Power and Control in the Television Worlds of Joss Whedon

Power and Control in the Television Worlds of Joss Whedon PDF

Author: Sherry Ginn

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-01-23

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0786489707

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Ever since the premiere of the small-screen incarnation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997, the television worlds of Joss Whedon--which have grown to include Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse--have acquired a cult following of dedicated fans and inspired curious scholars. The quest for power and control over humans and other animals is a constant theme running throughout all four series. This study explores the myriad natural and supernatural methods Whedon's characters use to achieve power and control over unsuspecting friends and foes, including witchcraft and other paranormal means, love, aggression, and scientific devices such as psychosurgery and psychopharmacology. A catalog of characters and a complete list of episodes for each series completes this valuable addition to the growing body of scholarship on television's "Whedonverse."

The Whedonverse Catalog

The Whedonverse Catalog PDF

Author: Don Macnaughtan

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2018-05-21

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1476631603

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Director, producer and screenwriter Joss Whedon is a creative force in film, television, comic books and a host of other media. This book provides an authoritative survey of all of Whedon's work, ranging from his earliest scriptwriting on Roseanne, through his many movie and TV undertakings--Toy Story, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Dr. Horrible, The Cabin in the Woods, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.--to his forays into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The book covers both the original texts of the Whedonverse and the many secondary works focusing on Whedon's projects, including about 2000 books, essays, articles, documentaries and dissertations.

Joss Whedon, Anarchist?

Joss Whedon, Anarchist? PDF

Author: James Rocha

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1476637458

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 Joss Whedon has created numerous TV series, movies, comics and one sing-along-blog, all of which focus on societal problems in the metaphorical guise of monsters-of-the-week and over-arching big-bads. The present work examines structural violence through interdimensional law firm Wolfram & Hart's legal representation of evil. We explore the limits of consent through the Rossum Corporation's coercion and manipulation. We rehearse the struggle to find meaningful freedom from the crew of Serenity. This book traces a theme of anarchist theory through the multiple strings of the Whedonverse--all of his works show how ordinary heroes can unite for the love of humanity to save the world from hierarchy and paternalism.

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse PDF

Author: Sherry Ginn

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-05-08

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1442233133

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This collection of essays contextualizes Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse as a postmodern investigation into what makes us human and as an examination of how technology invariably transforms our identity and perhaps even our humanity. Together, these essays provide a provocative meditation on how one example of science fiction comments on the state of personal identity in a 21st-century society dependent on forms of technology that threaten the individual. This collection of essays examines the various characters and themes presented in the series throughout its two-year run on television. In addition, the essays look at how the series fits into Joss Whedon’s oeuvre as auteur, director, and producer.

Sexualities in the Works of Joss Whedon

Sexualities in the Works of Joss Whedon PDF

Author: Lewis Call

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1476639957

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Joss Whedon's works, across all media including television, film, musicals, and comic books, are known for their commitment to gender and sexual equality. They have always encouraged their audiences to love whomever, and however, they wish. This book is a history of the sexualities represented in the works of Joss Whedon and it covers all of Whedon's genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, westerns, superhero stories, and Shakespearean comedy. Unique for its consideration of the entire arc of Whedon's two-decade career, from the beginning of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's first season in 1997 through the conclusion of its twelfth (comic book) season in 2018, this book examines in detail both better-known queer sexualities of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and lesser-known non-normative sexualities. The book includes chapters on Whedon's sexually dominant women and submissive men, sexual pluralism on Firefly, disabled sexualities in Whedon's superhero narratives, zoophilia in Buffy, queer and heteronormative sexualities in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the subversion of the sexual tropes of slasher films in The Cabin in Woods, and dominance and submission in Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.

Joss Whedon, A Creative Portrait

Joss Whedon, A Creative Portrait PDF

Author: David Lavery

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0857723073

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Spring 2012 saw the return to creative and critical success of Joss Whedon, with the release of both his horror flick The Cabin in the Woods and the box-office sensation, Marvel's The Avengers. After establishing himself as a premier cult creator, the man who gave us great television with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse and web series Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog, as well as comic books including Fray and Astonishing X-Men, finally became the filmmaker he'd long dreamed of being. Drawing on a wide variety of sources and making use of psychologist Howard Gruber's insights into the nature of the creative process, Joss, A Creative Portrait offers the first intellectual biography of Whedon, tracking his career arc from activated fan boy to film studies major, third generation television writer, successful script doctor, innovative television auteur, beloved cult icon, sought-after collaborator, and major filmmaker with Marvel's The Avengers. Film and television scholar and Whedon expert David Lavery traces Whedon's multi-faceted magic from its source - the early influences of parents and teachers, comics, books, movies, collaborators - to its artistic incarnation.

Organizational Communication Approaches to the Works of Joss Whedon

Organizational Communication Approaches to the Works of Joss Whedon PDF

Author: Andrew F. Herrmann

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2019-12-15

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 179360486X

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This book offers an in-depth analysis of the connections between communication, organization, gender, discourses, and ethics in the works of Joss Whedon. It examines how characters go to work in them, how characters fight against them, and how some organizations themselves are characters.

Slaying Is Hell

Slaying Is Hell PDF

Author: Alyson R. Buckman,

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2022-11-28

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 147668216X

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The films, television shows, and graphic novel series that comprise the Whedonverse continually show that there is a high price to be paid for love, rebellion, heroism, anger, death, betrayal, friendship, and saving the world. This collection of essays reveals the ways in which the Whedonverse treats the trauma of ordinary life with similar gravitas as trauma created by the supernatural, illustrating how memories are lost, transformed, utilized, celebrated, revered, questioned, feared, and rebuffed within the storyworlds created by Joss Whedon and his collaborators. Through a variety of approaches and examinations, the essays in this book seek to understand how the themes of trauma, memory, and identity enrich one another in the Whedonverse and beyond. As the authors present different arguments and focus on various texts, the essays work to build a mosaic of the trauma found in beloved works like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and more. The book concludes with a meta-analysis that explores the allegations of various traumas made against Joss Whedon himself.

Joss Whedon as Shakespearean Moralist

Joss Whedon as Shakespearean Moralist PDF

Author: J. Douglas Rabb

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-11-20

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0786474408

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Drawing on the works of Shakespeare and American screenwriter Joss Whedon, this study in narrative ethics contends that Whedon is the Shakespeare of our time. The Bard wrote before the influence of the modern moral philosophers, while Whedon is writing in the postmodern period. It is argued that Whedon's work is more in harmony with the early modern values of Shakespeare than with modern ethics, which trace their origin to 17th and 18th century moral philosophy. This study includes a detailed discussion of representative works of Shakespeare and Whedon, showing how they can and should be read as forms of narrative ethics.

Re-Entering the Dollhouse

Re-Entering the Dollhouse PDF

Author: Heather M. Porter

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2022-05-11

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1476645698

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Premiering on Fox in 2009, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was an innovative, contentious and short-lived science fiction series whose themes were challenging for viewers from the outset. A vast global corporation operates establishments (Dollhouses) that program individuals with temporary personalities and abilities. The protagonist assumes a different identity each episode--her defining characteristic a lack of individuality. Through this obtuse premise, the show interrogated free will, morality and sex, and in the process its own construction of fantasy and its audience. A decade on, the world is--for better or worse--catching up with Dollhouse's provocative vision. This collection of new essays examines the series' relevance in the context of today's social and political issues and media landscape.