A found poem from snippets of Joss Whedon dialogue
the raggedy edge
all orderly like
I do not hold to that
we aim to misbehave
caught a wave;
gonna bounce it down to you
it don’t mean nuthin’
out here in the black
“Joss Whedon loves apocalyptic moments, perhaps because it’s an ideal situation in which to let characters out to play–what Buffy decides during different apocalypses displays her development as a superhero, as a woman. But Whedon seems particularly drawn to the quandary that results when just one person can save the world or kill it. He continually places his characters in the apocalyptic moment with the power to save the world, and both of his movies of this spring–The Avengers and The Cabin in the Woods–feature characters who have to make sacrifices to save the world.”
–Lisa Vox. “Joss Whedon and the End of the World.” Geekstory May 24, 2012. Web.
“So which misfit crew is [Joss] Whedon’s favorite?
‘You know, I love all my raggedy children,’ he said. ‘But if I could be anywhere, I’d be on board Serenity.'”
–Noelene Clark. “‘Avengers’: Joss Whedon Talks Sequel, ‘Buffy’, and ‘X-Men’ Parallels.” Hero Complex, Los Angeles Times May 15, 2012. Web.
“What doesn’t change is anything that matters. What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of — I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with ‘peeps’ — that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of. When almost no one was watching, when people probably should have STOPPED watching, I’ve had three constants: my family and friends, my collaborators (often the same), and y’all. A lot of stories have come out about my ‘dark years’, and how I’m ‘unrecognized’… I love these stories, because they make me seem super-important, but I have never felt the darkness (and I’m ALL about my darkness) that they described. Because I have so much. I have people, in my life, on this site, in places I’ve yet to discover, that always made me feel the truth of success: an artist and an audience communicating. Communicating to the point of collaborating. I’ve thought, “maybe I’m over; maybe I’ve said my piece”. But never with fear. Never with rancor. Because of y’all. Because you knew me when. If you think topping a box office record compares with someone telling you your work helped them through a rough time, you’re probably new here. (For the record, and despite my inhuman distance from the joy-joy of it: topping a box office record is super-dope. I’m an alien, not a robot.) So this is me, saying thank you. All of you. You’ve taken as much guff for loving my work as I have for over-writing it, and you deserve, in this our time of streaming into the main, to crow. To glow. To crow and go ‘I told you so’, to those Joe Blows not in the know. (LAST time I hire Dr. Seuss to punch my posts up. Yeesh!) ”
–Joss Whedon. “The Purple.” Whedonesque. Blog post. May 9, 2012. Web.
“[Joss Whedon’s] advocacy of woman, exhibited in his work since ‘Buffy,’ is on display in ‘The Avengers,’ with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.
‘Joss did not want the Black Widow to be the damsel in distress or just another pretty face, or someone that was, you know, a woman that was incapable of holding her own,’ said Johansson.
‘She just throws down and sweeps the floor. And when I read it, it was just like, “Oh, thank you, Joss!”‘”
–“‘Avengers’ Director Joss Whedon: Yes, He’s a Geek.” Sunday Morning. April 29, 2012. CBS News. Web.
“The [Joss Whedon Avengers] film brings together all the superheroes which have thus far appeared in movies shot by the new Marvel film studio – as well as two new heroes, who will be getting their own films over the next few years. All are recruited to fight a great menace when Loki brings an alien army to Earth.
Much of the film revolves around the themes of leadership and teamwork. Essentially, the heroes struggle to become a cohesive unit as their personalities clash along the way.”
–CB Droege. “The Avengers Clip Breaks the Chair.” TG Daily April 4, 2012. Web.
“Joss [Whedon] gave me a great deal over the last ten years but his most important gifts were the very same gifts we have all been given. His stories, populated with emotional hills and valleys, which never end. Sisyphus pushes the stone up the mountain and it rolls back down and he must push it up again. Joss helped me understand that there is greatness in every part of Sisyphus’s task, and knowing this I will always look for greatness in all things. I can laugh and expect that the rock will always fall down when I reach the top of the hill, just as Serenity breaks after giving the world truth. And this makes us mighty.”
–Loni Peristere. “Mutant Enemy U.” Serenity Found. Ed. Jane Espenson. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2007. Quote on page 128.