerked around by the ending of season 5 deviating so heavily from the ending to season 6.
I actually admit to having defended Joss Whedon a little bit when the news of the affairs first came out just because I did not (and still do not think) basic infidelity is enough to completely discard someone. Of course since that time there's been so so many more details that have come out and oh dear god man...reading this interview...he just keeps digging the hole even deeper. Feel free to shit on the quips comrades but I can't deny the man produced some of the more formative works in my life...and I am sad to see what a POS he turned out to be.
Sidenote regarding Buffy: one of the more interesting parts of the shows legacy to me is that while the show overall has aged very poorly in so many respects and is difficult to get into now....its interesting that the season generally regarded (at the time) as its worst was season 6 when he virtually stepped out of the picture entirely to go do Firefly. I say interesting: because not only has Season 6 aged the best of all the seasons by far to the point I would say its the crowning achievement of the series: I would dare to call it prophetic and vastly ahead of its time. Was there any other show in 2001 that was casting a light and doing warning sirens on toxic masculinity in nerd culture at the time? I sure can't think of it...and yet in hindsight the joke season arch villains nobody took seriously in hindsight are obvious proto-redpillers and have come around to being arguably the most horrifying villains of the series. Likewise the way it deals with themes of addiction and the millenial struggle of being technically an adult but perpetually stifled and never quite making it. It really had its finger on the pulse in a way that most of us were genuinely not quite ready for.
To me it says a lot that the shows best season is far and away the one Joss had the least involvment with, and that his return to the franchise in the comics with Buffy season 8 where he was basically unfiltered was received with mixed opinions at best.
Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Ninth Gate were excellent movies. Roman Polanski still sucks.
Whedon was a manchild and you can't help but pick up those themes in his work in retrospect. I think the whole Resurrecting Buffy plotline hampered the show upfront, but turned the season into a very about-the-characters arc in the end. And Buffy is a good show, more than anything, because of the character-studies and the relationship drama.
With Whedon gone, you got a lot more meta-commentary and self-critique. Once the show had time to age a little, I think it gave the season more of a kick. You can watch it without feeling jerked around by the ending of season 5 deviating so heavily from the ending to season 6.