Anomalous Musings: The Anomaly Podcast Blog: joss whedon

Hi, I'm Sue. On Saturday, I got a haircut with bangs for the first time in 18 years, and all for cosplay. And I am an Anomaly. Once again, I'll be attending Dragon Con, and once again, a few unsuspecting track directors have agreed to let me sit on panels. Keeping in mind that everything at Dragon Con is tentative until it's over, here's where I expect to be:

Dragon Con 101 Meet Up!
Friday at 10:00am
American Sci-Fi and Fantasy Media Track (Marriot M302)
If you want to connect and and meet up with other DragonCon newbies, come to this casual meet and greet. This is an informal gathering. (I am one of the veterans who has volunteered to be on hand to answer questions.)

Happiest Space Off Earth: Disney-Fied Sci-Fi

Friday at 11:30am

American Sci-Fi Classics Track (Marriott M303-304)

Many moons before Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars, they were all about geeky movies, from Dragonslayer to Black Hole.

Hidden Monsters: A Being Human Fan Panel
Friday at 1:00pm
Urban Fantasy Track (Westin International BC)

A moderated fan-panel discussion of the hit series (US version).

Does a Contract Negate Non-Consent?
Friday at 5:30pm

WhedonUniverse Track (Westin International DE)

Dollhouse had the actives sign contracts. Where does that put the show where consent is concerned?

Much Ado about Shakespeare

Saturday at 1:00pm

WhedonUniverse Track (Westin International DE)
Discuss this contemporary take on a Shakespearean classic. Starring so many Whedonverse actors, there's plenty of reasons to make much ado!

Sidekicks - Hero Support or More?

Saturday at 7:00pm
American Sci-Fi and Fantasy Media Track (Marriott M302)
Sometimes the best thing about a show is not the hero, but the sidekicks! Who’s your favorite? Kenzi? Chloe? Xander? or maybe its Diggle?

Orphan Black

Saturday at 8:30pm
Brit Track (Sheraton Macon)

A discussion of this groundbreaking show, including the ethics and legal issues of real-life cloning.

Gay Themes in Doctor Who
Saturday at 10:00pm
Brit Track (Marriott A601-602)

An examination of DW's role in breaking traditional walls of SF by acquiring a following in straight and gay communities. (This panel was originally "Gender Roles in Doctor Who". The topic changed, but I'm still on the panel.)

Me and my AI
Sunday at 2:30pm
American Sci-Fi and Fantasy Media Track (Marriott M302)
The Macguffin of SF is Artificial Intelligence, a blessing or a curse. How has it been handled in media and has your perspective been colored by it?

Brit Fans on the Net: A Podcast Round Table

Monday at 10:00am
Brit Track (Sheraton Macon)
Brit Podcasters unite to discuss being an Anglophile on the net.

The Worlds of Terry Pratchett
Monday at 1:00pm
Brit Track (Sheraton Macon)
This panel discusses the many worlds of Terry Pratchett, including his newest works, The Long War and Raising Steam.

So, those are all my panels. Look at them all! How did that even happen?!

My name is KC, and I recorded a skype-cast on Buffy the Vampire Slayer right after watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And I am an Anomaly.

Okay, so there has been a little rumor flying about the interwebs over the last year and it has finally been confirmed:

There would indeed be a rebooted Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. And that Joss Whedon, the man who created the blonde, shoes-lovin' chosen one, would neither direct, write, or produce the feature.

Joss himself wrote a blurb about his feelings toward the project for E! Online, and was very mature (and sad) about it. But it was the fans who got the most publicity as they wrote about their rage on their Twitter accounts, blogs, and Facebook statuses. Even I am guilty for writing about my negative feelings about a Buffy film without Joss Whedon. For hell hath no fury like a fan scorned.

It is most likely due to the fans' responses that the Warner Bros. public relations department released a statement that they had approached Joss to be involved with the film, but he declined to "pursue other projects" and thus they turned to newly minted writer Whit Anderson to write the film. There is a nice reaction to the statement here at the MTV blog.

