Joss Whedon on Serenity

Joss Whedon had a few things to say about his new Serenity movie:

Well, sports fans, it's official. The movie is shot. Done. And I couldn't be happier to be through with it. No more of that exciting, vibrant set, that warm camaraderie, that creative stimulus, free donuts... Excuse me. I have something in my eye... free donuts...

Oh, there's things I'll miss. But there's definitely things I WON'T miss. In no particular order:

1) Fillion. People who are prettier than me are not supposed to be funnier than me. I think it's a guild thing. And that whole 'gracious and professional' thing got old on day ONE, you know what I mean?

And then, a bit later on:

But no matter how much I suffer for my art, it's worth it. 'Cause come April 22nd I think we'll be bringing you an exciting film that's a powerful statement about the right to be free. Which is not as cool as my original statement about the right to tasty garlic mussels in a cilantro broth, but the freedom thing's okay too.

Have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to Joss Whedon's next movie? I didn't watch Firefly when it was briefly on television, but that's mostly because I don't watch a lot of television. I got the DVD collection and I decided that the network officials who messed it up should each and severally be hanged, drawn, quartered, and beheaded. It was one of the best things I'd ever seen on TV, and it was gone after only 12 episodes.

So many SF shows are like Star Trek: the UN in space, with all the socialistic notions embedded so deeply that they're never challenged or even identified. Firefly isn't like that. Freedom and personal responsibility are always part of the picture (although rarely stated in didactic "Prime Directive" style, thank goodness). While there is a multi-planetary government in the story, they're explicitly the bad guys (from the point of view of the protagonists). If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and pick up the Firefly DVD set: it has the Quotulatiousness seal of approval!

Hat tip to Virginia Postrel.