Whedon takes a dig a Twilight (the movie not his character)

[Black Eye Guy]

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator was also asked about his take on the modern version of the vampire, not so much slaying, but often times loving, teen girl.

"A small part of you is like: 'Well, you know, I did that first. I liked that band before they were popular,'" Whedon reflected. "The thing about Buffy for me is - on a show-by-show basis - are there female characters who are being empowered, who are driving the narrative? The Twilight thing and a lot of these franchise attempts coming out, everything rests on what this girl will do, but she's completely passive, or not really knowing what the hell is going on. And that's incredibly frustrating to me because a lot of what's taking on the oeuvre of Buffy, is actually a reaction against it. Everything is there - except for the Buffy. A lot of things aimed at the younger kids is just Choosing Boyfriends: The Movie."

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2013/08/26/star-wars-joss-whedons-critique-of-the-empire-strikes-back

I definitely agree that Twilight is basically Choosing Boyfriends: The Movie, and basically anything anything with a female leads gets compared to Buffy, even when the female lead isn't anything like Buffy.

 

[Blaze]

Couldn't agree more! I don't want to insult people that like Twilight, but really it's just a love story. And Bella is just about the worst female character I've seen written. And I believe sometimes that can send the wrong message to a younger and more influential audience. Worst of all, I hate when Twilight is compared to shows like Buffy, or book like the Hunger Games. Each have a not so traditional love triangle, but both Buffy and Hunger Games are about so much more, while Twilight is simply about that, the love triangle. I get that they tried to include other stuff to the story, but like Joss said, Bella was so passive that it made it cringe worthy.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Anyone ever think Joss named his character Twilight as a joke? lol

 

[itssmiletime]

Wow, gee, this quote may anger me more than the Empire Strikes Back one...

Um... are people still dissing Twilight? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan and the relationships between Bella / Edward and Bella/ Jacob are incredibly problematic in terms of abuse- it's just, dissing Twilight is too easy- I do not mind people who are incredibly critical of the abuse, but they are the minority- it's more about Bella's 'passiveness' or the sparkly vampires. Like, gee, why don't you be critical of like, a more highly acclaimed piece of work?

The only thing that is more annoying than Twilight fans are the people who take every single opportunity to bash and make fun of Twilight... sorry for the mini- rant, guys

I think people overestimate the 'badness' of passive characters- I mean, look at Tara Maclay. A character flaw of hers is definitely passiveness- yet she is just as a real character to me as defiant individuals such as Anya- people are quite passive in real life, but they have reasons, etc.

I agree with Black Eye Guy about a female lead automatically being compared to Buffy... I mean, like none of the Charmed witches are anything like Buffy, except Paige and her lollipop obsession 🙂

 

[Buffy Summers]

I also think by saying something negative about Twilight, he gets in the press. No such thing as bad publicity 😉

 

[Blaze]

Wow, gee, this quote may anger me more than the Empire Strikes Back one...

Um... are people still dissing Twilight? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan and the relationships between Bella / Edward and Bella/ Jacob are incredibly problematic in terms of abuse- it's just, dissing Twilight is too easy- I do not mind people who are incredibly critical of the abuse, but they are the minority- it's more about Bella's 'passiveness' or the sparkly vampires. Like, gee, why don't you be critical of like, a more highly acclaimed piece of work?

The only thing that is more annoying than Twilight fans are the people who take every single opportunity to bash and make fun of Twilight... sorry for the mini- rant, guys

I think people overestimate the 'badness' of passive characters- I mean, look at Tara Maclay. A character flaw of hers is definitely passiveness- yet she is just as a real character to me as defiant individuals such as Anya- people are quite passive in real life, but they have reasons, etc.

I agree with Black Eye Guy about a female lead automatically being compared to Buffy... I mean, like none of the Charmed witches are anything like Buffy, except Paige and her lollipop obsession 🙂

I'll always be fine with criticizing Twilight, because I did it before it was "cool". I first took a dislike in it back when everyone around me that I knew loved it, so I was always alone debating the fact that I disliked it, and for many, many reasons. It's not just Bella's passiveness but just the whole plot is very problematic, and I think the relationship is just as problematic. I don't take every opportunity I get to bash the book/movies, but if people ask me for my opinion I will give it. Of course, not all of it is bad, and I'll be the first one to praise the stuff that it did well, but in no way do I believe I should refrain myself from voicing my opinion just because it's "easy" or because too many people agree with me.

