Rarely has a creator just so precipitously bought his own hype and descended into shittery so fast. Joss whedon is like the writerly equivalent of Lady Gaga.

It’s In the Trees

YOU ARE CORRECT SIR.

(via natface)

REMEMBER WHEN WHEDON FELL INTO THE EVIL IS A BIG PAINTED BLACK PERSON TRAP?

EDIT: 

Dollhouse 2x10 - The Attic

(via sexartandpolitics)

OH MY GOD IT’S SO ACCURATE

(via stayinbedgrowyourhair)

he did that way back in firefly…. twice. 

thejeniverse:

pulpofiction:

thejeniverse:

more reason to love Joss Whedon (originally from wellingtonyoungfeminists)

The irony is that he actually doesn’t.
(my apologies to Whedonites.) 

Just curious, what makes you think that?  I know Buffy isn’t a shining example in a few seasons…

To be honest, I’ve only seen Firefly and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, so I’ll just go into those. Firefly was pretty problematic to me, sadly, even though I really liked it. :/

DHSB: Penny is a nothing character. She exists so that Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible fight over her, and then she dies. Yes, she’s the love interest… but that’s her function. She’s very one dimensional. I mean, granted, a 45-minute musical is limited in scope, but Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible are fantastically developed characters, and Penny is… static. She’s just there. and then she dies.

Firefly. Here we go. (I’ve had this discussion before.)
Problematic #1. Inara. Ooooh, boy, Inara. Prostitution is the occupation of highest esteem for women? Really? So, the women held in highest regard are the ones who get paid to service men? Um… ? I mean, I believe sex-workers should be respected, but in the Firefly ‘verse, literally the best thing a woman can be is an object for men. Also, Mal is constantly disrespecting Inara for it, and I can’t stand it. It doesn’t scream makings of a good relationship to me where the two supposed intended lovers are always fighting, and one is always calling the other a whore. Inara has sexual agency, but her self-respect is constantly being challenged by Mal in a highly slut-shaming and patriarchal fashion. Her agency is a function of Mal’s perspective of her work. So, Inara is Problematic #1.

The depiction of River is Problematic #2. YES SHE IS A BADASS AND I LOVE IT. But, this badassery also limits her - she is a messed-up, insane, slightly brainwashed child. She has to depend on her brother (obviously, a man) to help her regain her sanity. Like Inara, her agency is also dependent on a man, but instead, it’s a brainwash bonus. 

The episode where Niska kidnaps Wash and Mal is Problematic #3. Zoe is treated more like a possession than someone who made a conscious choice to marry a certain man - see how Wash’s jealousy (a natural follow-up emotion to a sense of ownership/entitlement) strains his relationship with Mal and Zoe. Why fight over how the chick feels when you can just ask her how she feels?

Problematic #4. the YoSaffBridge episode where it ends with Mal and YoSaffBridge on the floor in a very rape-tastic way. This is not an appropriate way to depict or take vengeance on someone who has done you wrong. Flat no.

Problematic #5, and for me, the biggest one: as a progressive, I feel it is very important that feminists are also aware of the intersectionalities of race and gender. Which is why the episode with Jubal Early the bounty hunter is the NUMBER ONE A PLUS REASON why I have reservations about Firefly, and therefore Joss Whedon. 
A black man comes on board and threatens all the white women with rape. 
…
That one should explain itself.
I’ll expand it a bit anyway.
None of the women can really fight back, except for River, who is crazy. So it takes Simon to try and save his girlfriend, the prostitute, and his insane sister. 

So, yeah. A lot of people tell me that these things are for the sake of narrative, and dramatic tension, and so on; but directors and writers can make certain choices about the way they develop their female characters and POC characters, and for Firefly, I think Whedon made some bad decisions on the whole, which is why unfortunately my love for Firefly is severely tempered by how I perceive the female characters and their interactions with the male characters.

So, what do you think?


