Finding Cinema in Television with Joss Whedon

The LamBlog-A-Thon once more gets the credit for one of my posts. Check the request for details on what it's looking for, but it basically boils down to writing about television that has a 'filmic vibe.' After a week of pondering, I've still been unable to choose just one television show without feeling extreme guilt for omitting the others. That was until I remembered that a huge chunk of my favorite television shows came from the creative mind of Mr. Joss Whedon. So, instead of writing about my favorite television show with a filmic vibe, I'm going to give you a profile of Joss Whedon (or a summary of everything I've learned about the guy in the past three years), remembering to note how he injects the world of cinema into his works.

A Brief Background:

Joss Whedon was born Joseph Whedon in 1964. He's a third-generation television writer. His father, Tom Whedon, wrote for shows like the Golden Girls, and his grandfather, John Whedon, wrote for The Donna Reed Show. Joss Whedon began work in L.A. as a writer for Roseanne. He also spent years as a script doctor for films like Speed and Twister before reviving an old story of his, which had been turned into a disappointing movie in 1992. Only this revival would be in a television format where Joss Whedon would have more control on how his characters were treated. What's that? I haven't mentioned the title of this project?! Well, how absent-minded of me.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer:

When asked about where the concept of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came from, Joss Whedon explains that it came from being a fan of horror films. In the process of watching them, he grew to feel sorry for the teenage girl who was always being chased and/or killed by some kind of monster and wanted to create a world where she could fight back. Coming into television, Joss quickly learned that the industry standard was essentially radio with pictures. Not content to simply ignore cinematic influences, Joss Whedon created a series that could never be described as radio with pictures. In fact, the final episode of Buffy's first season features his directorial debut. It stands out as the most cinematic of that first season. Consider the opening sequence where a slow motion battle between Buffy Summers and a vampire highlights the essential premise of Buffy The Vampire Slayer using nothing but visuals.



Joss would return several more times throughout the course of the series to direct some of the most memorable episodes including the epic season 2 finale "Becoming," the 'silent episode' "Hush" which is about the nature of communication, and the surprisingly well done musical episode "Once More With Feeling." I don't want to spend too much time naming every Joss Whedon directed episode, but I can say that everytime I see an episode that lets me know that it's "Written and Directed by Joss Whedon," I'm attached to my television set by metaphorical industrial strength glue. Not every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will feel like a cinematic masterpiece. Just like Whedon's other shows, it is tied down by time constraints which do force you to make very standardized shots more often than not.

Angel:

Angel is a character who was introduced on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. After three seasons, this vampire with a soul was well developed enough to start his own television series. The series made a real effort to separate itself from the direction of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, being more about Angel's never ending quest for redemption versus the theme of female strength that while present in most every Joss Whedon project, including Angel, was more the central point of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. One of my favorite episodes of Angel was entitled "Spin the Bottle" and it was written and directed by, guess who, Joss Whedon. I really enjoy the narrative used as well as the way the show takes a time out to appreciate just how far the characters had come. Even still, what I love most about Angel, and it's only strengthened by the series' final moments, is its commentary on redemption. For Whedon, and Angel alike, redemption is never completely earned. There's no point where you can go, "Ok. I'm done making up for all the wrong I've done." It's a never ending mission that lasts for the rest of your life, even if you live forever.

Firefly:

Of all the Joss Whedon projects, Firefly is by far the closest to my heart. Take away Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and I'm still just as much a Whedon nut on the merits of Firefly alone. To put it simply Firefly is a western set 500 years in the future, and yet there are so many layers to Firefly that despite being only fourteen episodes in length due to an egregious cancellation by Fox, I'm able to find new nuggets of goodness upon each viewing. It has all the traditional themes of Joss Whedon including strong female characters and a cast of characters which form a sort of family, complementing each others' weaknesses with their own strengths. And, like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, Firefly has its own central theme which I like to believe is freedom. "Take my love. Take my land. Take me where I cannot stand. I don't care. I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me." In terms of cinemosity, Firefly really stands out to me as being very filmic. Just like any television show, it is constrained by budget and time demands, but I think because of the threat of cancellation this show faced, the creative team really were inspired to go above and beyond. It's why a 14 episode show managed to create such a large fan base. So large in fact, that a few years after its cancellation, a film, Serenity, was made to resolve most of the loose ends. Despite being extremely cinematic in nature, Serenity doesn't easily stand out as this completely different medium from Firefly aside from the obvious commercial break structure of the television series. Instead, Serenity feels like an extremely well accomplished series finale due in large part to the mind of Joss Whedon.


Closing Statements:

I believe that shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer paved the way for shows like Lost and Heroes, both very much aware of cinema stylings (and both are just as magnetizing to nerds.) While Joss Whedon's current television program Dollhouse is taking a long time for me to warm up to, I'll be quick to say that it's still better than most of the other shows I've seen lately***.

I've neglected to mention much about Joss Whedon's writing style aside from his common themes. A lot can be said for Mr. Whedon's writing style, which is in itself a huge draw for me, but his cinematic instincts are what keep me so enraptured in his work, and it's the focus of this LamBlog-A-Thon. I might already be treading on a tangent as it is, however, it is really hard for me to separate my love for Joss Whedon as a director and my love for him as a writer. I'm also being a little unfair to the team Joss Whedon has who help make his projects as successful as they are. There are plenty of writers and directors who work with him that are just as praise worthy.

Before I conclude this entry, I'll leave you with this video of Joss accepting an award from Equality Now. In his speech, he explains the answer to his most frequently asked question: "Joss, why do you create these strong women characters?"
*Kindly ignore the mention of his future work on Wonder Woman as he's no longer involved with that project.
***TimesOnline.co.uk ranked Dollhouse number 35 in a list of the top 50 best TV shows of recent years.