tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post8056313791169781695..comments2023-11-03T04:39:50.760-05:00Comments on Galley Slaves: Joss Whedon: Sexist Monster?Jonathan V. Lasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17426165197358366129noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-30067261255369313672008-03-27T23:51:00.000-05:002008-03-27T23:51:00.000-05:00It's a garbage essay. That being said, Whedon Does...It's a garbage essay. That being said, Whedon Does have a lot of Issues.<BR/><BR/>Spike raped Buffy in the next to last season, later Buffy fell in love with him and had implied off-screen sex with the character. Before the rape there's plenty of icky, violent sex in an alley by a dumpster, in public, etc.<BR/><BR/>Firefly had a proposed episode where Minear talked Whedon out of it, that had Mal tauting Inara as a whore, Inara is taken by the Reavers and injects herself with a drug, they Reavers (offscreen) all rape Inara and die from the drug (the drug gimmick was used on Angel btw). After the crew rescues Inara, and find the dead Reavers, Mal kisses her hand like a queen.<BR/><BR/>Is Whedon a sexist? No more than most in Hollywood, he's probably pretty feminist (which is why much of his stuff sucks without strong collaborators). He relies on "shock" i.e. character rape, death, etc. over and over again. It's a cliche. Predictable. As predictable as figuring the Southern Christian is the bad guy.<BR/><BR/>Conclusion: this woman is a feminist and whack job (I know, redundant). Whedon is a hack writer depending on shock which got old sometime around 1830 or so, unless he's got someone strong to tell him "No Joss that sucks we're not doing it."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-6416244013549757792008-03-27T10:53:00.000-05:002008-03-27T10:53:00.000-05:00What is disturbing is the rampant vilification, wi...What is disturbing is the rampant vilification, with the pseudo-syntax of a scholar. However, we see absolutely nothing in terms of evidence. Is she looking at something we might be missing or just taking things out of context in a reflex action. <BR/><BR/>For example, Inara is a Companion. Prostitution is historically seen as demeaning and offensive to the feminist paradigms. Yet, in the 'verse, she's got a lot of personal and professional power. But, you have to look at the series beyond one scene or one episode.<BR/><BR/>Largely, I get annoyed with such trash, mostly because that is what it is. It's just a lot of wind because someone is annoyed, without substance to back up some vague notions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-54106360542287405522008-03-27T10:31:00.000-05:002008-03-27T10:31:00.000-05:00That essay is the most flawed analysis of a televi...That essay is the most flawed analysis of a television series since my 8 year old niece concluded the Flintstones was an accurate representation of the Stone Age. The writer assumes Joss Whedon is a rapist. She assumes, because she doesn't know of any, that there are no healthy interracial relationships. She assumes that no woman can knowingly engage in heterosexual sex and not be used.<BR/><BR/>Girlfriend has intellectual and personal issues. She needs to get out more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-21055614558299111172008-03-27T01:00:00.000-05:002008-03-27T01:00:00.000-05:00I think there's a real problem with what people th...I think there's a real problem with what people think feminism means, today. What's sad is that this kind of hardline condemnation alienates people who are "on the fence," so to speak. The reasonable people who don't want to be sexist but don't realize how they <I>are</I> being sexist. Raised as we are, in the kind of society, global as well as local, I'm not going to hold it against someone who's willing to learn and change.<BR/><BR/>Sexism is everywhere in pop culture. It's not a nice truth, but a truth nonetheless. Joss Whedon isn't guiltless, here, however he is far from the kind of problems feminist should be worrying about. Buffy as feminist art is, I think, kind of a misguided project. But I think Whedon was working through a lot as an artist throughout the series and I'm not going to hold the gender issues he opted not to deal with in Buffy.<BR/><BR/>Firefly, however, doesn't deserve feminist ire. Allecto has equated feminism with... I'm trying to find a better word for witch-hunting, but nothing's coming to mind. She reached her conclusion long before she watched Firefly twice, read all the scripts thrice, etc. She raises a number of points that sound like feminism. Ostensibly, she could well have had something, but the show doesn't work that way. Allecto wants the women to be held in special regard. This isn't feminism. It's just a different kind of sexism.<BR/><BR/>I don't really blame her, even, because it's very easy to get the two mixed up. But here's a test. Step into a hypothetical machine, and switch the genders of everyone on the show. With the possible exception of Jayne - who's <I>supposed</I> to be an asshole - everything still works. Allecto's hangups on men ordering women around, on the commodification of sex as imprisoning women, actually reflect old world values, which is something feminism should be rebelling against. But putting women in chain of command roles, allowing for equal-opportunity prostitution, and allowing women to get into fights with men when we're cheering for the men is more liberating than putting them on a pedestal and refusing to let them get as dirty as everyone else.<BR/><BR/>Plus, bringing race into the discussion is an entirely moot point, as Firefly is set in a world where race doesn't seem to matter at all. Mal and Zoe don't see each other as different.<BR/><BR/>Yes, these women are flawed. But women <I>are</I> flawed, because they are <I>people</I>, which is something Allecto's brand of feminism seems to forget. We're all the same, except that we're all different. This doesn't have anything to do with gender and race. I feel for her, because I know where she's coming from. It's fun, frankly, to get riled up into that kind of frenzy, and I even encourage it, but you can't lose perspective. Feminism should be about rubbing out all the lines in the sand, not drawing new ones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-34690035703515764062008-03-27T00:03:00.000-05:002008-03-27T00:03:00.000-05:00I actually cried when I read her blog. I wept. I'm...I actually cried when I read her blog. I wept. I'm a feminist. I majored in Women's Studies and the kind of hate she is spewing, her theory that all men must be rapists is beyond bigoted. Plus she dissed on my Joss and there is no forgiving that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-4277359610743685452008-03-26T21:32:00.000-05:002008-03-26T21:32:00.000-05:00seriously? Really?It's one thing to argue that the...seriously? <BR/><BR/>Really?<BR/><BR/>It's one thing to argue that there are problems with accepting this series (or others written by the same person) as feminist friendly.<BR/><BR/>It's another thing altogether to say a man one has never met rapes and abuses his wife, whom one has also never met. <BR/><BR/>Last I checked, that was called slander.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-37136643627453511842008-03-26T19:02:00.000-05:002008-03-26T19:02:00.000-05:00...sighit is impossible to tell a good story anymo......sigh<BR/><BR/>it is impossible to tell a good story anymore without offending someone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7871003.post-5885262580507294922008-03-26T15:08:00.000-05:002008-03-26T15:08:00.000-05:00Anything potentially "feminist" written by a guy c...Anything potentially "feminist" written by a guy can be torn to shreds by any seasoned feminist on the basis of gender.<BR/><BR/><BR/>/yawn<BR/><BR/><BR/>The real question you might be asking is if Whedon was a woman and telling the same stories, would you take that person to task as much?<BR/><BR/>And if the counterpoint is that "women don't write this way", then it falls into a gender-based pigeon-hole, which, on the basis of gender, no one can dig themselves out of even if they wanted to.<BR/><BR/>This is a chinese-finger trap of an argument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com