(also, is the idea that ‘River’s saving the day is a moot point to me because she’s sort of insane’ kind of ableist? someone help me out.)

firefly and the sino-american alliance 

crossedwires:

@ alan_tudyk cowboys and aliens is okay for a space western but suffers from a painful lack of chinese

SO DID FIREFLY.

funny how a show where all the characters speak some chinese has absolutely no asian characters
FUNNY 

this 

is a fabulous GIF

gaze upon its cuteness and despair

bulletinthebrainpan:

pulpofiction:

bulletinthebrainpan:

SHIRTLESS SIMON TAM!

now that I have your attention, I’M GONNA MEET HIM! AND JAMES MARSTERS! AND TOM FELTON! HGIFSD;ZGNDF WOO

it is 3:30 in the morning and i am looking for gifs of simon tam on tumblr because he is one fine-ass doctor
look at that anatomy. just look
also, I like how in 14 episodes and a movie, he goes from an awkward, semi-bumbling nerd type to a professionally snarky, criminal-mastermind bad-ass. the logical conclusion from extending this head canon is Simon Tam, scalpels akimbo, masterminding the shit out of everybody while RIVER TAM BEATS UP EVERYONE coming to theaters 2012
*cough* this character development pleases me
bonus!: much like beauty and the beast, his transition from uptight and nervous to relaxed and in control is signalled by subtly transitioning waistcoats and starched shirts out for pullovers and sweats. good job whedon you’re cool 

dude whoever you are i flipping love you AND I JUST FUCKING MET HIM HIS ARM WAS AROUND MY SHOULDER AND I TOLD HIM I LOVED HIM AND BURST INTO TEARS HE’S EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL IN PERSON

JEALOUS

and reblogging this just puts shirtless!simon on my tumblr again, never a bad thing 

bulletinthebrainpan:

SHIRTLESS SIMON TAM!

now that I have your attention, I’M GONNA MEET HIM! AND JAMES MARSTERS! AND TOM FELTON! HGIFSD;ZGNDF WOO

it is 3:30 in the morning and i am looking for gifs of simon tam on tumblr because he is one fine-ass doctor
look at that anatomy. just look
also, I like how in 14 episodes and a movie, he goes from an awkward, semi-bumbling nerd type to a professionally snarky, criminal-mastermind bad-ass. the logical conclusion from extending this head canon is Simon Tam, scalpels akimbo, masterminding the shit out of everybody while RIVER TAM BEATS UP EVERYONE coming to theaters 2012
*cough* this character development pleases me
bonus!: much like beauty and the beast, his transition from uptight and nervous to relaxed and in control is signalled by subtly transitioning waistcoats and starched shirts out for pullovers and sweats. good job whedon you’re cool 

doctorbeetles:

I agree with the Zoe thing, she needed much more development.

However I think that it is completely unnecessary to read anything into the show. Mal calls Inara a whore, it isn’t anything but an interesting dynamic to the show. There is nothing to take from it except the sheer entertainment it provides to see how Mal deals with his feelings for Inara. And he clearly respects her as a woman as displayed in almost every episode, so much so that he hates the idea of her essentially being shallow entertainment for rich dicks who rely on money to have a sex life. Yes the way Mal lashes out at her is a bit harsh but it’s only because he thinks she is above her occupation and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. It’s called plot. Sometimes there are subliminal messages etc in shows but, really, there aren’t any here. It’s just plot dynamics, nothing more.

And as for Jubal being a “violent, rapist stereotype” (I’m paraphrasing) stop thinking about people as black and white. He is a human being, he is an actor and he just happened to land a role as a psycopath. Race has nothing to do with it. I mean c’mon it’s Whedon’s work, he is one of the most liberal people in television imo. I bet at the audition the fact that Richard Brooks (Jubal) was black didn’t even cross Joss Whedon’s mind.

I really don’t see the point in over analysing. Firefly does not perpetuate stereotypes and it is not degrading to women. It’s just a fucking good TV show.

You should get a job as an English Literature teacher, then you’ll be paid to point out non existent underlying messages in harmless fiction.

I’m not here to pick a fight, I just think it’s pointless discussing something so ludicrous.

This was aimed at pulpofiction btw.

You make a good point that Mal calling Inara a whore is part of his reaction to her job, but it still makes me extremely uncomfortable. It’s like, ‘way to target female sexuality with degrading, belittling terms’. It’s either an extreme lack of foresight on Mal’s part or just some bad writing (sadly, in light of the rest of the writing on the show.)

And, you know, I really enjoyed Firefly. I did. I liked it. But as someone who is always conscientious of the dynamics of privilege, power, race, and gender on TV, I can’t help but analyze. It has to be analyzed. The first step towards balanced, progressive representation of non-heteronormative people is to point out where things are wrong. On one level, I enjoy watching TV; but on the second level, I enjoy checking privilege where it exists and pointing it out, in the interest of discussion and education. It’s not ludicrous; and while these ‘messages’ aren’t necessarily intentional or explicit, they still exist. I know Joss Whedon didn’t set out to depict a black man as a rapist of white women, but in the United States, that portrayal sets off very unpleasant racist implications. It just happens.  

activism exists in many forms; this is just one of them. 

slashedupinsanity:

pulpofiction:

slashedupinsanity:

First off, I think you’re awesome. Really, and truly, I love that you seem fired up to change the world. But I also think you’re overlooking a lot of aspects of this show.