Now, I am no Angela. I have yet to achieve the status of Buffy fan that she has achieved. I'm not going to lie when I say that I have a bit of bias towards the project already because I love the show and the characters that were established over the course of seven seasons of television programming. Plus, I can't help but feel that the combination of what I consider the "reboot fad" and "vampire craze" is the coal to this film's train engine. But after the vampire dust settled about the news of the reboot film, here's what I have to say. Do I think it's a good idea to re-do Buffy without Whedon? Not really. But then again, some of my favorite episodes are not just written by Joss--remember the wonderful Jane Espenson and "Tabula Rasa" or "Earshot?" So it is possible that someone else can handle the material. My problem is re-doing Buffy, period. Reimagining the universe, reimagining the language that's layered and silly simultaneously, and more importantly, possibly reshaping the character herself.

The character of Buffy is inspired by two sources: X-Men's Kitty Pryde, who dealt with teen angst and superpowers, and the hot blonde girl who always died at the beginning of every horror movie. She was created to fight against the stereotype of the horror genre in which the blonde cheerleader--or many of the female characters in horror films--could not do anything to save herself. Actually, it's a trope that still being used today in films and TV, with the exception of the single female character who has a grip on almost everything, including a weapon. In the original Buffy movie (which I tried to watch once and nearly died from bad quality), no one knew how to handle this topic. So they turned it into a comedy in which Buffy cartwheeled and backflipped everywhere she needed to be during action sequences. Not really a successful attempt, in my opinion.

And then you look at female heroines today. Sure they can handle themselves, but there still seems to be a separation between heroine and bimbo. The smart, strong heroines are almost always extremely serious, armed, and brunette. The bimbos are a combination of comic relief, curvy, and blonde. There is not much gray--or, for the sake of a bad joke, there's not much of a dirty blonde area in there. So will Buffy return to her bimbo with a stake ways? Will she totally serious in what could turn into a straight action movie to attract male audiences? Or worse... will she turn brunette? The thought makes me shudder.

Then there are the outside forces within the original plot. Will the vampires remain demons or will they be Twilight-ified? Who would they have as the Big Bad who plots against Buffy? Will they force a love interest in there? And then, most importantly, what about her friends? Her Watcher? What about how they portray her family life? There was so much care and importance placed upon the relationships that Buffy had with others, even in the 1990's movie that hurt my eyes. I'll miss Xander, Willow and Giles, all of whom were the key characters to the Buffy-verse and the beating of the show and comic book's heart. It makes me scared to think that their existence will be muted briefly during the press junket for the film.

Now let me turn to the subject of the public relations aspect. I'm sure that there are reasons outside of money that studio execs are interested in a Buffy movie for a new generation. I'm not an insider, and I will never claim to be as I live in Texas. However, I can't help but feel that the statement released about Joss Whedon being approached to be involved with a Buffy film and turning it down is a little misleading. In what capacity was Joss going to be involved with a Buffy film? Was he approached to be involved in it from a creator, director, screenwriter, and producer's standpoint, or was it just one of the four? Or was he merely approached to give his blessing and then get acknowledgment in the "Special Thanks" section of the film's end credits. Because he would simply be avoiding history repeating itself since he was unable to control his vision for the original film version.

In addition, if producers had approached him, they would have been asking him to "reboot" Buffy. This would mean asking Joss to re-create a world that is very dear to him. Yes, another film of Buffy as directed by Joss would be great. But asking the creator of Buffy to "reboot" his own work? Buffy is his first project. As an artist, that's like telling your first child that he or she needs to change who they are completely because the other kids won't like him or her. If that is the case, I can completely understand that.

Is a new Buffy minus Joss Whedon going to completely and utterly fail? I don't have any right to answer that as I have no visions of the future. (And if they're anything like Cordelia Chase's, then I don't want them!) Do I have my concerns? Of course I do. I know that there have been some decent reboots and remakes within the last few years, but there have also been really bad ones. At least J.J. Abrams and Ron Moore, who have established themselves as significant persons in the "reboot fad," paid homage to the original material. I don't know if these studio executives will even honor the original vision that Joss had for Buffy.

Under the stakes and vampire-slaying and physical strength that can rival a body builder, there's a girl. You might consider her a feminist icon. You might consider her a cultural phenomenon. But I agree with something Joss once said...

"She's my hero."

Treat her with respect, Warner Bros.

Staff Writer for Anomaly
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Sue's Dragon Con 2013 Schedule

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Redux?