This one is for Tobes. Actually, it’s for all of us.
I am one of those totally dorky people who becomes so invested in a TV show character that she has spent years watching grow that she will cry at certain moments in that show. This scene in the final episode of BtVS made me blub. Completely and totally w/ snot pouring down my face blub.
To me it says a lot more than a bunch of girls getting supernatural powers. It is a message that speaks beyond the pop culture and right to the heart of all women everywhere.
To you who think that Whedon isn’t a feminist, you have missed the fucking mark. You have not been paying attention. It’s called seeing past the pop culture and using your brain and seeing what the fuck he is trying to accomplish. Joss Whedon gave us the first true female heroine on television in pop culture. I know we had Wonder Woman, the bionic woman and such…but Buffy was the first girl who was like us. Whedon gave us this girl, this person who looked like us and gave her the ability to not only not lay down and cry waiting to be rescued but to kick a little ass and do the rescuing herself. Regardless of what SMG might say off camera, Buffy is a feminist icon. She was just a girl, and a force to be reckoned w/.
Ever since his work on Roseanne, Whedon has been creating women who stepped outside of what was expected and perceived. They were mouthy, they were sometimes crass and obnoxious. They were sexual beings in charge of their own lives (once they figured out how to get there). They were beautifully flawed and yet perfectly admirable.
So, w/o further ado, I give you my favorite blubworthy Buffy moment.
Here’s to the Slayer in all of us.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAjMZ6Fh1-s&feature=related]
I loved how he ended Buffy. super blubby, and totally kick ass.
dont tell anyone else but I soooooo wanted to see him head the Wonder Woman film (which who knows mabe it will still work out)
After watching him do interviews I figured out something. He always puts a character very like himself into his stuff. Zander, Wash. Both geeky, smart alects that love the warrior women. They even have some of his quirky head movements. It’s very cute.
Can I just say that I’m a big nerdy fan and when I saw my name I was like YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. How anyone could watch a clip like this and dream that Whedon was some woman hating abuser is beyond me… well really if they watched ANY of his shows, I don’t know how they get there but sad to say there are women out there who can’t seem to trust ANYTHING made my men. Which is too bad, because there are male allies in the field and men working for equality. I think Joss is a great example.
I think one of his greatest strengths isn’t simply inventing a world where the woman is the superhero, but making her a superhero in a world that is deeply misogynist, showing how UNeasy it is and how much harder than she has to work… does that make any sense?
b/c in the interviews and commentaries on DVDs that i have seen he thinks of himself as that guy…the one surrounded by the amazing women. it’s that incredible raised by single mom deal methinks.
Tobes…it made sense to me. it’s not just about superhero girls for me either…it is about women in places that are not completely fantasy who live lives that are otherwise not incredible doing incredible things. it is about every woman everywhere. Joyce Summers (Buffy’s mom) is one of my favorite characters…strong, raising her strong daughters and doing a kick ass job. she also doesn’t need saving…like the time she came after Angel w/…uhh either a crowbar or an axe…something like that…
i also admire his work w/ Equality Now (i think that’s it…the foundation started by his mother).
and, Pido…your secret is safe w/ me…but I also thought he was going to have a hand in WW since he did a WW comic series. hrmmm…
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