Joss Whedon has had a following since the 90's. The man knows how to tell a story. That being said, I had very little interest in his work until well after most of it came out. Not a fan of Buffy or Angel and I caught on to Firefly about 9 years to late. I did jump on the Dr. Horrible wagon relatively fast, but that was during the writers strike, and I think the internet blew it up so quickly that I had to see it.
Since I started using Netflix about a year ago, I have discovered there is an over-saturation of terrible TV and movies out there. There are plenty of gems out there as well, but be honest for one second, do you watch every single title that pops up on your screen from Netflix?
That got me thinking. I've watched the entire Firefly series several times over the last 12 months, and it is not the first series that I've done that with. Avatar: The Last Airbender(the animated series), 30 Rock, Scrubs, Arrested Development, and soon I'll revisit Lost, are just a few titles that I've seen many times over. I love revisiting a favorite series once and a while, but where are the new shows that explode on the screen and capture the audience? I look over the titles on Netflix and I am found wanting. I'd like to be immersed into a new adventure of character and plot. I'd kill for something like that. Which brings me to Joss Whedon and his new movie, The Avengers.
Holy Cow was that movie good. Often, I'll head to theaters to watch a blockbuster with high hopes, only for them to be dashed on the rocky shores of poor plot and weak character development. For the Avengers, that was not the case. All the main characters had great motivation and development. Something I did not expect. As a matter of fact, I went into the theater expecting a Spiderman 3 syndrome of too many pots and not enough hands to churn them well. I was especially surprised with the Hulk. Often times he has been portrayed, by good actors, as a meat headed monster. Joss did an amazing job of allowing Bruce Banner to actually build into the Hulk.
Overall, the movie wove the headlining heroes stories together very well. Setting up sequels, and adding depth to rather weak franchises. My hope is that Joss stays on for the sequel, because I fear great stories switching hands.
I'm certain we need great tales to soak up and divalge in, because we look for them so intently. When we find a bard that we can give our full attention to, storytellers like Whedon, Nolan, and Spielberg, we cling to their work for dear life. We trust these few to continue to give us great fables that one day our children will love. Think about it, I'm sure you have a favorite show or two. I believe the reason we have these love affairs with series is because they tell us fundamental truths about ourselves. We project ourselves as the hero and live through their experiences, seeing ourselves in the good traits they have. When we see a villain we hate, it can be because it is our worst nightmare of what we could become. We may not be a manipulative demi-god who throws the world into jeopardy by opening portals at the opposite end of the universe, but maybe you know a person who craves attention so deeply that they are willing to do terrible things for it.
In the end my desire for better stories on Netflix comes down to my desire to experience the world through a new perspective that can speak some truth, and mystery, about life. I tip my hat to Joss for his exceptional telling of The Avengers. I'm officially a Whedon fan now, hoping for great things to come from him. The most important lesson I learned as a writer, is that exciting characters and stories can be made even out of old, well known archetypes. It rejuvenates me for the drive to invent new characters as a result. If they can do reboot old characters, you can create new ones.
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