I was debating on whether or not to remark to the latest (and maybe the last) of the ongoing drama with Joss Whedon, but I think at least a summary and retrospective might be in order. Besides one of the reasons of for the existence of this blog was due to the earlier incarnation of The Other Side getting hacked all the time by Whedon fanboys because they did not like my message then. So. Here we are nearly 20 years later.
First, let's start with the most recent news. On February 10th Charisma Carpenter took to Twitter to talk about how she had been treated by Whedon while filming her last season of Angel. While widely known to many people in the fan community at the time, this tweet was a revelation to many. Among the other issues were asking her if she would get an abortion to accommodate the Angel shooting schedule and storyline. What followed was a tsunami of posts from fellow actors and people associated with Buffy, Angel, and Firefly.
- Charisma's Tweet (2/10)
- Amber's Tweet (2/10)
- Clare Kramer's Tweet (2/10)
- Ray Fisher's response (2/10)
- Christopher Golden (2/10)
- Sarah Michelle Gellar's Instagram post (2/11)
- Michelle Trachtenberg's response to SMG with more details (2/11)
- Anthony Head (2/11)
- Eliza Dushku (2/11)
- J. August Richards (2/11)
- James C. Leary (2/11)
- James Marsters (2/11)
- Jose Molina (Firefly writer) (2/11)
- Marti Noxon (2/12)
- David Boreanaz (2/14). He also mentions that he has sent her his support in private.
- Julie Benz (2/14)
The question that some are asking is why is this all trending now versus 18 years ago? Or why are the actors all coming out now as opposed to then?
Well, keep in mind that a lot of the actors and people involved DID come out with these allegations. I remember talking online about it at the time, in particular, Charisma Carpenter's firing because she got pregnant (which is illegal by the way). What is different?
First, the actors above have the advantage of a more robust social media infrastructure. They can get their message out to more, quicker. Cases in point all the Tweets and Instagram posts above.
Second, there was the MeToo movement which shifted the lens of belief from the auteurs to the actresses. There are countless stories of Kubrick, Hitchcock, and of course Weinstein but that all changed in the last few years when such behavior would no longer be tolerated. This gave Ray Fisher a chance to speak out about how he was treated on the set of Justice League. Cases in point were the comments made by Kai Cole, Whedon's ex-wife on The Wrap. This was also one of the reasons that Stunt Coordinator Jeff Pruitt And Stuntwoman Sophia Crawford shared their story yet again and that James Marsters felt he could share his story as well.
I mentioned Jeff Pruitt and Sophia Crawford above with a "yet again" they shared this story before. Back in 2000. It was detailed by Jeff, quasi-anonymously, in his "The Parabal (sic) of a Knight." He is the Knight, Sophia is the Handmaiden and the Young Prince who becomes King is Whedon. It is also fairly negative to SMG, but that is not what I talking about today. While he had to hide this in a story, the Buffy fandom at the time dismissed all of Jeff's and Sophia's claims. It only took 20 years before the fandom took them at their word.
Related to that is my third point. The fandom that revered and protect Whedon is largely gone. Back in 2003 or so, Whedon was on the top of his world. Any complaint would have been drowned out by the screaming fans that worshipped him. Case in point. Anytime I would post something to my older version of The Other Side my host would get attacked. It got so bad that between 2005 to 2009 there was no "Other Side" on the web. I created this blog since I figured Blogspot/Google would be better protected. Of course by that time I had decided to move on.
People talk about "toxic fandom" and how it can be directed in a negative way at creators. One facet they don't mention is how un-checked praise and even worship of creators can also be damaging to others that are trying to warn us about those creatives. Woody Hall, Harvey Weinstein, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, and yes Whedon all built their cult of personality and auteur status. These same cults also shielded them from scrutiny.
The "Big Question" everyone is asking is "Why now?"
As I mentioned above the climate has changed. These actors are no longer in a place where Whedon can damage their career. They have moved on to other things. Charisma has roles, SMG is living the stay-at-home mom dream she has always wanted (and her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. is doing great), Amber has books out and has been behind the camera more than in front of it. So the control he once had on their lives is not there. The fan network has largely gone away as well.
Also, and this can not be stated too many times, other people do not have to conform to your timeline of healing. Michelle Trachtenberg said it took her years to even come to terms with it. Eliza Dushku only talked about the sexual abuse she suffered at age 12 three years ago. Michelle Trachtenberg mentions that it took her till she was a woman of 35 to deal with things that happened to her as a teenager of 15. I know others he has been involved with as well. The gaslighting he has done to them still bothers (enrages) them. You don't get to dictate how others heal.
The question also comes up of why didn't others speak up or stop it. Well, I think I covered that, the ones that did were blacklisted and deemed "difficult to work with." You also have actors like Anthony Head and Amy Acker that said they did not see this abuse but support the others all the same. Again, it can't be said too many times but abusers work by targeting those they know they can abuse and get away with it. Bullies always pick on those weaker than themselves. In terms of the power structure, everyone was weaker than the Grand Auteur.
Back in the early 90s I had a job at a head injury facility. I was a Qualified Mental Health Professional for the State of Illinois. I took the job because my own research was on cognitive development. The job was so depressing. I would call my girlfriend every night after my night shift (she was living 300 miles away at the time; its ok though we got married in the end) complaining about how awful it was. Not the staff, they were great, it's just the despair. She asked me many times why I don't just quit. I couldn't. Apart from needing this on CV for my Ph.D. program, I also needed to eat, pay rent, and have a job that a working grad student could do at night. I couldn't just leave. Neither could these actors, and I didn't have a contract holding me in a place like they did.
The Second Big Question is, for me, Why do I even care?
Over the years through my work on the Buffy, Angel, and Ghosts of Albion RPGs I have gotten to know a few of the people involved here. They are good people. In the years following, I have been able to get to know more. They are also good people. They deserved a lot better than what they were given.
I guess really it is no surprise when given the chance to do my own versions of the Buffy-verse the people that made it over were "played" by Charisma, Amber, Michelle, Eliza, and also Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan.
Truthfully the only answer one needs to give to a question of "Why should you care?" is "Because what happened was wrong."
