Thanks for the reminder for me to get my annual recommended minimum dose of the Modern Lovers.
This won’t come as a surprise to you; but this video added to expanding my old white guy education, so it might add some momentum to other people wanting to get out from under their white male privilege, by showing how broad it reaches.
Oh, my god. That is damning. 
Some people really ask to get their ticket punched, and their corn popped.
Edited to add extra comment.
Even the “he is a terrible person” article has quotes from people saying he will look over the script for a scene adjust a few things and punch it up from a 3 or a 4 to a 9 to a ten. Other people absolutely put real talent in (not just actors, but writers), but it really does look like Joss also had his own talent to put in.
Sadly as much as I wanted this to all be some sort of misunderstanding, or blown out of proportion BS, it really looks like it wasn’t, and by his own words, so it is basically impossible to even pretend he isn’t deeply problematic. Like sure I can point at a bunch of people that are worse, but that is a low low bar.
The podcast buffering the vampire slayer (which I found because of a boing boing article!) had an interview with Charisma Carpenter. She said she is proud of the work she did on Buffy and Angel, and can separate that from Joss, and she thinks it is fine for fans to separate enjoying the work from their views on one of the people that made it (I’m paraphrasing pretty broadly, it has been a few months since I listened to the interview…and they have been 2020-COVID months, so that is what basically the same as 17 normal years).
It is easy to think “oh, well she is saying that because she profits from the fandom not breaking up and still being able to sell autographs and whatnot”, but wait…even if her reasons are “crass commercialism” they would still be valid since she is the effected party (well, one of them).
…which still leaves me conflicted about continuing to enjoy Buffy.
Whedon apparently very much hasn’t been writing.
Which makes me sad, not that people are bad to not want his writing since it turns out he is an abuser (maybe not sexually motivated). Sad because he is an abuser and thus hurt others in his circle and driven them to produce less. Sad because since he is an abuser I don’t want to see what he would have produced if he was actually a decent human. Sad because I trusted (in the small part fans trust creators) to be what he seemed, and now my inner innocent has been punished and my inner cynic strengthened.
Also sad because when I said “Sad because he is an abuser and thus hurt others in his circle and driven them to produce less” it looks like the emphasis is on “they will produce less” not “hurt others”.
Also maybe some of those sad are really mads.
Yes. That 100%. 110% for Marti Noxon, she was behind almost all of my fave episodes.
That still makes me wonder, though. Given the view of Joss (and similar creatives) as singular geniuses whose vision drives it all (and everyone else exists to enact that singular vision), if the characters and the emotional resonance of the stories, etc. would have all been there without him, but maybe the dialog would have been “less quippy” or whatever, that suggests he was actually pretty replaceable.
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I happen to own two original props from the BtVS set.
A tripod candle holder from Joyce’s dining room… and… a book mocked up to look like an ancient magickal text in Gile’s apartment, made – I kid you not – from an old copy of Pat Robertson’s book, “The New World Order”.
(Who says prop-guys don’t have a sense of humor! 
)
Nothing signed by Mr. Whedon… so I’m good.
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“I could have handled that better.” is the defence that Theranos lady used. I wonder how that will work out for her.
It’s pretty generic.
Me, too. It’s also good to remember that it takes a lot of people to make movies and TV shows, and lots of good people can overcome a sprinkling of assholes.
There’s also a good bit of wisdom from fishing (of course): when you’re on a guide trip, if the trip is a good one, tip the crew; if it’s bad, blame the captain.
Philip A. Ewell’s Music Theory and the White Racial Frame
Ewell’s critique of genius cites this article:
Yep.
Based on their other work I think that Jane Espenson and Marti Noxon had a lot to do with why Buffy was good.
Yeah, I’ve increasingly got that impression…
The Body (S5 E16) doesn’t make up for any of the fuckery of Whedon, but I’m glad it exists.
So, that is and isn’t necessarily true. People in tech support jobs like cameraman, stagehands, model makers… They are typically paid by the job. By the time the film hits theaters, the checks have cleared and they’re onto the next gig.
But with the higher ups and creative types- Producers, score composers, art directors, editors, sometimes costumers or set designers if they have clout- It’s really common for them to negotiate royalties into their contracts. For actors, stuntmen, writers, puppeteers, and a few other positions, it’s actually a union standard.
In a lot of cases, that future income can be a strong motivation to say, put up with a hostile working environment or abusive boss.
With something like an author, a boycott pretty much just hurts them and their agent. TV and movies, though, there’s a lot of people working to make it happen and expecting a cut.
Isn’t one of the lessons here not to idolize real people, and if you do, not to expect them to be who you assume them to be? Left, right, or middle, it’s always a mistake to build an idea of who a person is by projecting onto them a personal interpretation of what their artistic output “means.” There’s always a person behind the image, and that person, however good, will eventually disappoint. And the people in positions of power and celebrity tend not to be particularly good. It can be argued that the traits that make people powerful assholes are the very traits that allow them to rise. The Invisible Hand of the Market™ tends to reward bullying, narcissistic, cruel and/or dishonest people because they make lots of money.
That’s one lesson, but the most basic point remains that folks shouldn’t be racists, misogynists, fascists or whatever.
Royalties and residuals are typically standard as part of Union contracts. Even for some crew (tech support isn’t the term). It’s scaled based on role, level of position and time on set.
A lead camera man would very likely get residuals of some sort. Depending on the particular production. A camera assistant might not.
Even extras are sometimes due royalties if they’re SAG, especially if they have a line.
Part of what IATSE (set, stunt and stage crew) has been headed towards a strike over is the lack of residuals from streaming.
What higher level cast and creatives negotiate is “points”. A direct percentage of profits, though this also involves negotiating a higher than scale residual and pay. As a contracting thing outside the Union.
It might not be a ton for most involved. I know a guy who gets checks for pennies. And even for a show with a long life like Buffy it’s mostly gonna be in the past. But especially as goes TV a lot more people get something out of it than you’d expect.
The other wrinkle is no one gets royalties or residuals from Streaming services. They simply don’t pay them, and current Union contracts don’t require it.
So unless you have the juice to demand it. You got nothing. For older shows, where contracts are from before streaming it’s not really a thing.
That’s likely to come to a head, your older media companies like Disney and WB are using the streaming thing to skate on obligations. And Netflix is way not into paying out. IATSE isn’t going to be the last to go to bat for it.
THAT PART.
Gonna add Joss Whedon to the same pile I put Richard Wagner in. Guy may have had a hand for quippy dialogue, but he’s no J. Michael Straczynski… Who I also don’t put on a pedestal, just not in the same slush pile of awful humans who did one thing good.
