Human Iterations

(One Update Per Month And It's A Whedon)

Yeah, Buffy kicked unholy ass, Zoe was Mal's Terminatrix-like enforcer, Faith begat Echo and Echo is the baddest ass Kung Fu Whore TV has ever seen, and yet, aside from the fact these girls have done some push ups and punched masculinity in its shriveled balls time and again, the idea that Whedon is some sort of hyper-feminist stinks as bad as Eliza Dushku's "acting."

Joss shoots his actresses most lovingly when they're wet and crying and curled up in the fetal position, pressed up against a wall, broken, mascara running, bleeding, and reaching out. And what are they typically reaching out for? Some dude (or vampire or werewolf) and the dick he's attached to.

That's it. That's as complex as it gets. Sound familiar? That's because it's also the image of women we get from every other movie or show written by men. And yet when a lisping nerd who tritely describes himself as "a lesbian in a man's body" does it to a high-school cheerleader, it's "feminist." This is like when Toni Morrison called Bill Clinton "The First Black President." You could only say such a thing if you were THAT willing to settle. His two most artistically successful shows are Angel and Firefly, both centered on men, and written from a male point of view. If I wanted to be glib (and I usually do) Angel and Firefly worked because they're basically "Batman in LA" and "Han Solo, the TV Show," respectively.

(thanks Roman)

Now there's nothing wrong with centering shows on male characters. And Firefly is perfection incarnate with no failings whatsoever. But, for christ sake, it shouldn't be controversial to say that Whedon is not particularly good on gender. It's not like he doesn't know a couple things and it's not like he doesn't, you know, try every once in a while. But the problem is he's insanely cocky about it. He's proud of what he's accomplished. And most of the time? What he's accomplished is pretty shallow. Both in the scope of what he chooses to address and the depth by which he does so. (I dare you to watch Dollhouse without picturing a 13 year old girl going "this isn't really who I am all these identities are just like masks that I wear!!")

The problem with his cheerleaders is that they tend to just accept these premises on face-value. Since Whedon is a 'great feminist' the things he explores must be important and the ways he goes about doing so must be sufficient. And in doing so they absolutely ruin the discourse.