Reactions to Joss Whedon's recent SFX interview

POSTED BY: APark
UPDATED: Thursday, September 30, 2010 14:46
VIEWED: 8825
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APARK

Monday, September 27, 2010 11:34 PM

How do you interpret the comments made by Joss Whedon at this URL?:
http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/09/26/sfx-whedon-special-preview-serenity-2-
painful-to-think-about-says-joss/

I commented at this site (see the comments under AmeyPark) but no one has reacted yet and I'm eager to hear how others interpret his remarks. In short he writes that "Firefly will always be unfinished business" and he thinks every day about "the scenes [he'll] never get to shoot".

Our family is divided on these comments. Does he mean that any future FF/Serenities are not going to happen or does he mean that some of the great story lines that he'd have liked to shoot can't happen now because the story line of Serenity means that they are impossible?

I keep thinking that future FF/Serenities COULD happen if the creators, writers, and actors were available; if licensing issues were resolved; if someone was motivated enough to spearhead a movement to bring it back; and if a network or some other source were willing to fund it. But, is Joss Whedon saying in this link that he's done with it?

OUT2THEBLACK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:09 AM

"...If so, why couldn’t someone as creative as Joss Whedon think of a way to film the great scenes anyways? Can’t he say that Serenity wasn’t canon, it was a dream (a la “Who Shot JR?”), or shoot the scenes as flashbacks (e.g., the scenes could be episodes that take place after season one but before the movie)? I’m sure there are at least 20 more possibilities."

This is science fiction , right ?

Anything is still possible. The actors are still 'all in' , in the event new adventures become doable.

One of our bright folk hereabouts once remarked that " there's never been anything false about hope..."

Maintain your best hopes...We're " Still Flyin' ".

If the new Avengers movie does well with Joss at the helm , then that could have an effect on the landscape.

GWEK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 1:29 PM

I think the mistake you're making in reading Joss's comments is in treating FIREFLY and SERENITY as one entity.

By Joss' own admission, FIREFLY was conceived as a 7-year story, which nets out to something like 154 episodes.

Sure, he got to continue the overall story with SERENITY, but a movie is VERY different in tone and content than a TV series. A movie is, for lack of a better term, condensed. There's no room for sub-plots and character arcs that are not directly related to the main plot of the movie. There is no room in SERENITY for the majority of the nuance and detail that would have been contained in another season of SERENITY.

(As an aside, check out my signature for a fan-written project converting SERENITY into a full 22-episode season. You'll see that, with the exception of a few scenes and the introduction of ideas, we didn't really dig into the meat of SERENITY until about episode 11 or 12. The first half of the season was devoted the other arcs that helped build the situation and develop the characters. Anyway...)

So, the way I interpret it is that Joss didn't get much emotional satisfaction out of SERENITY. Sure, he got to tell the story, but not in the way he wanted to, with the level of detail and character development he had anticipated and was looking forward to.

And, really, that's not surprising, since it's a sentiment that I see mirrored here almost daily: "Sure, the movie was good, but it was no FIREFLY..."

So when Joss says he thinks about the scenes he'll never shoot every day, my belief is that he's talking about scenes from the SERIES... Because even if the stars aligned and FIREFLY were renewed tomorrow, it would be a very different animal than it would have been in 2003.

Basically, while the overall story of "Serenity" might continue in some way, FIREFLY is dead, and SERENITY II would just force Joss to re-live that fact on a daily basis.

Indeed, as pointed out, a successful AVENGERS might pave the way for a SERENITY sequel (especially when paired with the long-term loyalty and rabidity of the Browncoat fanbase), but Joss misses THE SERIES.

If FIREFLY was his true love (and I believe it was), then SERENITY was her pretty, shallow cousin.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

DMAANLILEILTT

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 1:58 PM

I'm thinking the only way we'll see more Firefly is if it has a BSG-style re-imagining (hopefully with a better ending) in 20 years or so.

"I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?"

ZEEK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 2:06 PM

I think he's saying it's over and he knows it's over and will never shoot any more scenes. Sure he'd go back to it in an instant but look at all the ifs that would take. Not happening.

APARK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:26 PM

Thank you so much for this interpretation. This makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you also for the link to the continuing story you (and others) have created. I appreciate your work and look forward to reading the scripts.

APARK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:30 PM

Thanks to both ZEEK and DMAANLILEITT. Neither is what I wanted to hear, but combined with GWEK's interpretation, it appears that you're accurate.

ZEEK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by APark:
Thanks to both ZEEK and DMAANLILEITT. Neither is what I wanted to hear, but combined with GWEK's interpretation, it appears that you're accurate.

That's just my own interpretation of it. I don't think there's any way for us to know if it's really accurate or not. So, don't get too tied to my post.

APARK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:44 PM

To Zeek: Agreed, but it helps to have another set of eyes read and intrepret.

GWEK

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 6:04 PM

Some more thoughts:

Let's not forget that Joss has now been burned at least three times by the "establishment," so he's a different man than he was when he created FIREFLY.

In 2001/2002, he was riding the crest of success and popularity. With FIREFLY on the air, he had three different shows on three different networks, all receiving support from fans and general acclaim from critics.

Then the rug was pulled out from under him when FOX cancelled FIREFLY prematurely (yes, the ratings were low, but it was still not given a fair shake) and suddenly all those folk who were happy and anxious to work with him before were nowhere to be seen. I imagine it felt like quite the professional betrayal.

Fast-forward to 2005, and when SERENITY is released, it is the culmination of his promise to fans that the story of the crew would continue in SOME medium--in ANY medium. And, of course, the time wasn't right for SERENITY, so when the movie didn't prove to be a box office success, a potential movie franchise (or even resurrection of the series) died. Second time in three years. Hard enough to see his true love killed once, but now, it had happened twice.

So for the next few years, he dabbled. Did some comics. A few guest spots and side projects. But, I think, the loss of FIREFLY cut him to the core and stole away his heart, or his drive, or perhaps both.

Finally, like a widower ready to date again, he stuck is foot in the water with DOLLHOUSE. In Season One, I think he was largely emotionally uninvested--and it showed. But, seriously, who could blame him for not wanted to dive in again?

And, of course, just as he started to get comfortable--bam! Shot down again!

Can you blame the guy for being upset about some of this stuff?

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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