# Whedon idolatry is scaring me **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865 "2005-10-05T12:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/61 "2005-10-05T20:37:19Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > Is that a line from _Buffy_ or something? Sorry, I’m not a fan. Nope–[homespun wisdom](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6651953&postcount=10). Thanks for the information that you’re not a Whedon fan, though–I’m so glad you finally got around to telling us! Jesus. ONE of us obsesses about the status of his Whedon fanhood. Ain’t me. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/62 "2005-10-05T20:46:05Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Nope–[homespun wisdom](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6651953&postcount=10). God, that’s HILARIOUS. It’s fine for you to feel that way! ---
**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, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/63 "2005-10-05T20:53:19Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, that’s what happened all right :). > > Daniel Well, here we have my original post: > [@](#): > > Quote: > _Originally Posted by 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. And your response: > [@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. In which you offhandedly state that it is odd that someone might be slightly annoyed at an excessive amount of threads about the same topic, but don’t stop there. You then suggest that I am implying that no one should start threads about the topic I am in the “minority” in feeling uninterested in. And then you go on to condescendingly state, falsely, that I am opening threads concerning topics that don’t interest me, as well as that I ever suggested there were some “damage”. In an attempt to cool your obvious ire, I posted: > [@](#): > > 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. To which you, rather than be content to disagree, go on the offensive with: > [@](#): > > 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. Now, with the hijacking well under way, you assert that I should not open any thread having to deal with JW unless I am a fan… even if the thread isn’t about fandom. Then, after some minor semantic bitchery about the words “deal with”, taken out of context, you completely avoid answering the question: > [@](#): > > 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? And after completely missing the point of an “eat me”, you go on to attempt and turn the entire hijack around and blame me: > [@](#): > > Don’t you be throwing that hissy fit at me, brother. I’m saying you can keep on keepin’ on being annoying by eating simulthreads you don’t care about. You’re the one making up new charges in each post. All the while ignoring the accurate comparison I’d made between fans like you and Fundies. What it comes down to is that I have a different opinion on the man and his work than you do, which is entirely okay. We don’t need to agree. However, I do not enter into praise threads and shit on you for your fandom, so your invasion and subsequent shitting was uncalled for and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/64 "2005-10-05T21:09:10Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > And **Obsidian** , I’m pretty sure I know what moment you’re talking about, and I think that’s one of the lamest criticisms of a narrative moment I’ve heard in a long time. That moment was crucial on several levels to the story’s telling, and while there may have been a way to make it even better, I’ve not heard anyone make a suggestion that would be an improvement. Most of the alternate suggestions I’ve heard would seriously weaken the story’s structure and undermine some important character stuff that followed. You completely missed my point. (See [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6299022&postcount=114) [WARNING:SPOILERS] if you’re interested in my actual opinion of the incident in question right after I saw the june screening. I didn’t want to drag the you-know-what argument into this thread, ok? There are ENOUGH threads for that) My initial reaction was not to like said incident. Your reply is a valid and logical response to my statement of dislike. Every other time I’ve ever complained about a moment I didn’t like in a movie/book whatever, people would respond with, “yeah, but it’s vital to the plot for X, Y, & Z, don’t you see?”. And you know what, I usually do. But I kept hearing, “Oh, that’s just Joss,” and the implied, “and therefore we should have faith in whatever he does, even if it hurts. Because Joss knows what’s good for us.” (in other words, I know my complaint is lame. that doesn’t make my friends reply any less annoying) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/65 "2005-10-05T21:51:06Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Wouldn’t you be surprised if someone hadn’t known Aaron Spelling in the 90’s? Who? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/66 "2005-10-05T21:59:02Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > The shrill, panicked, spastic responses to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338370), which posited the simple “who is Joss Whedon?” question and rocketed to over 40 replies in under an hour are enough to convince me that his fanbase is generally **batshit insane**. I followed your link and though there is some peevishness not generally seen or permitted in a Café thread, I don’t see the alleged batshit insanity, not anything particularly shrill, panicked or spastic. So unless you were (doing a rather poor job of) being sarcastic, you’re an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/67 "2005-10-05T22:08:58Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Joss Whedon is my Master Now. What’s scaring _me_ is that I think I want that shirt… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/68 "2005-10-05T22:14:11Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Wouldn’t