The Disillusionment of Joss Whedon

Charisma Carpenter wrote a message speaking out against Joss Whedon in support of Ray Fisher who has been speaking out about his mistreatment by Whedon while filming Justice League.

While most fans are probably aware of what happened to Charisma during filming Angel, which has become infamous at demonstrating how unprofessional Joss was being by blaming her for getting pregnant, she goes into further detail about that along with things that we didn't previously know in how he mistreated her behind-the-scenes. From the things he said to her to how she essentially was blacklisted from getting any work until she played nice and made a public statement saying how she and Joss were cool now in order to get roles again. It's quite disturbing, really, especially with how common it is how this frequently happens within the entertainment industry with how creators abuse their power and are abusive towards others in the process, and Joss Whedon is no different. Charisma's support of Ray Fisher by recounting her own experience with Joss has led to support from others, including Amber Benson, who acknowledges the toxic work environment that Joss creates. I hope more former cast members make similar statements or show support.

I haven't talked much about my feelings regarding Joss Whedon, and that's mostly because after his ex-wife made that statement years ago I immediately stopped caring about him altogether.

I was someone who really liked Joss Whedon for a long time, and while I never placed him on a pedestal like some others did I felt that the intense hate he had gotten, especially around the time of The Avengers, was a bit over-the-top, probably because it's the Internet and people were constantly looking for the hate bandwagon to join in on. But I think my disillusionment started around that time, too, because even though some people kind of were kind of reaching in some instances I also understood where they were coming from and there were some very valid criticisms, but I was still holding onto this belief that he wasn't as bad as people were saying. I kept rationalized in my mind that he's human, he's fucked up badly in some cases (ex: the Charisma Carpenter situation), but I thought that despite these things he was a genuinely good person. However, the more I became aware of certain things the more the disillusionment started taking hold, and once his ex-wife made her statement that's when it solidified for me.

The disappointment in this revelation was strong, though oddly not unexpected since I subconsciously knew certain things I just wasn't allowing myself to believe that someone that I once liked and even admired to turn out to be a shitty individual, particularly one that tried to paint and present himself to the public as one thing (a self-proclaimed feminist) while proving not to follow through in his behavior. Perhaps I was foolish for hoping that none of it was true. It took a lot of reevaluating on my part, and examining how I viewed him before and why I did, especially with questioning whether I liked him as a person or thought I did because he created some of my favorite shows. It was probably my first serious "separate the art from the artist" revelation.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a formative part of my teenage years, and I will never stop loving it. And I still enjoy his other works too, because he can write incredibly well regardless. But much like with JKR, I have since divorced the creator from the work. Even more so because his shows were more of a collaborative effort with others, producers and writers and actors all working together, so I'm still able to appreciate the work despite who created it.