The Whedon Conundrum

Before I begin, a disclaimer: I have no attachment to Joss Whedon as an individual. He might not be the worst person ever, even in entertainment, but his years of performative wokeness while cheating on his wife are enough to make me partially-ill. Also, some of the statements he’s made on Twitter have been eye-roll-worthy. And he can’t write women. But let’s stick a pin in the last point.

The film world is of two minds on Joss Whedon. If you mention him in a discussion, people will wince or applaud. He’s seen as either a pariah, or cinematic poison, and often simultaneously. There really is no consensus, essentially. So where do I stand?

As with many aspects of art, I’m mixed on Whedon; on one hand, I think he’s a fun idea guy, having graced the world with shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, as well as written and directed The Avengers. He also has a strong handle on what nerds like, and his character scripts are always memorable. On the other hand, his characters usually sound snarky. And, like I said before, he doesn’t write women well.

My introduction to Whedon’s work was The Cabin in the Woods. It was weird, uncomfortable, funny and, ultimately, interesting. I don’t think 22 year-old me fully grasped what was going on, especially since I was still developing my film tastes, but I’ve always thought the scene where all the monsters broke loose was where it should’ve ended. (Seriously, the finale was excessive.) That was the year that The Avengers debuted and…well, I’ve written plenty on The MCU.

My stance on Joss Whedon has gone through ups-and-downs. There was a time when I thought he made great movies. Then I despised him. Then I felt bad for him when I discovered how Hollywood had treated him. Then I liked him again when he got shooed off of Twitter. Then all of that was soured when I learned of his affairs. I’m not sure what to think of him anymore.

Anyway, here are several claims that’ve been thrown around over the years that I think are rubbish:

There’s a common remark that Whedon lacks talent. This is untrue. Joss Whedon may not necessarily be “the best in the world”, but he’s got something going for him. This is a man who was called in late in the production of Toy Story to rewrite the film from scratch. This is also a man brought in to direct and co-write The Avengers because of his Marvel comics knowledge. In both cases, the results speak for themselves.

Then there’s the claim that he lacks a significant style. This one angers me: yes, he’s no Christopher Nolan, James Cameron or, on a lesser-note, JJ Abrams, but he has a style. It’s mostly in his banter, which is snappy and quick. He also knows how to direct people. You’re under no obligation to like him, but saying he lacks a style is a lie.

I also find that this opens the floor to lots of questions: what does it mean to have a style? What does it mean to lack one? Why must every person in entertainment require their own, noticeable style? And if he doesn’t have one, then how come people know when he’s done something? Isn’t that a style?

But I know what people really mean. Like the obnoxious overpraise of the late-Satoshi Kon, people really want an experience. Joss Whedon, in contrast, feels workman-like. But is that necessarily bad? I’m not a fan of ambition for ambition’s sake, and sometimes workman-like is preferable.

Moving to more personal complaints, there’s Whedon’s writing and directorial sensibilities. He likes to fetishize feet, particularly women’s feet. He also likes sexualizing women. And he can’t write women for crap.

There are a lot of rebuttals that can be made. On the subject of feet alone, Quentin Tarantino is equally as guilty, if not more guilty, of this than Joss Whedon. Whedon might have a close-up or two, but his sensibilities never dominate. Tarantino, however, can’t leave his obsession alone, with his movies spending several, unnecessary shots on feet. I’d also argue that foot fetishism isn’t nearly as offensive as some people claim, but I’ll save that for some time never.

With sexualization, Whedon’s also pretty restrained comparatively. There was that controversy a while back over Whedon’s unreleased Wonder Woman script, but that’s exactly it: it was unreleased. It was never meant for the public. And besides, it’s better than much of the garbage I’ve never released. It feels like people are only critical here because it’s Whedon, not realizing he’s in good company with other, more well-respected directors and writers.

As for not writing women well, guess what? So can’t a lot of people. Christopher Nolan writes them like robots, assuming he includes them at all. Aaron Sorkin writes them like they deserve scorn. Even The Wachowski Sisters can’t write women well! This isn’t a Whedon issue, it’s a Hollywood issue. It’s a general issue that stems for centuries of patriarchal storytelling.

I feel like a lot of these stem from the insecurities that his detractors won’t openly address. Is he “the best”? No. Is he “the worst”? Again, no. He’s a guy who, for a variety of reasons, struck it big for a short time and then got a raw deal. And I can laugh as much as anyone about “Whedon’s Infinity Gauntlet”, though I doubt he’s that shameless, but in the end he simply exists. And there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

I think it’s time to retire the world’s love-hate relationship with Joss Whedon. Even if he can be obnoxious, I think we should move on. It’s tiring that this gets in the way of serious discourses that are worth having, like how “Release the Snyder Cut” isn’t about Zack Snyder. We’ll all be much happier that way, trust me!