Howard Gordon on why Joss Whedon is a genius.
The veteran tv producer says "In Joss' case... the word genius gets thrown around lightly but in this case it applies; he truly saw things in a way that no one else does".
Howard was a consulting producer and writer on Buffy and Angel.
March 14 2011
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WilliamTheB | March 14, 06:59 CET
And now Homeland will be added to my list of shows to watch for...that's an amazing cast! Although...Mandy Patinkin worries me a bit. Not because he isn't a great actor, but because he can be...unpredictable? He kinda dropped out of both Chicago Hope and Criminal Minds rather abruptly from what I recall.
JMaloney | March 14, 07:41 CET
Must be that flakey-artist/musician thing (said not without a large dash of self-mockery).
narse | March 14, 08:36 CET
Homeland sounds very of-the-moment and doesn't interest me much, but REM could be interesting. Or really bad.
Kaan | March 14, 08:36 CET
The meeting, which lasted a couple of hours, had been arranged by David Danzig, the Human Rights First official. [...] Before the meeting, Stuart Herrington, one of the three veteran interrogators, had prepared a list of seventeen effective techniques, none of which were abusive. He and the others described various tactics, such as giving suspects a postcard to send home, thereby learning the name and address of their next of kin. After Howard Gordon, the lead writer, listened to some of Herrington’s suggestions, he slammed his fist on the table and joked, “You’re hired!” He also excitedly asked the West Point delegation if they knew of any effective truth serums.
At other moments, the discussion was more strained. Finnegan told the producers that “24,” by suggesting that the U.S. government perpetrates myriad forms of torture, hurts the country’s image internationally. Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors—cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”
BrewBunny | March 14, 12:46 CET
Still, The Inside was awesome.
wiesengrund | March 14, 15:53 CET
Well, you may still be but not cos of that wiesengrund ;-).
This video shows Mr Gordon saying "It would be nice if torture worked...[but it doesn't]" (at about 50 seconds in) but in fairness that segment has clearly been cut so there may be mitigating context (e.g. he may mean "IF there were a ticking clock [which there basically never is] then it would be nice if torture worked..."). Or his sole objection to torture may just be pragmatic which is a bit harder to stomach. Like his stuff though ('The Inside' especially but if i'm honest, the early seasons of '24' too, so long as you view it as an action cartoon rather than a manual for dealing with terrorism).
(Part 1 here for anyone interested, it's a piece trying to redress the media torture balance by Human Rights First, worth a watch)
For me the most disturbing part of that New Yorker piece BrewBunny quotes isn't directly related to torture BTW, it's that West Point seniors (so, what, 21-22 year olds ?) don't seem to understand that fiction usually isn't a reliable guide to reality, if that's actually the case i'd say '24' is the least of our problems. These people aren't only given guns themselves, they'll shortly be in charge of lots of other people who also have guns.
Saje | March 15, 00:07 CET