Joss Whedon: He’s Our Man!

Angel, Spike, Xander, Mal Reynolds, Jayne, Dr. Horrible, Victor, Topher Brink, Tony Stark, Agent Coulson. Great characters. I enjoy them all. One thing they have in common is that they are some of the on-screen characters under the guiding mind of Joss Whedon. He uses some great characters in his stories – at least half of them are men.

I don’t care about any of those guys. Why? Because everybody writes great male characters for film and TV.

Joss Whedon does something that everybody else doesn’t always do. He writes great female character, too. Speaking as a woman, I can testify to the fact that women are desperate to see great female characters on their various screens. When someone like Joss Whedon gives us that with brilliant consistency, women notice. I pay homage to him today.

Here’s a little treat in the form of a few of the women Joss Whedon invented for the screen, with Joss’s fuzzy and warm face right in the middle. I’m not going to name characters and shows to match up with the faces below. If you don’t already know those facts, you need to embark on a study of Joss Whedon’s filmography immediately.

I love you, Joss, and every woman you ever created.

Whedon on Whedon Women

This is an old speech, from 2006 and Equality Now, but I know Joss Whedon still gets the same question everywhere he goes. It’s worth listening to his answer one more time.

Joss is right. Instead of asking him why he’s doing it right, we should start asking everyone else why they’re doing it wrong.

A full transcript of this speech is available.

Update

So glad to be introducing more friends to the work of @equalitynow at the #MakeEqualityReality event. http://t.co/X0PPJ43dbs

— Gloria Steinem (@GloriaSteinem) November 1, 2013

The tweet is referring to this event:

On 4 November, Equality Now will honor award-winning writer, director, producer and Advisory Board member, Joss Whedon, for his work on gender equality at an event in Beverly Hills, California. Chaired by Board member Gloria Steinem and hosted by Paul Reiser.

Joss Whedon’s photo featured above ©Gage Skidmore.