Writing academically on culture is nothing new; scholars have written seriously about movies for decades, and even television has been seriously analyzed in such works as The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall. But usually it’s on those common targets like Steven Spielberg or Orson Welles, more of the “high” culture targets and not so much on popular or cultish art except to decry its worth in modern society or be dismissive in general. Joss Whedon is an interesting focus for a work, as he started as a very obscure artist, just a well known writer within the screenwriting industry working to fix up scripts (although his notes were often ignored).

His show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a switchup of the critically and commercially hated movie of the same name, gained him many fervent fans, though a relatively small amount. Soon enough he had gained enough success to create the Angel spinoff, which was a moderate success, and then the beloved Firefly, which was cancelled after one season but it is still considered one of the finest seasons of television ever by its rabid fanbase. After another cancelled show (Dollhouse) and online movie (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Joss was brought into the domain of Marvel comics, writing an excellent run of comics (Astonishing X-Men) and being hired to write and direct their ambitions movie The Avengers. Somehow that movie made a billion dollars, so now Whedon is a household name.

Reading Joss Whedon is a collection of scholarly essays on Whedon’s various works, some specific to one work and others analyzing ideas and themes over several. As in any collection, the quality is mixed, from excellent and engrossing to dry and dogmatic. But you won’t get anything else out there with this level of research and analysis, so the benefits of reading those gems outweighs the downsides of skipping the less interesting essays. The book is edited primarily by Rhonda V. Wilcox with help from Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery. Wilcox and Cochran also wrote books on specific Whedon works, including Investigating Firefly and Serenity, which I quite enjoyed. One thing that I found particularly good in this collection was the level of research done, collating together disparate interviews, books, movies, and television episodes to convey fascinating insight. There were a few pieces that were exceptionally dry and primarily listing bits of episodes in simplistic ways, but those can easily be dismissed.

I had a few favorite pieces in the collection, including Hero’s Journey, Heroine’s Return by Janet K. Halfyard on Buffy and the Orpheus myth, connecting the classical Greek tale with the allusions in the show. Similarly, the myths of Echo and Narcissus were addressed in Reflections in the Pool by K. Dale Koontz, which addressed the male gaze in Dollhouse and the meanings behind the names of the various characters. I always enjoy a bit of meta-analysis, so Problematic Storytelling in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Richard Albright was fascinating to me, seeing how storytelling is utilized in the show and sometimes intentionally mangled for various reasons. As one of the few that didn’t hate the controversial season five episode of Angel “The Girl in Question,” What the Hell? by Cynthea Mason on defending it finally gave me something I could use to buttress against the hate. And of course, the piece on The Cabin in the Woods was great, as were all of the essays on Firefly and Serenity, but perhaps I’m biased in that regard.

I would’ve liked to see a bit more on The Avengers, which only got one piece I didn’t think was that insightful, and anything at all on Astonishing X-Men, which I loved, although I recognize it’s the least famous of Whedon’s stuff. Still, this is an excellent book for the Whedon fans and intellectuals alike; for every essay you don’t understand, there should be two that’ll give you new understanding into his work and its impact on culture.

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