Standing With or Standing By
Phillips, Maxine
THE LAST PAGE "Don't forget your cape," my brother gibed on the phone. "Will the workshops be at night?" a colleague chortled. "Is this like a Star Trek convention?" asked a bewildered friend as...
...He distributed it on the Web, won an Emmy, and was able to pay everyone involved...
...His characters exist in communities, are loyal to their comrades but aware of the needs of the larger community, and their moral choices affect others...
...This was a delightful alternate universe in which pop culture academics welcomed just plain fans to revel in almost all things Whedon...
...In addition, he's written two not-so-successful television series (Firefly—a space Western—and Dollhouse), a movie, and an "indie" film...
...The local sheriff says, "When a man knows the details...
...In Whedon's shows, every character is bullied or threatened, usually by truly murderous forces, other times by the head cheerleader at the school...
...New wisdom focuses on the bystanders...
...Whedon's characters choose to stand with each other instead of standing by...
...Buffy and its spinoff about a vampire with a soul, Angel, have been off the air for years...
...Think audiences for Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh...
...Barack Obama could learn from Whedon and his characters...
...then he has a choice...
...The key words that define Whedon's work for so many fans are community and choice...
...asked a bewildered friend as I prepared to leave for the biannual conference devoted to the work of Joss Whedon, best known as creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
...His open letter to fans described the situation: "Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage...
...But why do we (and the people who keep writing books about his work) still care...
...In one of my favorite scenes in Firefly, the supposedly amoral leader realizes he's put a whole town in danger to make some easy money...
...But, for me, at least, it's about a vision of all-too-human, everyday heroes who fight against the evil ignored by most of their fellow citizens...
...These are the people who stand by, watching and fearing that they will be next...
...Unlike Bully in Chief G.W...
...They suffer shame and insecurity, but they stick together...
...In real life, Whedon identifies as a strong feminist and in 2008 produced an original musical during the writers' strike with volunteer labor...
...The Obama administration's shameful handling of what has become known as the Shirley Sherrod Affair, in which Sherrod, an administrator with the U.S...
...Yes, there's the wonderful writing, the satisfying plot line of a band of misfits fighting the machine, and the very pleasing-to-the-eye actors...
...The old wisdom about bullies was that the victim had to fight back, which is good, but can be deadly...
...Bush, who stood by his friends ("Heck'uv a job, Brownie"), this administration, like Bill Clinton's, cuts its friends loose at the first sign of what might be trouble...
...It's not a bad way to act—on television, in life, and in politics...
...He rectifies the mistake, thereby putting himself and his crew in mortal jeopardy...
...No, no, and no, I bridled...
...The captain replies, "I don't think he does...
...Department of Agriculture, was bullied into resigning on the basis of a doctored tape, illustrates the problem in the administration...
...If bystanders can be mobilized to resist the bully or even to offer moral support to the target, bullying decreases...
...Whedon, as the program for the conference commented, is "the most investigated popular culture author of our time...
...Unless, of course, the friends have powerful friends...
...MAXINE PHILLIPS...
...But he wanted "To show the world there is another way...
...Or they are the ones who rush to the scene yelling "Fight, fight...
...He pointed out that the industry is called "Show Business—not Show Friends...
...And that's where we, and Obama, can learn from Whedon's characters...
...When right-wing pundits and fainthearted liberals rushed to judgment about Sherrod, she fought back—with her allies—and prevailed...
...It really is about your choices—both of comrades and cause...
Vol. 57 • October 2010 • No. 4
