On Mr. Whedon's Latest

I’ve been a fan of Joss Whedon’s work for years. That hasn’t changed. Nevertheless, I can’t confess I entirely like what he’s done with Serenity.

Spoilers below, if’n you want to see it, unsurprised-like.

I’m a writer myself. I’m all for a movie with a creative, original plot, unseen twists in the road, and a well-woven mystery. Throw in great dialogue and a terrific cast, and you can pretty much make my night. Despite the inherent quality of the movie, I’m a bit ticked off at Mr. Whedon.

I’m ticked off because of what he did to the characters. Namely, killing a few. I understand that certain characters have to die, in order to advance the plot. It’s part of the story. Hell, just look at Harry Potter! Characters have been dropping like flies in that series for the very solid reason that when Harry finally faces Voldemort, he’s going to have to do it completely alone. I’m cool with that. I may not like it, but I’m cool with it.

Since Buffy, Joss has been known for killing major characters. Jesse, best friend of Xander and Willow and first victim of vampires anyone might care about; would have been put in the opening credits if Whedon had the budget and time to shoot two sets of them. Jesse dies, plotwise, to illustrate what exactly happens when someone you know becomes a vampire. That’s more or less fine. Still, the lesson learned is: Don’t get too attached to characters if Joss Whedon is behind the script.

Whedon used the same moves in Serenity; killing Shepherd Book to advance the story. The Operative (very chillingly acted, well done Chiwetel Ejiofor), wipes out his entire colony to illustrate that the crew of the Serenity has no place to hide. It pushes the captain to hunker down and get (more) serious, and puts an edge on his determination to do what he needs to do. That works.

But Joss killed Wash. He killed Wash, the Pilot, only moments after successfully landing the Serenity on half a wing and a prayer, just sitting in the cockpit. I *liked* Wash. I liked him a lot. He had a sense of humor, he kept his head in a crisis, and he was in a successful, healthy relationship. He was a good character, run through with some sort of harpoon for absolutely no good reason.

Whedon has been drawing on Horror Movies for years, for atmosphere and nightmares to give the kiddies. That’s great. The thing about Horror Movies, Joss, is that your average cannon fodder character kicks the bucket because they do something wrong. They take the wrong moment to sleep with someone, or get drunk or high; and whoops, nothing draws Jason Voorhees like misbehavior. He's like a moth to the flame in that respect, only he carries a machete.

Even the captain, a man we know to be capable of killing when it needs doing; shows compassion. Or at least, mercy. He refuses to kill the Operative (a man who has done the lion’s share of evil work in the flick), but opts instead to show him the light. This moment of grace insures the survival of his crew, whether he knew it’d be the outcome or not, because the Operative is still alive to give the ceasefire moments later. You don’t have to kill. But Mr. Whedon does so anyway.

Was Wash’s demise supposed to heighten the drama? Didn’t. You already did that when you killed off Shepherd, another good man. We were already paying attention. If it was supposed to make his wife Zoe angry and sloppy enough to get herself killed trying to eke out some revenge, didn’t do that either. She survived. All it really accomplished, was to piss me off.

I’m aware that objectivity got thrown out the window, here. Don’t care. You’re a jerk, Mr. Whedon. You’re a jerk for killing a great character for no reason at all, but to show that you could.

I’ll get over it. I know I will. It’s only a movie for pete’s sake. But I’m giving you the evil eye, mister. Ho, boy.

Grrr. Argh.