Brand Whedon, Feminism, and the damage done


My latest vlog in which I tackle the problems for Brand Whedon in the aftermath of allegations that seriously undermine his public persona;

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Celebrity Culture, Brand Whedon and the post-Romantic fallacy

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Over the last couple of weeks there have been a number of responses to the allegations made by Kai Cole against her former husband, television producer and self-declared feminist Joss Whedon. The accusations of serial infidelity against her with numerous female co-workers have produced, on the one hand, maliciously joyful expressions of schadenfreude (‘see, I always knew he was no feminist’ / ‘ha – all icons get what’s coming in the end’); and on the other such out-pourings of grief and anger one might think he had murdered all newborns. Whatever the truth of the claims, and whatever the justification of the responses (some of which have been eye-wateringly splenetic), what is clear is that Brand Whedon has taken a hit. I do not know, and do not care about Joss Whedon as a person (I don’t mean I wish him harm; simply that I am not interested in him). I am however interested in Brand Whedon. I have spent nearly 20 years writing about it, so it makes sense that I have a view. Bran...
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During the Writers' strike of 2006, I was fortunate to strike up a correspondence with Buffy , Angel and Firefly writer Jane Espenson . The email exchange will be published in my forthcoming Joss Whedon book. But in addition, she sent me drafts to all the episodes she wrote while at Mutant Enemy (the production company that made the shows mentioned). For the second batch of drafts for 'The Replacement' go here .  I use part of some of them in my book to highlight the creative process of producing a television show, but as I was re-watching 'First Date' last night ( Buffy season 7, episode 14), I thought I'd post what I have of them. They belong to FOX Television. The shifts between the Outlines and version one, and version two and the aired show are really instructive. Little details such as the shift away from acetylene  torches to ropes (presumably because of the scope for bondage jokes, and the eventual fate of poor old Xander), or the removal of C...
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