October 11 2009
The Strange, Twisted, And Destructive Love Stories of Joss Whedon.
io9's Stephen Goldmeier takes on Joss's propensity for presenting "messed-up" relationships.
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MattK | October 11, 10:03 CET
Illyria | October 11, 11:46 CET
Apocalypse | October 11, 12:05 CET
kishi | October 11, 12:06 CET
The Do That Girl | October 11, 12:07 CET
ormaybemidgets | October 11, 12:13 CET
Whedon even has other tragic and messed up romantic moments not mentioned in the article, too. Wash dying and Zoe beating the crap out of Reavers hand-to-hand when she runs out of ammo, anybody? That scene between Topher and Dr. Saunders in "Vows"?
But yeah, mostly what MattK said. It's true. Real relationships are never perfect and often twisted. Joss just takes that and runs with it to extremes that are fascinating and wonderfully heart-wrenching to behold.
CZGoldEdition | October 11, 14:54 CET
Real relationships can also be rather dull, but nice. Not that our marriage would make for good TV.
redeem147 | October 11, 14:56 CET
marvelknight616 | October 11, 16:04 CET
mortimer | October 11, 17:37 CET
That said, the relationship arcs are strong enough that it doesn't bother me that much. It's not the violent death, etc, that are the point -- it's the effects, and those are portrayed in ways that are quite revealing. Tara and Willow are lovely when they're happy together, but are they really interesting? It's Willow's betrayal of Tara and her reaction to Tara's murder and Tara finding her own strength. It's the contrast between Willow/Tara and Xander/Anya or Buffy/Riley. That's the real strength I think - playing relationships off one another and juxtaposing them in ways that say something beyond the dynamics of two individuals.
Arcadia | October 11, 20:42 CET
And, in the impossible event that she was wearing it, Angel and Spike would both be staring at her bemusedly, not looking calmly at the camera.
erendis | October 11, 20:52 CET
Whedonage | October 11, 21:13 CET
Loved this about Dollhouse: "The show asks what would happen when the shadows start to linger in the empty room".
Great stuff.
Shey | October 12, 01:00 CET