BUFFY Actress Michelle Trachtenberg Says Joss Whedon Was "Not Allowed In A Room Alone" With Her On Set First Singer, now Whedon. I know people get used to this sort of thing from Hollywood, but I can't.
But...but... Whedon is an ally to women and feminists! He told us so himself! Many times! It's almost as if some of these famous people use excessive virtue signaling as a way to overcompensate for and hide their darker natures. Who would have thought it?!! I'm shocked to the point of-- oh wait, I'm not shocked at all.
When all of this came out recently, I got to thinking about the Avengers movies and wonder if any of those actors will come out and say anything.
I believe a few of them did slightly after Age of Ultron... at the very least I remember a few of them firing back when he was doing his "After Ultron bitch session" and called a few of them self-centered glory hounds for daring to have suggestions about how their characters would act in certain situations.
This fallout has been building for a long time, especially after Joss' ex, Kai Cole, revealed the extent of his infidelity, his gaslighting, his emotional abuse, and his overall horrible behavior in the wake of their split 4 years ago. But even before that, we had the surfacing of that horrible Wonder Woman treatment Joss wrote, his squicky treatment of Black Widow in AGE OF ULTRON, and even the creep-fest that was DOLLHOUSE. Seth Green and James Marsters have both talked about Joss and his temper. More recently, Ray Fisher made his allegations about Joss' behavior on the set of JUSTICE LEAGUE, with Jason Momoa backing him up. Around the same time, former BUFFY stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt, and stunt double Sophia Crawford, also talked about his unprofessional behavior, including his demands that the couple split-up, friction that led them to leaving the show. Without naming names, Marti Noxon, who essentially ran BUFFY during its 6th season, talked about her own experience with toxic showrunners last year in a Hollywood Reporter article. What happened to Charisma was one of those proverbial "poorly-kept secrets", with speculation building in the fandom when her character was essentially ruined in Angel season 4, and then written out in season 5. She herself would often confirm to convention crowds that Joss was pissed that she got pregnant, but she used to downplay it. Now, she's finally done toeing the line for Joss' abusive behavior, and many of her co-stars are supporting her, with both Michelle Trachtenberg and Amber Benson also stating that they had their own horrible experiences working with Joss. The allegations made by Trachtenberg are especially disturbing. I firmly believe that the major reasons for Joss dropping out of the MCU probably boil down to him having actors he couldn't bully and victimize as easily, and having to face criticism for his questionable story-beats. Personally, I hope he's toast as far as his career is concerned. He's hurt far too many people.
I was thinking the same thing. These people use rhetorical camouflage to get close to their chosen victims with being detected. You see the same pattern with priests, teachers, coaches, etc. Pedophiles and other sexual predators infiltrate them in order to get access to their preferred prey, and so Whedon and those like him (Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Harvey Weinstein, etc.) use virtue signaling for the same ends. And it's not just sexual predators who do this - malignant narcissists, emotional and physical abusers, and other power-seekers do the same - I've found that the people who do virtue signaling tend to be the ones to keep an eye out (ironic, coming from a guy going by "Honorbound"). The real good people in the world don't waste their time virtue signaling - they're too busy doing good. @^o^CORVUS^o^ brings up a really good point - Ms. Carpenter's experience was pretty much an open secret.
One of the only scenes I remember from Angel was one where the damsel of the week makes a remark about rewarding Angel for rescuing her, saying that it's not like he didn't earn it (or something to that effect), and Angel says "You've had enough people taking advantage of you already." Pretty ironic considering Whedon's predatory habits.
That's right, I remember now. The damsel ended up dying anyway, but the villainous vampire ended up getting his, too. He tried to pull the "I'm rich and connected, so I'm untouchable" card, so Angel kicked him out of a plate-glass window in broad daylight, from a skyscraper, in full view of an entire boardroom full of scummy lawyers.
Changes how I feel about the man, but not how I feel about his work. I feel horrible for the actors and actresses if it all is true, but it doesn't change my enjoyment of his creations. His work on Astonishing Xmen is probably my favorite comic book series ever. Still, the man is a jackass from the sound of things.
There's a line I can't clearly define that allows me to separate enjoyment of a work from feelings about a creator's despicable behavior in some cases and doesn't allow me to separate them in other cases. For example, I still enjoy old Roman Polanski movies, while I absolutely refuse to watch or support any Woody Allen project new or old even slightly. I can't explain why both of them don't fall on the same side of that line, but there it is. I think in the case of Whedon, I'd still be able to rewatch his old tv series, but my interest in any new project (assuming he's ever given another opportunity to do anything) from him is zero. I guess selfishly, that decision is made easier by the fact I consider the last few things I've seen from him (Avengers 1 & 2, Justice League) to be garbage.
You're likely to be gone a while then, if not forever. I can't imagine any new Buffy/Angel news is forthcoming after this.
Sure, but it will be a different Buffy/Angel. It won't be a continuation of the characters and ongoing story everyone is invested in. It will be some kind of reboot.
While it won't be Buffy, I could see a new show in continuity with the old ones. They did activate all potential slayers in the final episode. Just base a series on one of them. Have Buffy or other old characters guest star. Maybe Giles/Xander started a new Watchers council. Maybe have it sort of an anthology type show where the Watchers send out various Slayers each episode to deal with a monster in a different location every episode. One episode might be in London and the next is in Japan. Only common thing is the Watcher HQ.
