The Whedon Complex

Sometime last year, I added Netflix Instant streaming to my Playstation 3 (RIP). I was a kid in a candy store. I lept from movie to movie, from television series to television series at breakneck speeds. And finally when the proverbial red mist descended, I thought to myself, is there a series I want to watch? I thought long and hard on it. And I finally settled on a show, a groundbreaking series that I loved fondly as a youngster and I was certain I would again.

That show was "The X-Files."

I know you're thinking, what? This post has a title that would seem to differ from the show I chose. And to that I say, hold your horses, friendo. I'm getting to the Whedon of the thing. But, first we've gotta get through my revisiting of "The X-Files," and how it led me to a love affair with all things Joss Whedon. The first season of "The X-Files," is good. It's not as great as it would be in season two or three or even four. It's got a very Canadian feel to it, an almost murky undercurrent. When I originally watched the series, I was always a fan of the standalones, and not a fan of the alien mythology. I just don't find conspiracies scary. Period. I felt for Mulder and I rolled my eyes at Scully but it wasn't easy to track the mythology on an episode by episode basis. That's even with 'Tunguska-Terma/Herrenvolk' on the table. It has it's moments of humor but it's mostly colorless. I dredged through some terrible episodes until I finally gave up in the middle of season four. I did try Chris Carter's other series, "Millennium," and I have to say that even though that particular show makes you feel as if you need a Prozac IV, it's still a better show. There I said it.

And then I saw the light. I hovered over "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and pressed play. That was the single best choice I ever made. I remember watching it back in 1997 when the WB was brand spanking new. That and ahem, "Dawson's Creek." Regardless, of my soapy teenage past, I instantly fell in love with Buffy ( and Sarah Michelle Geller...). It was fast paced, it was funny, it had hot girls and horror. So, of course I loved it. There wasn't a real complex mythology in the first season but that's the starting line, and baby what a start. But, what I saw after that was a true power in writing. The emotional beats were there and true to the characters. And that sole reason is attributed to Joss Whedon. He's a sucker punch to the heart. He knows how to pour the salt in the wound during the emotional moments. I raced through seven seasons of Buffy faster than four seasons of "The X-Files." That's gotta mean something, right? And after I finished Buffy, I went to Angel. I petered out soon thereafter because I was all angsted up. But this discovery of Whedon's immense power struck a note with me. Have I been ignoring his talent for this long? Of course, I had. I watched Firefly way after the fact but I loved it. I loved the follow-up film, "Serenity," and cursed his name when he killed off beloved characters. I do like "Angel," even if Whedon's hand is a lot less present than on other shows. I didn't even mind the much maligned Marti Noxon seasons of Buffy. Not at all. The only show I didn't fancy on first viewing was "Dollhouse." I don't know, the premise just seemed kind of rapey to me. But, I've misunderestimated his genius once....so I guess I'll check again.

And the funniest thing about all this Whedon love, the thing that gives me pause and makes me chuckle, is that Joss Whedon is the biggest poobah in Hollywood, right this very minute. Why's that so funny, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, dear reader. His shows never got the respect they truly deserved from the masses. Sure, they have a massive cult following and were renowned by the critics on arrival, but no one watched. Dollhouse and Firefly were knocked down before their time. Yes, Dollhouse got a second season but was still very much dead-on-arrival. Firefly was aired out of order and fell apart at the finish line. That specific shows following was loud enough to get a feature film, however. Even his tentpole shows, Buffy and Angel were battered and bruised. Buffy was cancelled and resurrected on a different network. But he survived all of that, and got the happy ending his characters rarely got. He wrote and directed a billion dollar grossing film. That's cool. So, maybe some people didn't see it for Whedon and that's fine. I did. And I was able to see his fingerprints all over "The Avengers." That made me happy. It's the reason why "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," is my favorite television series.
Because Joss Whedon is a better, smarter James Cameron. He's fully capable of crafting a gigantic film that grosses disgusting amounts of money and he did it with brains and he did it with heart. And that's all that matters.