# Am I the only person in the world who has no idea who Josh Whedon is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912 "2005-10-05T16:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/21 "2005-10-05T18:19:18Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I’ve never seen his work but it’s probably noteworthy that what you cite as his strengths are probably the most important elements in a successful television series, where individual stories and an overriding arc aren’t as important as the characters and their intertactions. I think my problem with Whedon is that there is such a disparity between the two elements - I enjoy the character interaction, but (particularly in the later Buffy seasons and the X-Men comic) I get annoyed because he takes damn near forever to do anything that moves the plot forward. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/22 "2005-10-05T18:23:59Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I think my problem with Whedon is that there is such a disparity between the two elements - I enjoy the character interaction, but (particularly in the later Buffy seasons and the X-Men comic) I get annoyed because he takes damn near forever to do anything that moves the plot forward. I can agree with that. The later seasons of Buffy are probably my least favorite thing that he’s produced since _Alien Resurrection_. I think that he was turning his attention to other projects then: his attention span could afford to be a little longer. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/23 "2005-10-05T18:25:18Z")
To be fair, that’s not all his doing. While the show was his baby, he had to work within the constraints of a traditional 22-episode season while still keeping under budget. This involved stretching events longer than he may have preferred to. With the X-Men comic, Marvel Comics’ business plan is to have writers stretch stories out to 6 and 8 issues when they used to be able to be told in 2 or 4. This “decompressed storytelling” ensures that they’ll have plenty of profitable trade paperbacks that reprint the longer stories from the comics. Whedon is not the only writer to be accused of decompression (Brian Michael Bendis may be its patron saint), but it all comes from an editorial mandate. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/24 "2005-10-05T18:30:37Z")
Also, by the end of _Buffy_, Joss had ceded most writing duties to Marti Noxon so he could focus on _Firefly_. The last two seasons were almost entirely her doing. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/25 "2005-10-05T18:33:12Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Before this “Firefly” thing ignited, I didn’t know who the fuck he was, either. Now that I know he’s the “Buffy” guy, my knowledge about him now exceeds my interest in learning more. Pretty much my thoughts on the matter as well, though I did know who he was solely from the far-too-many threads about him/his work in CS on this board. Knowing what work he’s done/been involved with, and having seen his fanbase’s rabidness does about as much for my desire to see more as a Trekkie makes me want to watch Star Trek. I’ll be passing on WW, and suppose I’ll be slightly annoyed at having to traverse around all the threads that pop up touting how great he/the movie is as it approaches release. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/26 "2005-10-05T18:37:53Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Also, by the end of _Buffy_, Joss had ceded most writing duties to Marti Noxon so he could focus on _Firefly_. The last two seasons were almost entirely her doing. Only her doing in the sense that Joss chose to give them to her. INasmuch as he did that, they were his doing :). > [@](#): > > Pretty much my thoughts on the matter as well, though I did know who he was solely from the far-too-many threads about him/his work in CS on this board. What a funny thing to be annoyed at. Lots of people around here like his works quite a bit; should they respect your minority opinion about his works by not starting threads to discuss his works? Or perhaps you mean that the three threads about Joss Whedon current on front pages **that have been started by people who don’t know or like him** shouldn’t have been opened or posted to? I’m not quite clear on the damage, to paraphrase someone. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/27 "2005-10-05T18:39:16Z")
(Firefly is selling in the Google ads). I’ve never seen Buffy and don’t intend to. I didn’t know who Joss was either, and I didn’t particularly care either. Serenity is pretty good, though I hear. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/28 "2005-10-05T18:39:21Z")
That may be true - but rather than stretching out, say, a 4-issue story into 6 (or a 15-episode story into 22), wouldn’t it make more sense to actually fill out that story a bit more? ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/29 "2005-10-05T18:47:48Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > What a funny thing to be annoyed at. Lots of people around here like his works quite a bit; should they respect your minority opinion about his works by not starting threads to discuss his works? > > Or perhaps you mean that the three threads about Joss Whedon current on front pages **that have been started by people who don’t know or like him** shouldn’t have been opened or posted to? > > I’m not quite clear on the damage, to paraphrase someone. > > Daniel I suppose you’re referring to the later part in my post where I said I might be slightly annoyed at the posts that will likely pop up, and not the part you actually quoted. In that case, it’s a mild annoyance, for me anyway, to see multiple threads about the same topic… but especially when they’re fanboy threads. It’s not like I’m going to start a Pit thread about it, or give it much thought at all. I suppose it would be akin to someone who doesn’t care for football having to deal with three or four threads at a time covering much the same ground. I’d venture to say that you must be a fan, as your argumentative interpretation and response makes it seem I’ve offended you by even suggesting that I might at some point in the future