Also to me, it's not just about Bella's passiveness, after all, Tara is one of my favorite character, and it's not about the love triangle either, I've mentionned before that I like the Hunger Games. To me, it's about how the book sends a bad message to youths. You know what, maybe my biggest problem is with the abuse, I'm not sure, but so many things rub me the wrong way with Twilight.

 

[itssmiletime]

I'll always be fine with criticizing Twilight, because I did it before it was "cool". I first took a dislike in it back when everyone around me that I knew loved it, so I was always alone debating the fact that I disliked it, and for many, many reasons. It's not just Bella's passiveness but just the whole plot is very problematic, and I think the relationship is just as problematic. I don't take every opportunity I get to bash the book/movies, but if people ask me for my opinion I will give it. Of course, not all of it is bad, and I'll be the first one to praise the stuff that it did well, but in no way do I believe I should refrain myself from voicing my opinion just because it's "easy" or because too many people agree with me.

Also to me, it's not just about Bella's passiveness, after all, Tara is one of my favorite character, and it's not about the love triangle either, I've mentionned before that I like the Hunger Games. To me, it's about how the book sends a bad message to youths. You know what, maybe my biggest problem is with the abuse, I'm not sure, but so many things rub me the wrong way with Twilight.

Um... where did I say anything about refraining from voicing your opinion? Really, don't put words in my mouth, it's rude.

I get that in real life, yeah, it's different. It's just that online, and I honestly don't think anyone can deny it, their is alot of anti- Twilight sentiment that just randomly appears. People just say 'oh if you don't like Buffy maybe you should stick to Twilight' and it's so annoying. I mean, god, bashing The Godfather is more fun because the people who you p*ss off tend to think of their opinion as gold and can't comprehend the idea that not everyone loves the most acclaimed film... (and this is coming from someone who likes The Godfather)

And when people say how abusive it is, well, honestly, it can be very hypocritical: I mean, look at alot of the ships on TVD- highly abusive and romantized. There is also Spike / Buffy... yet I do not, get, or can't comprehend, why do people bash on bella / edward the most? I mean, you aren't breaking any new ground whatsoever and plus, it's boring to be critical of something that everyone will just nod their heads in agreement, like, we know Twilight sucks, do we need to be reminded of it every 10 seconds? I mean, personally, Spuffy sends a far worse message than Bella / Edward. Both ships are endorsed by young adult woman... I mean, it doesn't matter what genre, how acclaimed the show is... romantised abusive relationships are never, ever okay... I mean, twilight sucks, let's move on, okay?


Quotes like this make me realise how much Joss Whedon is boring me...

 

[Buffy Summers]

Guys, let's not get personal with this. Thanks 🙂

 

[Blaze]

Um... where did I say anything about refraining from voicing your opinion? Really, don't put words in my mouth, it's rude.

I never put any words in your mouth. I didn't say you told me I couldn't voice my opinion, I just said I'll voice it no matter what people think. I wasn't replying that to direct it at you, I just thought my post was relevant to what you wrote, so I quoted you. I was making a general statement, and it was a generalized answer, and in no way did I imply you saying I couldn't voice my opinion. I made that comment because I just wanted to say that although I agree that Twilight is overly bashed, I still think that this shouldn't prevent me from expending further on why I believe Twilight is shit.

This thread is a thread about bashing Twilight, I respect the way you see this matter, but I wasn't bashing Twilight just for the sake of bashing Twilight, and I wasn't being hypocritical. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way (being completely genuine here, sometimes it's hard to tell on the internet😱)

 

[bentjazz]

Quotes like this make me realise how much Joss Whedon is boring me...

That.

🙂 I really better keep my mouth shut.....

 

[slayer6]

I only saw parts of the movies of twilight I never really gave it much attention so What about Bella Edward it abusive

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

I don't know anything about the characters Bella & Edward, but if it's a similar dynamic to Buffy/Angel, except Bella's a passive young girl, might Whedon take issue with the age gap?

His justification for Buffy being with a man 220+ years her senior was that emotionally Buffy wasn't a teenager at that point--which I think we can all buy into since no real teenager has the fate of the world in their hands. But if this Bella is emotionally a child, and Edward is a senior citizen...