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Post by BettyNewbie on Apr 10, 2021 11:50:57 GMT -5
Old interview, but veeeery telling about who Whedon is.
First off, he openly admits that he finds toxic/abusive/unhappy relationships to be "fun" and "exciting." It's Sam and Diane [from "Cheers"]. That's why we had Angel go bad when he and Buffy got together. Because -- and I've gotten into so much trouble for this phrase -- what people want is not what they need. In narrative, nobody wants to see fat, married Romeo and Juliet, even if fat, married Romeo and Juliet happen to be [Dashiell Hammett's detective couple] Nick and Nora Charles and they're really cool and having a great time in their lovely relationship and really care about each other and have nice, well-adjusted children. Guess what? People don't want to see it.
That was the problem we ran into with Riley. We said, "Let's give Buffy a healthy relationship," and people didn't want it. They did some great work together. But at the same time, when they were happy, it made people crazy. We found this with Willow and Tara, we found it with Gunn and Fred [from "Angel"]. It's fine for a while, but ultimately the course of true love is not allowed to run smooth. And, Buffy's magical menstrual cramps from the movie? It's "primal feminism," guys! I had to jettison one of the rules from the movie, which was that Buffy had sort of a cramping every time she was around a vampire. In a series I didn't want her to always know when she was around a vampire. And that's too bad in a way because it was a very primal, feminist concept that she literally feels it in her womb, as it were. But I had seven years and she needed to be surprised. How did this man EVER ever get away with being called a "feminist hero"?
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Post by Squad 51 on Apr 10, 2021 13:11:57 GMT -5
Well, very weird. No happy ending, because the audience demanded it?! I don't think so since we all grow up with fairy tales. True, the first versions were brutal and not Disney like, yet a happy ending I'd appreciate more.
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Post by Tim on Apr 10, 2021 17:12:52 GMT -5
Should have seen this coming. The signs were there.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Apr 10, 2021 18:39:48 GMT -5
Well, very weird. No happy ending, because the audience demanded it?! I don't think so since we all grow up with fairy tales. True, the first versions were brutal and not Disney like, yet a happy ending I'd appreciate more. I constantly see Buffy/Angel fans lamenting the fact that none of the shows' couples got happy endings, so I'm not sure where he's getting this "audiences think happy couples are boring" crap from. It doesn't seem to have any basis in reality. It sounds like he's just using the fans to cover for his own toxic ideas about relationships. Lines right up with what Kai Cole has said about him.
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Post by Tim on Apr 10, 2021 23:24:02 GMT -5
Clearly the man thinks the fans are stupid. Why else would he say such things?
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Post by Squad 51 on Apr 11, 2021 10:42:28 GMT -5
Some up and downs happen in every relationship. That's normal but a long life with someone you love is also good. As you said, the fans wanted a happy ending but Whedon interpreted it the wrong way. No sense for fans!!
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Post by Tim on Apr 11, 2021 11:54:51 GMT -5
Wonder if this will finish him in Hollywood. It finished Kernus, after all.
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