• Zoë and Wash defy gender roles in their relationship. Wash doesn’t have a problem with his wife being aggressive and somewhat manly. The only problem he ever had was that she always went on missions with Mal. And Mal’s just that sexy.
• The Operator was black, so what? Whedon in no way reinforces that because he’s black, he’s going to threaten a white girl with rape. The Operator does so because his character is psychotic and he enjoys hurting people, which River points out at the end. Also, Niska had a thick Russian accent. And Badger was white.
• The most powerful character on the show is a girl: River Tam.
• Kaylee may like Simon, but she won’t accept less than what she’s worth. Anytime he’s been disrespectful to her, she turns her back on him. I love this about her.
• Just because Mal constantly calls Inara a whore has nothing to do with what the screenwriters deem acceptable. Dialogue shows us what kind of character Mal is and how other people view Companions as a whole, as well as how Mal feels about Inara. To me, it’s like pulling on her pigtails, grabbing for her attention. He just wants to ruffle her feathers the best way he can come up with. I also find it interesting that it does ruffle her feathers.
• I don’t know what you’re expecting from a show with a short run. I also don’t see why you think Zoë has any character development to go through, if you don’t say the same about Mal. Both are rather static…
• You’d have to elaborate on Mal’s role of “great white male protector.” I honestly don’t see this suggested anywhere besides your observation.

If you’re looking for it, you can see whatever you want, but I think Firefly is the farthest away from being racist or even misogynist. In fact, I think it takes strides away from it.

I’m not writing this to pick any fight, but I’m always up for healthy debate. (I’ve read a decent argument that Whedon has strong female characters, but also has a tendency to portray them as the most broken down.)

Yay! Discussion time. :D this might be making my day

First off, Zoe. I know the show only lasted 14 episodes, but I feel like she was the most under-used and under-explored of the main cast. Simon and River have their thing going on, Wash has his fight with Mal (and consequent insecurities), Inara has her fights with Mal, Jayne has his moments (and episode) and Kaylee has her shiny moments (like Shindig). Zoe’s character seems the most static - she supports Mal and loves Wash and snarks a lot and then what? I wish the show had lasted longer so that we could see what the writers would have done with her. Mal’s character development is also kind of static, but his personality gets explored more than Zoe’s, being the main character. What do you think?

 Second, the ‘whore’ thing. I remember Inara in ‘out of gas’ specifically laying down a rule that Mal can’t call her a whore and then he does it all the time… I mean, I don’t think the concept of slutwalk and reclaiming certain words for empowerment exists in the ‘Verse, so him calling Inara a whore over and over again just seemed degrading. There are ways to poke fun that tease and then there are ways to poke fun that are just disrespectful. She has a legitimate business enterprise, he calls her a whore; and then when she calls him a petty thief, Mal gets all upset. Double standard… I think, actually, that Mal calling Inara a whore all the time is my least favorite part of the show, because Mal is such a relentless jerk about it. Ungh.

Third: Jubal Early. like i said earlier in my poorly-structured rant, having the black character threaten, beat, and try to kidnap the white female characters just perpetuates some… nasty, terrible attitudes about race. Now I’m not saying that the show writers have these attitudes; just that they’re not helping our society think differently about race relations and racial perspectives. And, re:Niska, same thing, but lighter and softer impact than Jubal Early.

and a quick bit about the great white male protector: you know the old trope about the white man’s burden; has to civilize the savages, protect the women, and lead the world? Jubal as a character challenged that in Mal.

Thoughts?

I actually squealed when I saw your reply. Like “She didn’t take it the wrong way! Yes! Debate!” :D But on to business.

I think you’re absolutely right. I would’ve like to have more about Zoë, because it’s true that we see more with the other characters. All we really get is that she’s married to Wash, and she was in the war with Mal. Though Book, on the other hand, does get lots of backstory love in a comic. So why couldn’t Zoë?

Maybe Mal’s just a jerk. Like Whedon was like “Damn, he’s TOO likeable.” I’d like to revisit the scene where Inara calls him a “petty thief” just in my interest on their relationship. It is degrading, I wonder if it’s also true for both of them. I get your point entirely on this count. I have a habit of calling my best friend a “whore” completely out of love so it doesn’t faze either of us, so that makes me gloss over the word. Hmm. Out of random interest, what could Mal have done besides calling her a “whore”?

