{"id":25195,"date":"2021-02-10T13:25:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T21:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/?p=25195"},"modified":"2021-02-10T13:25:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T21:25:47","slug":"once-more-with-feeling-joss-whedon-is-a-jerk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2021\/02\/10\/once-more-with-feeling-joss-whedon-is-a-jerk\/","title":{"rendered":"Once More With Feeling: Joss Whedon is a Jerk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:1643,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/tvline.com\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/charisma-carpenter-joss-whedon-toxic-hostile-abuse-allegations&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20220820030640\\\/https:\\\/\\\/tvline.com\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/charisma-carpenter-joss-whedon-toxic-hostile-abuse-allegations\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-03 00:00:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-14 03:53:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 23:30:04&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 03:44:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 03:44:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:1644,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/fullcontactmuse.tumblr.com\\\/post\\\/159212870488\\\/rainnecassidy-pilgrimkitty-megaparsecs-my&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20210203021859\\\/https:\\\/\\\/fullcontactmuse.tumblr.com\\\/post\\\/159212870488\\\/rainnecassidy-pilgrimkitty-megaparsecs-my&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-03 00:00:33&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-15 02:46:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02 22:39:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-06 01:50:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-06 01:50:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:1645,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/josswhedonisnotafeminist.tumblr.com\\\/post\\\/121446190016\\\/stele3-laureljupiter-laureljupiter-im&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20260303001103\\\/https:\\\/\\\/josswhedonisnotafeminist.tumblr.com\\\/post\\\/121446190016\\\/stele3-laureljupiter-laureljupiter-im&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-14 03:53:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 23:30:04&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 03:44:29&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 03:44:29&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:1646,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/xkcd.com\\\/1053&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20260302021046\\\/https:\\\/\\\/xkcd.com\\\/1053\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-03 00:09:04&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-15 02:46:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02 22:39:33&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-06 01:50:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-06 01:50:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:1647,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/socialjusticeleaguenet.wordpress.com\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/18\\\/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251224200229\\\/https:\\\/\\\/socialjusticeleaguenet.wordpress.com\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/18\\\/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-03 00:09:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-15 02:46:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 23:18:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-01 17:18:16&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-05 02:33:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-05 02:33:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>For no reason at all (<a href=\"https:\/\/tvline.com\/2021\/02\/10\/charisma-carpenter-joss-whedon-toxic-hostile-abuse-allegations\/\" title=\"TVLine: Charisma Carpenter Details Buffy\/ Angel Boss Joss Whedon's Allegedly 'Toxic' and 'Hostile' Misconduct: 'I Can No Longer Remain Silent'\"><em>ahem<\/em><\/a>), some old links I had laying around&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>From 2017: <a href=\"https:\/\/fullcontactmuse.tumblr.com\/post\/159212870488\/rainnecassidy-pilgrimkitty-megaparsecs-my\" title=\"Tumblr: IF YOUR FEMINISM ISN'T INTERSECTIONAL IT'S BULLSHIT\">My new album&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  My new album, Joss Whedon Kind Of Really Sucks and Even Though I Have and May Continue to Enjoy Some of His Shows or Aspects of His Shows That Doesn\u2019t Mean That I Don\u2019t Need To Recognize How They Have A Lot of Problematic Elements, is coming out next week!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>From 2017: <a href=\"https:\/\/josswhedonisnotafeminist.tumblr.com\/post\/121446190016\/stele3-laureljupiter-laureljupiter-im\" title=\"Tumblr: Creativity is a full contact sport\">I\u2019m looking at screenshots&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  The problem is that at some point in his career, Joss became so intent on the masochistic fantasy of being hated by strong women for being a nerd that he spent a decade writing stories about violating those women to ensure they would hate him.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>From 2009 (<strong>content warning<\/strong> for late 00&#8217;s-era Cracked.com over-the-top snark with lots of I&#8217;m-cool-because-I-swear profanity and problematic language): <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20091018045342\/http:\/\/www.cracked.com\/article\/166_5-reasons-it-sucks-being-joss-whedon-fan\/\" title=\"Archive.org: Cracked.com: 5 Reasons It Sucks Being a Joss Whedon Fan\">5 Reasons It Sucks Being a Joss Whedon Fan<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  Yeah, Buffy kicked unholy ass, Zoe was Mal&#8217;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\u2026.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I&#8217;m not mocking or disparaging those who are just now learning just how problematic Joss Whedon is (though it&#8217;s presented in a different context, I always try to keep <a href=\"https:\/\/xkcd.com\/1053\/\" title=\"XKCD: Ten Thousand\">XKCD&#8217;s Ten Thousand comic<\/a> in mind); nor do I look down on those who still find things in Whedon&#8217;s work that they enjoy (there&#8217;s still a lot of <em>Buffy<\/em> that I enjoy, from the original film through most of the show and <em>Angel<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve said before that I believe <a href=\"https:\/\/socialjusticeleaguenet.wordpress.com\/2011\/09\/18\/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things\/\" title=\"How to be a fan of problematic things\">it&#8217;s entirely possible to enjoy problematic media<\/a> and media created by problematic creators; you just have to be willing to recognize those areas where they fall down, rather than ignoring or glossing over them because of the parts you enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>Much of Whedon&#8217;s work, particularly <em>Buffy<\/em>, was groundbreaking and formative for many people, and that can make it hard to recognize and confront the failings of both the media and the creator. (Most recently, Harry Potter fans sure know something about this situation.) So if these things are new to you and you&#8217;re struggling with how to process them, and how they may affect your enjoyment of the media you grew up with? You&#8217;re not alone.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you&#8217;ll keep these things as part of your life, maybe you&#8217;ll decide you&#8217;d rather move on to new things and leave these as part of your past. As long as you&#8217;re recognizing why and making these decisions for yourself, there&#8217;s no wrong answer (though some may try to convince you otherwise).<\/p>\n<p>As I noted above, there&#8217;s a lot about Buffy that I still enjoy; similarly, there&#8217;s a lot about the Harry Potter universe that I still enjoy. For myself, I&#8217;m not going to wholeheartedly expunge either from my life. But neither will I shy away from recognizing where they don&#8217;t hold up to my current ideals and standards, and I will continue to minimize the financial support I give to their creators. What you decide, of course, is up to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can enjoy media while recognizing where the media and its creators are problematic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2037],"tags":[1488,1481,587,3970,1478],"class_list":["post-25195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tv-and-films","tag-angel","tag-buffy-the-vampire-slayer","tag-harry-potter","tag-j-k-rowling","tag-joss-whedon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}