you be surprised if someone hadn’t known Aaron Spelling in the 90’s? Oh please. Though Spelling doesn’t have a fraction of Whedon’s skills, there really is no comparison. By 1990, Spelling had delivered _Daniel Boone, The Mod Squad, The Rookies, S.W.A.T., Starsky & Hutch, Family, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Dynasty,_ and _T.J. Hooker_ to TV audiences (to name only the most memorable, long-lasting, and iconic; he produced plenty more). All these series were on major networks and were extremely popular. For over a decade, you’d be hard pressed to find a TV ratings week that didn’t feature a Spelling production in the Top 20. Whedon has had only 2 series last longer than a year, neither on a major network (sorry WB), and neither a top 20 show (I suspect _Buffy_ rarely ever broke over 40). Spelling (for better or worse) was a ubiquitous TV presence for years. Whedon (for better or worse) never rose above his cult status. And even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hadn’t heard of Spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/69 "2005-10-05T22:40:30Z")
[Whedon Fans Don’t Scare Me Anymore](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=3&entry_id=1127) From the blog linked in the OP. > [@](#): > > I’ve received enough totally-not-frightening e-mails from “Serenity” fans – more than 100 so far – in the last 18 hours to completely drown out the small amount of negativity that caused me to write yesterday’s post (see below). It’s clear that I initially heard from the vocal minority, and they don’t represent “Firefly” followers as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/70 "2005-10-05T23:39:40Z")
I’m in a cult? Shiny. 🙂 But it seems we have factions developing. My brother, the artist formerly known as Pollo Boyo\*, just informed me that he’s a Hobanite. He’s suggested that fans of Captain Mal be known as “Mal Contents.” But I can understand why obsessed fans would be annoying. I love almost all of Joss Whedon’s work and I recommend it to others, but it doesn’t rule my life. I’ve met people like that in other fandoms and it’s definitely scary. - He demanded a byline in this post. And yes, he chose the name. ---
**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 6, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/71 "2005-10-06T00:37:22Z")
Hmmmm…am I a Kayleekin or an Inaraist? Decisions, decisions. ---
**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 6, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/72 "2005-10-06T02:18:11Z")
> [@Obsidian](#): > > You completely missed my point. Actually, in rereading, it appears I did. My apologies. **soulmurk** is still funny, though, in the amount of obsessing s/he does on something s/he doesn’t care about. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/73 "2005-10-06T03:04:59Z")
I knew a guy in school named Josh Wheaton. Weird, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/74 "2005-10-06T16:38:35Z")
Even as a huge _Firefly_, _Buffy_, and (to a lesser extent) _Angel_ fan with an OP on this board declaring my love for Willow Rosenberg (not Alyson Hannigan) and a fairly well-publicized post in some other thread declaring that you don’t deserve to own a TV if you don’t like _BtVS_, I’m going to have to agree with the OP in spirit. I obviously love the shows and consider Whedon one of the best television writers in a very long time but a growing number of his fans scare the ever-living-fuck out of me with their singlemindedness and most others make me want to kill due to their rabid enthusiasm. As someone who is tring to distance himself from one franchise (Star Trek) due in large part to these behaviours, it’s very dismaying to find it just as bad, if not worse, in the one he’s replacing it with… Browncoats being the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/75 "2005-10-06T17:18:35Z")
Seriously, some of you guys are scared of rabid fans? Why? What impact do they make on your life? I would be irritated by rabid fans (and I would leave a party where one guest made the others watch four hours of a television show), but they don’t _scare_ me. Now, rabid religious fundamentalists, _they_ physically scare me. ---
**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 6, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/76 "2005-10-06T17:23:10Z")
Incidentally, this thread is currently (until I hit “submit”) directly above “Can I buy a JW-detecting perimeter alarm for my home?” ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/77 "2005-10-06T17:32:26Z")
Ok kids, just a movie and he’s just another screenwriter, This is not life it’s a movie. BTW: i fully enjoyed both the movie and series ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/78 "2005-10-06T21:47:53Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > And even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hadn’t heard of Spelling. Ia heav nvrere herared of Spelling. And my’s gramare ar prity bead to. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/79 "2005-10-07T21:37:18Z")
Now, would it have been funnier if you’d spelled “Spelling” wrong, too? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865/80 "2005-10-08T00:06:31Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Seriously, some of you guys are scared of rabid fans? Why? What impact do they make on your life? I would be irritated by rabid fans (and I would leave a party where one guest made the others watch four hours of a television show), but they don’t _scare_ me. Now, rabid religious fundamentalists, _they_ physically scare me. Conversely, I’d only be annoyed by fundamentalists and would ignore them or leave if they started their spiel but I see a little bit of myself in the fanboys, a tiny portion of my personality that I want to grow no larger, and the idea that it might and I will turn into one of them is scary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whedon-idolatry-is-scaring-me/324865.md?page=5)