Jubal doesn’t seem too problematic to me, mostly because the heroes themselves have a balance of races. If the Serenity crew was all white, I’d be right beside you on this. But when you have someone as despicable as Jayne Cobb (who appears white), it seems okay to me to have a psychotic bad guy…. who happens to be black. (Irrelevant sidenote: Jayne’s actually my favorite male character, but he’s terrible, man. Always money, money, money.)

I’ve heard the trope, but I don’t see the parallel.This is exceedingly lame to say but Mal’s best friend (Zoë) is black. So I don’t see why he’d have the mentality of “white man’s burden.” Nor of saving women - he had run-ins with Patience and Saffron and has no issues with them as women, just that they wronged him.

On note of “poorly structured rant” - I feel bad, yo, like I attacked you with your guard down. :P Sorry about that! Also, you have no ask box and that makes me bad. But completely irrelevant to the discussion.

more more more!
I’m just going to number it for convenience.
1. Zoe: let’s start a letter-writing campaign to get a backstory comic for Zoe… because those work so well when it comes to Firefly. (sigh) 

2. Ha, I used to do that too! But back to the subject at hand… I don’t know what else Mal could have called Inara, but to me, he just seems intent on shaming her sexuality (a lot of the characters do, at times) because she has a certain career that is not ‘acceptable’. Even if he didn’t call her a whore, there are all the snarky ‘honest business’/’wouldn’t want to keep you from your clients’-type comments that Mal makes, and… yeah, like I said; it’s my least favorite part of the show. It’s great that Joss Whedon shows a woman in charge of her sexuality in such a way, but it’s tempered by Mal’s reaction to Inara’s sexuality. I’m happy to chalk it up to Mal’s character, but I just wish Inara had taken a stronger stance on that particular rule of hers. 

Side note: Damnit, there would be so much more to talk about if it hadn’t been CANCELED

3. You see racially-balanced cast, I see two minority cast members and a distinct lack of prominent (other than a few background extras) Chinese or Asian characters in a world where the two main countries of the space race were China and the United States, and everything is in Chinese. This, unfortunately, is just a sad fact of television; that minorities are frequently underrepresented on TV unless there are shows that are specifically targeted towards them. (Except, yay! A:TLA.) We’ve been talking about black characters, but I’d just like to point out the overall lack of Asian characters as part of this discussion. I know you don’t agree with this analysis, but the depiction of a black man as the potential rapist of white women made me extremely, extremely uncomfortable, especially since that, that very concept, is instrumental to the historical perception of black men by white people in the United States. I know people who believe (today!) that the Ku Klux Klan was created to ‘protect white women from black rapists’. What? This episode, removed from context, is fine. It shows an evil character threatening some good characters. In the context of race relations in this country, it is very, very problematic. (also, my favorite character is Simon. this means war.)

And, re: Mal being the great white protector; I’m not saying he is - just that ‘Objects in Space’ gave off, strongly, that very distinct flavor. Mal is incapacitated, so the evul black man hits his white women and beats up the weaker men. 
Oh, YoSaffBridge! I read this really, really strongly-worded analysis of Firefly that talked about how YoSaffBridge’s untempered use of her sexuality to get what she wanted was threatening to Mal and in direct conflict with Inara’s patriarchally-controlled sexuality (i.e. regulated by the Alliance) and that whole scene at the end of ‘our mrs. reynolds’, with Mal tackling her and pinning her to the floor, was full of rape fetish fuel. I think YoSaffBridge is a really interesting character precisely because she’s using her sexuality as a weapon of sorts, and is completely unapologetic about it. Hmmmmmmm #moreanalysis #mustknow

And, I mean, overall, I really liked Firefly; I ended up hunting down and reading most of the comics and watching Serenity, but it’s being tempered by the aforementioned concerns. Boo. 

slashedupinsanity:

First off, I think you’re awesome. Really, and truly, I love that you seem fired up to change the world. But I also think you’re overlooking a lot of aspects of this show.

