Letter 9: Joss, Your Time Is Up

Dear Joss Whedon,

I want to be clear on one thing. I stand with every victim you harassed, made to feel less than, or cut down for your own ego. Absolutely, none of that is okay and will ever be okay. For women and minorities everywhere, I hope your name is forgotten in the history books while those you harassed are forever remembered and loved for continuing to work on a show that many people around my age loved despite the hostile environment of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As a teenager, I fell in love with the show immediately. My options of characters that looked like me at the time were limited. I was a thin, blonde female teenager. In horror movies, the blonde was perpetually the first to die, and the 90s were filled with the rise of brunette actresses as the good girl: Jessica Biel, Neve Campbell, Katie Holmes, Jennifer Love Hewitt. I needed to see a character who looked like me that didn’t play the mean girl. I highly doubt I was alone with that feeling. Then, Sarah Michelle Gellar appeared on my screen as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a petite, blonde powerhouse of a female, and I saw an iteration of what strong could look like. Given that I did not make the jump to Angel, I truly had no idea what you did to Charisma Carpenter.

As an adult who has watched Buffy a second time, the nostalgia factor is high, but so is my awareness that you created some truly problematic characters. Xander is entirely unlikable the entire run of the television show as he feels open to make derogatory comments about every single female character. He is perhaps the embodiment of white, male privilege. Warren quite literally rapes and kills an ex-girlfriend who dumped him. I know I’m supposed to feel badly for Angel because he is tormented with a soul. In flashbacks, Angel was a terrible person before he ever got turned into vampire. He isn’t a brooding hero. He is essentially a horrific being who got caught, and now, I’m supposed to feel bad that he can’t enjoy his favorite meal? I don’t. If that defense of he can't even enjoy his favorite foods anymore sounds familiar, it's because it was used as part of Brock Turner's defense.

As Spike became a fan favorite, you wrote a degrading “love” story between him and Buffy which culminated in the character trying to rape Buffy. I genuinely believe that writing was entirely unfair to both of the characters. Part of the allure of Buffy and Spike’s initial interactions were that they didn’t have to like or entirely trust each other to work together. They respected each other’s ability to fight. In life, having a common enemy is frequently enough to forge some type of uneasy bond. The relationship could have stayed platonic. Likewise, you sold the character of Buffy short the entirety of that season by putting the character into a wholly unhealthy relationship. You don’t think she would have learned from Angel? Parker? Other boyfriends who were short-lived due to unhealthy male behavior? I feel like I had the market cornered on bad dating choices at one point in my life, and even I learned, I don’t want a fixer upper or someone who I have to pretend to be less than for the relationship to work.

Throughout the seven years of the series, I believe Buffy has sex with four characters. The first turns evil from sleeping with her. The second dumps her immediately after having sex which is the most realistic of the options. When she slept with Riley, it released some curse or demon. Finally, you pushed her into a sadistic sexual relationship with Spike for reasons unknown. The message seems clear; women who have sex and own their sexuality must be punished. As an adult, that doesn’t feel empowering. Likewise, I’m tired of the trope that for women to be strong, they need to continually suffer. Both Veronica Mars and Buffy scream the same message: a female can be happy in a relationship or good at her job but never both for long. As a female who is strong, that is false advertising. And you sold so many females on that show short by writing it that way.

I can continue down the line with Anya, Cordelia, Faith, and Tara. I could list on one hand the amount of times a minority character was included on the show. Minus Principal Wood whose creation I think was the height of your adult puberty as it also aligns when Charisma Carpenter was treated the worst, every minority character was killed not long after their introduction. And for as much as I needed to see a character who looked like Buffy, minorities certainly needed and deserved to see heroes who look like them. We're still failing there.

Do I think I could write a television show as the same caliber of Buffy? Yes, I actually do. Since I’m a female, that answer will be read as brash or arrogant. In reality, it’s not. I’m an actual female who believes in feminism who can write fully developed characters. I suspect I have a better understanding of the female experience. Will I ever get the chance? Absolutely not. I’m not a white male who had a father and grandfather who wrote for iconic television shows. One of the oddest parts of this saga to me is that you truly see yourself as an underdog. Beyond connections, you came from an educated family with money. That is the epitome of white, male privilege. I often wonder which characters writers hide pieces of themselves in because it seems somewhat inevitable to me. You can’t work on something for that amount of time without creating a character who has shades of you. It was Xander and Warren, male characters who felt entitled to be rude or misogynistic. I guess I should thank you for reminding audiences that misogyny and chauvinistic attitudes can come in all shapes and sizes.

I’m tired of males writing women’s stories. No matter how “woke” a white male is, he will never understand what it’s like to be a female in this country because a white male will never understand that a walk to my mailbox in suburbia is still enough to land me on an episode of Disappeared.

Joss, you were given power you didn’t earn. You’re not special. You were born into the best set of circumstances. You had the chance to do something amazing and to lift others up with what you had. Instead, you seemingly put people through hell because you could. You’re not a god of some cult classic. You’re an abuser. In this case, it truly is that simple.

I’m heartbroken for Ray Fisher and Charisma Carpenter. I’m heartbroken for the other people you abused who haven’t come forward out fear. I’m heartbroken that a character I loved in middle school and high school suffered from your writing then and will be scrutinized more due to your behavior now. It’s not okay.

But what do I know? I’m just a mad woman.

Regards,

Kelly