be mildly annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/30 "2005-10-05T18:55:04Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > I suppose it would be akin to someone who doesn’t care for football having to deal with three or four threads at a time covering much the same ground. > > I’d venture to say that you must be a fan, as your argumentative interpretation and response makes it seem I’ve offended you by even suggesting that I might at some point in the future be mildly annoyed. I don’t care about football. What I don’t get is, how would I have to deal with three or four threads at a time covering much the same ground? I mean, beyond **not reading them**? There’s a nearly infinite amount of material on the Internet that I don’t read, **every single day**. Adding three or four threads to that amount wouldn’t even register consciously. I’m sure that today there were three or four threads on some topic I find dreary: Reality television, people’s marital difficulties, who knows what. Certainly I don’t, because I don’t bother reading the threads I find dreary. Yep, I’m a fan of Joss. **That’s why I’m in this thread**. It boggles me that people who aren’t fans of his, and who aren’t looking for information about him, are bothering with the thread. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/31 "2005-10-05T18:55:44Z")
He (along with Judd Apatow) is, IMO, one of the best things to happen to feminism and women in the media in a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/32 "2005-10-05T18:56:28Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > The later seasons of Buffy are probably my least favorite thing that he’s produced since _Alien Resurrection_… Wait…this Whedon guy was responsible for A.R.? That gobbling turkey of the _Alien_ saga? _That’s_ this guy’s resume, Buffy and A.R.?? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/33 "2005-10-05T18:57:44Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Yep, I’m a fan of Joss. **That’s why I’m in this thread**. It boggles me that people who aren’t fans of his, and who aren’t looking for information about him, are bothering with the thread. It’s so they can be snarky and feel superior to someone in matters of taste. Of course, that particular sin is one that nay number of us are guilty of at sometime or another. (meekly raises hand) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/34 "2005-10-05T19:01:12Z")
Well, this Whedon fellow did get many votes in another thread as having “the most annoying fanbase”, which made me a little curious, and, as I really didn’t know anything about him, here seemed an appropriate place to get more newbie-style info. ---
**Author:** ![Iorek\_Byrnison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Iorek\_Byrnison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iorek_Byrnison)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/35 "2005-10-05T19:01:25Z")
\ I love Buffy and Angel but for those of you who aren’t into that sort of thing, you may also know him one of the Oscar-nominated writers of Toy Story. As well as some not-so-Oscar-nominated screenplays, like Titan AE and Alien:Ressurection. Of course that’s all in **Jayrot** ’s IMDB link, I just thought I’d chime in. -IB ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/36 "2005-10-05T19:08:19Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I don’t care about football. What I don’t get is, how would I have to deal with three or four threads at a time covering much the same ground? I mean, beyond **not reading them**? Who said deal with? I said traverse. As in: avoid; go around; hover the pointer over the title to get the gist from the first paragraph before clicking in. I don’t read the fanboy threads, thus the statement that I “traverse” them. > [@](#): > > Yep, I’m a fan of Joss. **That’s why I’m in this thread**. It boggles me that people who aren’t fans of his, and who aren’t looking for information about him, are bothering with the thread. With a thread entitled “Am I the only person in the world who has no idea who Jos(s) Whedon is?”, it would be a fair assumption that it wasn’t a fanboy thread, now wouldn’t it? You’re reading way too far into a simple, innocent statement about mild annoyance. If you get this bent out of shape just because someone else doesn’t think the way you do about something, perhaps you need a new hobby. And upon preview, reading another fan’s underhanded snarky comment about taste, I see now that even a neutral discussion about the topic attracts the fanboys and that I should avoid even these. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/37 "2005-10-05T19:09:00Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Wait…this Whedon guy was responsible for A.R.? That gobbling turkey of the > _Alien_ saga? _That’s_ this guy’s resume, Buffy and A.R.?? If you include _Alien_, you also have to include _Toy Story_. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/38 "2005-10-05T19:10:49Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > Who said deal with? Uh, that’d be you, Bob, in the bit I quoted before: > [@](#): > > I suppose it would be akin to someone who doesn’t care for football having to **deal with** three or four threads at a time covering much the same ground. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/39 "2005-10-05T19:17:23Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > If you include _Alien_, you also have to include _Toy Story_. > > Daniel Oh. I’ve never seen _Toy Story_.\* Hm. \*Honest. Never seen it. Never occurred to me to go. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912/40 "2005-10-05T19:21:25Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Uh, that’d be you, Bob, in the bit I quoted before Fine, I retract the use of the words “deal with”. Please replace them with “tolerate” or “traverse”, or if you’re obliged, “eat me”. Keep on fighting the good fight brother. Hijacking threads and blindly spouting how great the guy is to people who admittedly don’t care. Reminds me of members of another group I find mildly irritating… Fundamentalist Christians. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-has-no-idea-who-josh-whedon-is/324912.md?page=3)