• Zoë and Wash defy gender roles in their relationship. Wash doesn’t have a problem with his wife being aggressive and somewhat manly. The only problem he ever had was that she always went on missions with Mal. And Mal’s just that sexy.
• The Operator was black, so what? Whedon in no way reinforces that because he’s black, he’s going to threaten a white girl with rape. The Operator does so because his character is psychotic and he enjoys hurting people, which River points out at the end. Also, Niska had a thick Russian accent. And Badger was white.
• The most powerful character on the show is a girl: River Tam.
• Kaylee may like Simon, but she won’t accept less than what she’s worth. Anytime he’s been disrespectful to her, she turns her back on him. I love this about her.
• Just because Mal constantly calls Inara a whore has nothing to do with what the screenwriters deem acceptable. Dialogue shows us what kind of character Mal is and how other people view Companions as a whole, as well as how Mal feels about Inara. To me, it’s like pulling on her pigtails, grabbing for her attention. He just wants to ruffle her feathers the best way he can come up with. I also find it interesting that it does ruffle her feathers.
• I don’t know what you’re expecting from a show with a short run. I also don’t see why you think Zoë has any character development to go through, if you don’t say the same about Mal. Both are rather static…
• You’d have to elaborate on Mal’s role of “great white male protector.” I honestly don’t see this suggested anywhere besides your observation.

If you’re looking for it, you can see whatever you want, but I think Firefly is the farthest away from being racist or even misogynist. In fact, I think it takes strides away from it.

I’m not writing this to pick any fight, but I’m always up for healthy debate. (I’ve read a decent argument that Whedon has strong female characters, but also has a tendency to portray them as the most broken down.)

Yay! Discussion time. :D this might be making my day

First off, Zoe. I know the show only lasted 14 episodes, but I feel like she was the most under-used and under-explored of the main cast. Simon and River have their thing going on, Wash has his fight with Mal (and consequent insecurities), Inara has her fights with Mal, Jayne has his moments (and episode) and Kaylee has her shiny moments (like Shindig). Zoe’s character seems the most static - she supports Mal and loves Wash and snarks a lot and then what? I wish the show had lasted longer so that we could see what the writers would have done with her. Mal’s character development is also kind of static, but his personality gets explored more than Zoe’s, being the main character. What do you think?

 Second, the ‘whore’ thing. I remember Inara in ‘out of gas’ specifically laying down a rule that Mal can’t call her a whore and then he does it all the time… I mean, I don’t think the concept of slutwalk and reclaiming certain words for empowerment exists in the ‘Verse, so him calling Inara a whore over and over again just seemed degrading. There are ways to poke fun that tease and then there are ways to poke fun that are just disrespectful. She has a legitimate business enterprise, he calls her a whore; and then when she calls him a petty thief, Mal gets all upset. Double standard… I think, actually, that Mal calling Inara a whore all the time is my least favorite part of the show, because Mal is such a relentless jerk about it. Ungh.

Third: Jubal Early. like i said earlier in my poorly-structured rant, having the black character threaten, beat, and try to kidnap the white female characters just perpetuates some… nasty, terrible attitudes about race. Now I’m not saying that the show writers have these attitudes; just that they’re not helping our society think differently about race relations and racial perspectives. And, re:Niska, same thing, but lighter and softer impact than Jubal Early.

and a quick bit about the great white male protector: you know the old trope about the white man’s burden; has to civilize the savages, protect the women, and lead the world? Jubal as a character challenged that in Mal.

Thoughts?

firefly ‘objects in space’ 

This episode was a fanbreaker for me; as in it split my fanwank for this show in half - one side ‘what an interesting, well-structured and character-developing episode’ and one side ‘what the fuck was all that racist misogynistic bullshit all about?’ 
The latter side: Why? ‘Cause they had the black man come on board and threaten to rape the little white girl, slap the other white girl, and try to kidnap the THIRD white girl. Yup. The black man. Threatening your white women, yo. And poor Mal, the great while male protector, he gets beaten up by the black man because black men are threatening to white male sexuality and place LET’S PERPETUATE SOME HETERONORMATIVE PATRIARCHAL NONSENSE, RIGHT ON JOSS WHEDON!
And then the former side was excited to see Simon shirtless and being a snarky brat to the guy trying to kill him and kidnap his sister. 
But.
Um.

Now Firefly is a little bit hard to enjoy, because there’s just too many thoughts like ‘of course they portray the black man as ‘innately evil” and ‘why does Mal keep calling Inara a whore? that’s not very respectful of him’ and ‘Zoe is so underused as a character, why are they shafting the black woman’s character development’ and so on and so forth.
 It IS fun to watch and all, but only if you don’t let yourself think too hard about the way women and minorities are depicted and treated. In Zoe’s case, how minority women aren’t depicted. Ugh.

Next week why M’gann is awesome and all the YJ haters need to shove it.