As a child, I had an obsession that I never quite grew out of. I read books about it. I watched movies about it. I wrote stories about it. I dreamed about it.
The "it" being the vampire.
Horror movies would give me horrendous nightmares...unless they were about vampires. I may have watched the old Universal horror films with my great-grandfather, but it was Joel Schumacher's classic The Lost Boys that made me fall in love with bloodsuckers. I would rent every video I could find, even the really bad ones...and believe me, there were more bad than good in those days.
Until the early 90's. Then I happened across a video of a movie about a blond cheerleader who was the one sent to destroy vampirekind. You guessed it--that movie was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, written by a then-little-known man named Joss Whedon. I fell in love with the plotline, vapid as it was. I found the novelization and read it again and again until it fell apart.
In 1996, when I was a sophomore in high school, Fox aired a commercial for a new show called (wait for it)...Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I squeed with delight; I would get to see those characters again! And they were the same age as me! When the show started, I immediately fell in love with the darker tone (and the brooding Angel, natch). Since I spent quite a bit of high school grounded, I only got to catch an episode here and there. Same with college, although I was simply too busy with work and school to be grounded. When Angel premiered, I had a hard time getting into it. It just wasn't Buffy.
Then Firefly came along. Wait a minute--this is created by the same guy? And it's not about vampires? I watched the first aired episode, which was "The Train Job". Before the show was over, I had come to the realization that this guy got it. His characters were so real that you simply felt like you knew them. You cared about the people, wanted to jump into their stories and make them your own. Of course, we all know what happened to Firefly (and if you don't, then why are you still here? Go educate yourself). Firefly led to the movie Serenity. And really, how many TV shows were ever made into successful, well-written movies (with the same cast)? Yeah, I can count them on one finger.
In the summer of 2009, I was doing a play with a local theatre group and made some new friends. The general consensus was, "How can you call yourself a fan if you've never seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?!?!" After hearing this for a few weeks, I finally found a copy of the DVD at Hot Topic. I already knew Whedon could write a musical (see BTVS s06 e07), so I knew it would be good. Hell, it was great! It made me realize that musicals didn't have to be stuffy over-produced spectacles. It made musicals accessible, something that Hollywood has forgotten. That was the start of many Dr. Horrible sing-along nights at my house.
I admit it, I missed Dollhouse when it originally aired. I didn't have cable and didn't know how to find videos online yet. So, bad Geek! I did finally see the series last year when a friend loaned it to me. Brilliant! Not to mention that Eliza Dushku impressed the hell out of me by being able to play so many different characters in such a short time span. Once again, one of the best-written shows on television ever.
While he has been a staple in geek culture for over a decade, Whedon has finally gone a bit mainstream this year with several movies. First there was Cabin in the Woods, a not-so-typical horror movie that blended genres so seamlessly that the audience never realized they were in for a sci-fi treat until it was too late. Then came (drumroll, please!) The Avengers. More than just summer popcorn fare, Whedon did the impossible. He managed to make a comic book movie that geeks didn't hate. In fact, most fans I know have already seen it more than once. Given today's ticket prices, that's an incredible feat. When I talk to other friends about the movie, they were always surprised when I mentioned that the director had created Buffy, since this movie was so cool. They didn't realize that a lot of us were already ahead of the curve on this brand of coolness.
We know from watching his shows over and over that Whedon has his own writing style. There was even a term coined to describe it--"Whedonesque". Watch today's television, and you can see the impact he has had on today's writers. Some of the most popular shows are written/produced/created by folks who worked with him back in the day, and it shows. Warehouse 13 and Dexter are both produced by Drew Z. Greenberg (writer for Buffy and Firefly). Glee, Mad Men, and Grey's Anatomy have all been written and produced by Marti Noxon (writer/producer/director for Buffy and Angel). Once Upon a Time, Torchwood: Miracle Day, and Game of Thrones have all been written for by Jane Espenson (writer for all 3 of Whedon's series. Plus will be at Dragon Con this year, where I plan to meet her!). If you watch these shows, you can tell a similarity in the writing styles. After a single episode of Warehouse 13, for instance, I already knew that it had been created by someone who had worked with Whedon on a previous show. There is an underlying humor in the writing that comes through and once again, makes these characters people you want to meet. With the exception of Joffrey Baratheon. Cause let's face it, he's just a little prick.
Whedon has yet another movie coming out this October...a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Will I be lined up on opening night to see my favorite writer take on the Bard? Oh yeah.
