When I was young, like pre-teen young, as a Buffy fan with limited internet access and quite little understanding of how a television show works I still knew the name Joss Whedon. As a matter in fact, knowing his name and appreciating who he is lead me to appreciate Marti Noxon, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson, Drew Z. Greenberg, David Fury, David Greenwalt, and many of the writers and producers who contributed to Buffy. In what other franchise could material resonate so much with fans to a point where the creators and writers are just as much stars as the actors? Hardly any. I credit Joss Whedon a lot for inspiring me throughout my youth to want to write and create new mythologies, new ideas which is why I absolutely cannot abide by this Buffy remake nonsense.
Hollywood right now is so despicable and repugnant in a way it hasn't been for a very long time which has been sealed for me personally with news of this remake. In the future I feel as though people will look back at this time in cinema as being only monumental from a technological standpoint, otherwise it's bound to look depressing and
barren. Yes, as cool as it may seem to some, 3D will become old hat much like technicolor and oh yeah, 3D when it came around the first time. These huge special effects people fawn over will pass this innovation period and they'll be produced at a rapid rate, the impact of earlier explorations will be dulled as it will be commonplace. And these totally unnecessary sequels and remakes will mark an absolute absence of originality and emotional dimension in cinema. That the industry would take something a good person like Joss Whedon made from the ground-up and do whatever they please with it is really a show of the times.
Now, I'm not going to be the hobo on a soapbox and claim the end of the world is near or anything like that but too see something like Buffy be subject to this is just too shameful to not say something about, even if it's just to 10 people. The Buffy comic, which has been selling well, is actually one of the only comics I consistently buy and though it's all far less overtly displayed, everything Buffy that I could get my hands on I still own, I still remember every episode name, a whole sea of quotes, and even if it doesn't consume as much time as it used to in my life, I'm really grateful to have been there for the ride and enjoyed it the way I have. I know that a lot of the people I've met through Buffy have a similar sentimental regard for it and though it's quite peripheral in conversation now I really, really hope a lot of other people hang on to Joss' creation and are not swayed to see this movie.
Did I ever think this may happen? Of course. Was I okay with it? Sure. Because in my mind, theoretically, I imagined anyone in their right mind would do this in 10 or 20 years from now. But this I could've never imagined especially given that a lot of the actors are only in their 30's and the show hasn't even been off the air for a decade yet. Joss Whedon and the writers aside, this is a horrible insult to Sarah Michelle Gellar who even to this day still has approval over Buffy's image and has shown the utmost devotion to
Buffy. Her portrayal of Buffy is so fresh in my mind and her vitality is so present it just seems almost cruel to try and plow over the endless hours of hard work she put into to making that character along with her fellow actors who gave performances that were ridiculously underrated. You look at an episode like "The Body" and it's clear that there was a sharp, intense dynamic between everyone who worked on that set. To impede on that and to try to create a new canon entirely so soon after is just plain disrespectful to all of them and I really hope that anyone attached to show has the pride to not even accept a cameo.
What's even worse? There are new slayers all the time these days! If these studio executives knew anything about Buffy at all, they could've realized this and created a spin-off with a totally different character which I imagine Joss would've been up for writing but the fact they don't even want to bother with meticulously woven storyline just goes to show you they really don't care about Buffy. By not caring about Buffy they, in turn, obviously don't care very much for the fans and are obviously just trying to capitalize on the familiarity of the name to make a buck which just really, truly makes my blood boil.
So really, seriously, I wouldn't normally do this but I just want to say to all Buffy fans- don't even consider seeing this. Look back on those 122 hours of television Joss and the cast and crew gave us and really think about whether or not you want to throw a few bucks at people who just completely undermines all of that. Also, if anyone knows any petition or open letter or whatever that's being put together please let me know.
Log in to comment