Joss Whedon Biography Review: Explore the fanboy icon’s life beyond ‘Buffy’ and ‘Avengers’
The fanboy icon Joss Whedon comes to life in this detailed biography chronicling his years as writer to changing the landscape of pop culture forever. The Kings of the Geeks get a forward written by Firefly star Nathan Fillion and the inside story on Tom Hiddleston’s Alan Rickman – tons of fun for all of the fans of Whedon.
Following a short history of their family and examining Whedon’s motivations, his job on Roseanne begins to give the story traction. Pulling back the curtain on his time on the show, meeting Roseanne Barr, the ‘Brain-Dead Poets Society’ and the compromise from his intended storytelling – all reveal the burning ambers that fuels the director in 2014 succeeding at every turn.
“It was a very talented ensemble and talented staff,” Joss said of team on Parenthood, which followed the Roseanne job. “Ty King is an amazing wirter, but there were many forces conspiring against us, people who just didn’t get the show.”
A bad taste in his mouth could only be worsened by filming Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Director Fran Kuzui lost control of the set, allowed Donald Sutherland too much free reign, re-writing dialogue which didn’t make sense and Whedon leaves the set.
Fans learn of Paul Reubens casting and death scene before understanding the tragedy in real life which served to transition Joss to deal with even deeper issues: what was the personal loss behind the famous Buffy episode where she finds her mother dead on the couch, working on a pilot with his father, getting into script doctoring and losing an arbritration case with Graham Yost for his writing contributions to Speed.
From the early days writing on Toy Story to his failed efforts to save Waterworld, the lead-up to resurrecting Buffy is a delightful and easy read.
“They’re really listening. They’re really interested in the way I want to do it,” Whedon said during the Buffy development phase at WB, which was met with “Yeah, they have no idea what they’re doing,” by Chris Harbert.
No spoilers here, but Pascale does explore the impact of the Bronzers, stories behind the stories, airing “Earshot” around the Columbine incident, Angel and Firefly. The pages turn quickly here and Whedon’s rise to fanboy stardom is truly explored as Whedonesque.com comes online.
There is no glossing over difficult times, shows getting canceled or how Whedon got drunk at Nathan Fillion’s and moved on. Writing an X-Men comic book, getting Serenity off the ground, the 2004 election, falling for Veronica Mars and getting the greenlight for Cabin in the Woods – all of this is the perfect setup for the big 2010 moment when he lands the Avengers job.
Fans won’t be disappointed. I have enjoyed more funny backstories over the years and Pasquale digs deep to get the goods on behind-the-scenes shananigans. His legacy is being inflated slightly here, but that’s fandom for you and the author is certainly a fan.
Overall Joss Whedon: The Biography gets 4 out of 5 stars
Get your copy from Amazon HERE
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