Trolling #20: Joss Whedon SUCKS!

This week, Trolling hauls out the big guns. Boy oh boy will you be pissed off after this one.

He is a successful screenplay punch-up man, having had a hand in well-regarded films like X-Men and Toy Story. Thanks to a string of cult TV series (one of which was actually successful!), he has garnered a vast army of adoring followers. His fans are not only numerous, but are possessed of a frothing and uncontrolled devotion that reaches an almost unseemly fervor. Thanks to his involvement in a certain recent Disney-owned film franchise, he also is credited for making one of the most successful movies of all time. What’s more, thanks to his interests in genre movies and TV, and his own enthusiasm for comic books, he has essentially risen to the central throne in the Olympic pantheon of Geek Gods. Ask anyone, and their eyes will fill with sparkles when describing him. He is an infallible deity, a glittering example of what perfection is.

I refer, of course, to Uwe Boll. ZING! Just kidding! I’ll get to Uwe Boll next week. No, I refer to the well-known and endlessly adored Joseph Hill “Joss” Whedon, the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and writer/director of Marvel’s The Avengers. Joss Whedon is the latest in a three-generation legacy of successful TV writers who, after toiling away in Hollywood punch-up, eventually rose to the level of TV series creator and occasional film director, and, along the way, began to foster a cult following that is perhaps more passionate than any other cult following. Seriously. I think The Beatles in their prime were not as highly praised as this guy.

Well, according to the unshakable tenets of CraveOnline’s Trolling, anything or anyone that is that well-loved can’t possibly be worth the hype. And even when you strip away the hype, what do you have? A great screenwriter and underappreciated genius? Or a bland and mildly amusing idea man? Indeed, when you take a good look at Joss Whedon’s body of film work, the following conclusion may easily be reached: Joss Whedon SUCKS! Get out your beating implements now, you mad Whedonite cultists, ‘cause I’m about to openly ask for it

[Editor’s Note: Folks, I usually like to stay out of this, even when Witney seemingly writes an installment of Trolling just to piss me off, but what can I say? He’s finally trolled me. We will be having a lengthy debate about this topic – not for the first time – on the next installment of The B-Movies Podcast. Listen to Friday, January 10th’s episode for my heated rebuttal.]



Whedon’s strengths cannot be denied: His wit and humor is always plainly evident, and he clearly has an enthusiasm for genre material similar to that of his intended audience. But being able to write a pretty funny and plainly serviceable superhero screenplay does not make him a god amongst men. Most of his ideas are typical at best and bland at worst, and the adulation that is constantly heaped upon the guy is wholly unwarranted. However much you liked The Avengers, ponder that there was actually a great version of that movie made in an alternate universe with a different screenwriter. Joss Whedon: pretty average.

Until next week, let the hate mail flow.  


Witney Seibold is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly articles Trolling, Free Film School and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind. 

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