When Jet Black goes to turn in a bounty, he speaks to a police officer who apparently slept with his ex-wife. Other scenes are also plagued by Whedonspeak. “Hey dick-hole!” Faye says, “Super cool accommodations, but do you think you could handcuff me to an even bigger, more disgusting toilet? Cause that would be great.” The tone of this is pretty “wink wink, nudge nudge,” as if the writers are speaking through the characters to the audience, rather than the characters commenting on the situation they are in. Often these characters metatextually comment on their surroundings or the environments they’re in, usually in a sarcastic or snarky way. They say “thing” or “thingy” or “stuff” in place of more descriptive terms.
They turn nouns into verbs and vice versa. Characters are often imprecise in their language, letting sentences trail off as they struggle to articulate themselves. It’s difficult to overstate how influential that show has been, not just in terms of its portrayal of women in science fiction, but also because of the particular quirks of Whedon’s dialogue.Ĭharacters in Whedon’s shows talk a lot, and they talk in very particular ways. The show is a cult classic whose reputation precedes it, inspiring not only burgeoning young people to become feminists but also inspiring future television writers to get into the business.
Before Joss Whedon was given the keys to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as director of The Avengers, long before his now ex-wife wrote a story calling him a “ hypocrite preaching feminist ideals” and cast members spoke out about his abusive behavior on set, he was the showrunner for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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