I have been a long-time fan of Joss’ work, but he’s never fooled me.
Sure, he’s made some sensational announcements, like Trump was going to end civilization (or something). My favorite was his 2012 video claiming the electing Mitt Romney would ignite a zombie apocalypse.
Liberal arrogance at its height.
But Joss’ Firefly and its capstone Serenity are my favorites. No, not because he reimagined the “Killing Angels” account of the American Civil War so his heroes were freedom fighters against an oppressive space government (instead of fleeing slavers fighting “Northern Aggression).
No, I loved the western/submarine in space thing. I loved the tone, stories about wisecracking guys doing guy things, standing up to oppression, the idea that “you can’t stop the signal,” (irony alert!) and obviously, characters like River rising to achieve her destiny (I’m avoiding spoilers).
Work like this allowed Joss Whedon to be proclaimed a feminist hero. He stood up for women’s rights (read: Planned Parenthood) by creating a series of strong female characters, through Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, and others.
Joss’ Feminist Marriage
But on August 20, 2017, Joss’ ex-wife, Kai Cole, related:
Joss admitted that for the next decade and a half, he hid multiple affairs and a number of inappropriate emotional ones that he had with his actresses, co-workers, fans and friends, while he stayed married to me.
This is heartbreaking enough except that she goes on:
Then later, after he confessed everything, he told me, “I let myself love you. I stopped worrying about the contradiction. As a guilty man I knew the only way to hide was to act as though I were righteous. And as a husband, I wanted to be with you like we had been. I lived two lives.” When he walked out of our marriage, and was trying to make “things seem less bewildering” to help me understand how he could have lied to me for so long, he said, “In many ways I was the HEIGHT of normal, in this culture. We’re taught to be providers and companions and at the same time, to conquer and acquire — specifically sexually — and I was pulling off both!”
… But I now see how he used his relationship with me as a shield, both during and after our marriage, so no one would question his relationships with other women or scrutinize his writing as anything other than feminist.
Kai’s point here is worth emphasis: the key to understanding the blustery Hollywood type mouthing off about liberal causes, including all of the posturing about perceived “women’s rights” and the like, is that it is their shield.
About Hollywood Leftists
Why do you think there’s an inherent hypocrisy to Leonardo DiCapro (and Al Gore) spouting off about climate change while flying private jets and burning more energy than most small towns?
It’s because of the shield their advocacy provides.
You see, some would say they’re vocal because they’re celebrities. NO, they’re vocal because deep down, they know it’s unfair for them to make so much money, to be so privileged, to play on such a higher plane. They don’t want to be called out as selfish, to be associated with the greedy one-percent.
But they want the trappings. They’re not giving back the money (Keanu Reeves exception). They’re certainly not giving back the luxury, the perks, the SEX!
If they didn’t posture to these liberal causes, no one, certainly not most of those women, would overlook their indiscretions, and God knows they love, and become addicted to, those indiscretions.
For Joss and Kai, their breakup required her to get PTSD counseling and time for her to recover. She finishes her article (in its entirety here) with:
I want to let women know that he is not who he pretends to be. I want the people who worship him to know he is human, and the organizations giving him awards for his feminist work, to think twice in the future about honoring a man who does not practice what he preaches.
The great tragedy for her, and the real problem we face in our culture, is that her assessment is wrong.
About Feminism
Joss is EXACTLY practicing what he preaches. The problem is, feminism’s message produces this kind of culture.
I’m not talking about first wave feminism, the desire for equal rights and suffrage. Today, everyone agrees that all citizens should be have their vote (instead of just landowners who used to have a greater stakes in political policy).
I’m talking about today’s man-hating, marriage and gender role hating, “every women is a goddess” feminism.
Hasn’t anyone noticed how almost fetishistic Joss’ worship of Buffy is? I’m using Buffy as the template, but they’re all small, thin, 109 pound supermodel types who can beat up 250 pound soldiers without breaking a sweat. The same is true of Black Widow in the Avenger’s movies.
This year we’re celebrating Wonder Woman, a gorgeous young dominatrix with a pure heart, very short shirt, and a lasso to make bad boys tell the truth. Plus, Atomic Blonde, an indestructible, leggy spy who sleeps with women, and beats up the slowest, dullest East German police ever.
These are all teenage boy fantasies, hot and accessible, as Hollywood likes, and sexually liberated, as men like.
The irony is, as many other blogs are now noticing (now that Joss’ shields are down), these women are still trapped in roles and controlled by men.
Hasn’t anyone learned yet that the sexual revolution was a boon for boys on the make?
The women who accept this kind of gender neutral (though women are more equal than others) kind of feminism will find them selves violated, guilt-ridden, and alone.
This is the feminist disconnect.
I feel very sorry for Kai. She learned too late that feminism’s great male devotees are not eunuchs. She lived with Joss for four years before they married, and assumed that he would then keep his vows to her even though his feminist worldview seeks to abolish marriage.
Feminist men need to spout this gibberish to overcome a woman’s natural distrust. And they need Planned Parenthood to cover their tracks.
Ladies, if I may suggest an alternative? How about an honest man who believes men and women are socially different, who respects you enough to establish appropriate boundaries (e.g. not to sleep with you before marriage), who believes his role as husband/father is to provide and protect, and who aspires to be a strong, classically male role model for his family.
At least try to respect men like that. They are the future.
For Joss, sir, you are no Malcolm Reynolds.
