Author China Mieville opines on J.J. Abrams & Joss Whedon.
"[Joss] is on some cultural level my brother and comrade".
I am not posting this to further an anti-J.J. Abrams perspective. I like him quite a lot and while I never saw Cloverfield, LOVE the newest Star Trek film. I'm not sure where the feelings re Abrams spring, for Miéville, and I wish he had explored that more in the interview.
August 11 2010
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But we've all been through this loop before....
WilliamTheB | August 11, 12:01 CET
bobw1o | August 11, 12:22 CET
Violekath | August 11, 12:41 CET
Biff Turkle | August 11, 12:55 CET
Linnea1928 | August 11, 13:05 CET
brinderwalt | August 11, 13:14 CET
To me, Abrams is like the lesser Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck, Gossip Girl). Both make glossy entertainment aimed at a geeky crowd, and don't aim higher than moments when the audience goes: "ooh, cool!", plus funny moments, character beats, etc. Essentially fun entertainment -- brain candy. I generally think that Joss aims higher than that in all of his work, though he definitely enjoys the brain candy too.
Weirdly, I really like Schwartz's work, while Abrams leaves me cold. I regularly tune into Chuck, and Gossip Girl is my guilty-pleasure-on-DVD. Schwartz isn't ambitious, but he's consistently fun and I can feel the affection for his characters and his audience in his work. Everything Abrams has done has felt too calculated and emotionally manipulated for me to enjoy; I guess I agree with Mieville on this.
dottikin | August 11, 13:20 CET
I did like Star Trek, though.
jesse | August 11, 13:32 CET
QingTing | August 11, 13:53 CET
[ edited by Andy Dufresne on 2010-08-11 23:11 ]
Andy Dufresne | August 11, 14:10 CET
[ edited by Tonya J on 2010-08-11 23:17 ]
Tonya J | August 11, 14:15 CET
QingTing | August 11, 14:39 CET
Mcjw_serenity | August 11, 15:29 CET
As for this Joss/JJ blah blah. I understand the "friend" thing with Joss, I guess he's much more open and often recruits his friends for his projects. Something JJ only rarely does. But, I do love JJ - I've yet to be really disappointed by anything he does, whether he was heavily involved or only found the talent.
Jaymii | August 11, 15:34 CET
I like some of Abrams' projects, but never love them. I'm entertained by them, but never really satisfied. Whedon's works, on the other hand, tickle my passions.
I should probably read something by Mieville.
WhoIsOmega? | August 11, 15:52 CET
Dana5140 | August 11, 17:20 CET
existentialhere | August 11, 18:54 CET
silent knight | August 11, 19:59 CET
cabri | August 11, 20:35 CET
daylight | August 12, 01:49 CET
Quite enjoyed 'Cloverfield' and really enjoyed Trek '09 so I don't agree with his perspective on Abrams' work. That said, Miéville seems to be a person who dislikes what you might call "clean" world-views and prefers messy, human perspectives which is in keeping with Joss' take on things IMO. To use an old often false dichotomy, Miéville and Joss are "arty" type geeks whereas Abrams strikes me as being the other way, he seems like more the techy sort of geek (i'm sure I remember him talking about lenses and cameras and so on with some enthusiasm whereas I definitely remember Joss saying he wasn't really into all that stuff so much). Just different takes is all, as usual I totally fail to buy into this wholly manufactured 'vs' thing, I like both their work (Joss' moreso but that doesn't mean I have to dislike Abrams' stuff).
(his descriptions of his work make me want to bump him up my TBR list though, not read any - not through avoidance, just through finite time - but they sound interesting)
Saje | August 12, 04:25 CET
QingTing | August 12, 06:02 CET
I love JJ because he is the force behind Alias and Fringe (although I was a bit pissed with Alias' finale... moving on) and from Joss, Angel and Dollhouse. Isn't it possible to love them both and not put down the other one in favor of the other?
csi_spy | August 12, 06:07 CET
narky | August 12, 09:28 CET
Mehitabel | August 16, 02:53 CET