After he confessed his behaviour to Cole, he wrote to her, "In many ways I was the HEIGHT of normal, in this culture. [192][193] The film was scripted, produced, directed, edited and composed by Whedon, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. No. He called it "the most important book" he ever read,[238] and said it was handed to him right after he saw Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, whose impact, he recalls, had made him an existentialist. Unsurprisingly, the news has generated a lot of discussion, much of it focused on the question of what constitutes a betrayal of feminist values. [19] While he was script consulting, he also wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer—the film that would precede the series—Alien Resurrection and an early draft for Atlantis: The Lost Empire[20] and co-wrote Toy Story and Titan A.E., the former of which earned him a shared Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. (2007). [61] Following the successful eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, IDW Publishing approached Whedon about similarly producing a canonical sixth season for Angel. [304][305] Whedon and Cole separated in 2012 and divorced in 2016. [154] Whedon and Goddard intended to make a film that exemplified horror movies while still preserving the fun and frightening elements necessary to being a horror film. And then no matter what, I always end up with a team". [141] In January 2016, Whedon announced that he will no longer work with Marvel. In June 2012, Slate magazine identified it as the most written about popular culture text of all time. Two arguments I saw repeatedly framed after the publication of Cole's piece went thus: "Infidelity doesn't stop someone from being a feminist. [139] Whedon said it was a "glorious surprise" to him to discover how well they worked together. [317][318], In January 2017, after actress Nicole Kidman publicly suggested that America should accept that Donald Trump is President, Whedon tweeted a photograph of plastic puppet Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward alongside an image of Kidman, an action some interpreted as mocking and objectifying Kidman's physical appearance. [75], Fox chose to play the episodes of the series out of order, running The Train Job first, and not airing the pilot until a dozen episodes later, resulting in some confusion from viewers. In his 2006 Equality Now address, Whedon said that … [233][234] However, production was delayed because of his commitment to projects at Marvel Studios. [174], Whedon spoke about certain complications that factored in with making the show for Marvel, noting confusion between him and the company regarding the degree to which they wanted him to create it, citing their demand that he prioritize Avengers: Age of Ultron. The idea came directly from his aversion to seeing the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie". It had to be self-contained and work as a movie, which meant I had to cope with problems like introducing nine main characters who'd already met! [244][279], In late 2013, Whedon spoke at an Equality Now event, where he issued a pointed dissection of the word "feminist". ", "No, Joss Whedon, "feminist" is not a dirty word", "Joss Whedon just said some really dumb things about feminism", "Joss Whedon's Awesome Speech About Why He Hates The Word 'Feminist' Will Make You Think", "Joss Whedon criticises comic book movie industry for 'intractible sexism, "Joss Whedon: 'Quiet Misogyny' Within Industry Prevents Growth Of Female Superheroes", "Black Widow: This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things", "Review: 'Avengers: Age Of Ultron' Is A Galactus-Sized Disappointment", "Joss Whedon Is a 'Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals,' Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says (Guest Blog)", "Joss Whedon's Ex-Wife: 'He Is Not Who He Pretends to Be", "Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado' actors: Where you know them from", "Exploring the Whedonverse: Inside the Cult Hero Fame of 'Avengers' Director Joss Whedon", "Angel alum Amy Acker talks S.H.I.E.L.D., says, 'Fred is the gift that keeps giving, "Alexis Denisof on channelling Shakespeare through Joss Whedon", "New roles for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. [214], Early in his career, Whedon sold two spec scripts that were not produced, Suspension and Afterlife. "[264] Whedon determines that, although giving actors notes for guidance, he also aims to assuage their concerns when communicating the reasons and outcomes of a scene. Cole was married to Whedon for sixteen years. [59] Whedon said of the cancellation, "I believe the reason Angel had trouble on The WB was that it was the only show on the network that wasn't trying to be Buffy. A precociously optioned second episode was entirely abandoned due to the gloominess written into the script. Kai Cole Said Whedon Is Fake Feminist. If the story is in front of me, I'm fine". In March 2012, Whedon stated that although television involves more compromise than film: I think, ultimately, gun to my head, TV is the place. She was previously married to Joss Whedon . [287] However, critics noted an almost stereotypical lack of feminist ideals in his writing decisions and portrayal of Black Widow, one of two female protagonists in Marvel's 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron, played by Scarlett Johansson. Since being canceled, Firefly has attained cult status. As Buffy Summers (Whedon's most famous character) might say, what's the big? These include Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004), Firefly (2002), Dollhouse (2009–2010), and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It felt like I had a disease, like something from a Greek myth. "[286] Whedon exemplified The Hunger Games film series as an argument for female led franchises, and hoped Marvel Studios would pursue production of more such franchises. But perhaps a better question is whether the industry these people work in will continue to help bolster the image they've carefully constructed around themselves, even as it shatters around them. [217] In Afterlife there were precursors to themes Whedon would later explore in Dollhouse. She was an adolescent girl finding out she has great power and dealing with it. [65] Set in the year 2517,[66] Firefly explores the lives of the people who while on the outskirts of society, make their living as the crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The idea of putting something out there and letting it grow is really exciting. [151], Despite low ratings in its first season, the series was renewed for a second and final season. [231], The sequel to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog has been shelved on multiple occasions. [5] His mother, Ann Lee (née Jeffries) Stearns, originally from Kentucky, was a teacher at Riverdale Country School as Lee Whedon,[6][7] and an aspiring novelist. Club: That's it, end of story, no? [224] From a 2006 interview with Fanboy Radio: "I've been seeing a lot of horror movies that are torture-porn, where kids we don't care about are mutilated for hours, and I just cannot abide them... it's an antidote to that very kind of film, the horror movie with the expendable human beings in it. [76][77][78] Faced with these hurdles, the show had an average of 4.7 million viewers at the time and was ranked 98th in Nielsen ratings. Comeford, AmiJo and Burnett, Tamy (2010). [252] His use of self-aware dialogue to humanize characters,[253] which relies heavily on dry humor and subtext,[254][255] treating clichés subversively,[256] using misogyny to define the trait of a villain,[243][257] and the recurring theme of self-sacrifice led by subverting moral icons have been defining to his style of storytelling. "It felt like I had a disease," he wrote, "like something from a Greek myth. OK sure, another case of a marriage breakdown. "Joss Whedon: 'I want to make things that are small, pure and odd. [49], As a result of the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Whedon was given the opportunity to make Angel, his 1999 spin-off series of the show. [134], As a response to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike,[135] Whedon directed, co-wrote and produced Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Born in New York City as Joseph1 Hill Whedon,[2][3] and also being a third-generation TV writer,[4] he is a son of Tom Whedon, a screenwriter for Alice in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s, and a grandson of John Whedon, who worked on The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s and The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s, as well as writing for radio shows like The Great Gildersleeve. [114][115] In 2006, it won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. Whedon has been vocal about his identification as a feminist, but according to his now-ex-wife, Kai Cole, it’s an act. and Alien Resurrection. Of course, one affair turned into another and then another. [35][36] The final episode "Chosen" was nominated for a Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Hugo Award in 2003.