The ONION : joss whedon interview

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Newish Joss Whedon interview from THE ONION
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub373 ... _3731.html

some tara/willow bits halfway through the interview. not spoilery. cute joss pic.

ches

I

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You beat me to it!

Here's the W/T bit:

quote:

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O: Speaking of sex and reality, the Tara-and-Willow relationship has been controversial from several angles, with one side of the spectrum accusing you of promoting a homosexual agenda while the other side accuses you of exploiting lesbian chic.

JW: You just have to ignore that. I actually went online and said, "I realize that this has shocked a lot of people, and I've made a mistake by trying to shove this lifestyle--which is embraced by, maybe, at most, 10 percent of Americans--down people's throats. So I'm going to take it back, and from now on, Willow will no longer be a Jew." And somebody was actually like, [adopts agitated whine] "What do you mean she's not going to be a Jew anymore?" I was like, "Can we get a 'sarcasm' font?" But, you know, the first criticism we got was, "She's not gay enough. They're not gay enough." We were playing it as a metaphor, and it was like, "Why don't they come out? They're not gay enough!" And eventually we did start to say, "Well, maybe we're being a little coy. They've got good chemistry, this is working out, why don't we just go ahead and make them go for it?" And, of course, once you bring it out in the open, it's no longer a metaphor. Then it's just an Issue. But we never played it that way. Ultimately, some people say "lesbian chic," I say, "Okay, whatever." Those criticisms don't really bug me. You look at shows like Ally McBeal and Party Of Five, which both did lesbian kisses that were promoted and hyped for months and months, and afterwards the characters were like, "Well, I seem to be very heterosexual! Thank you for that steamy lesbian kiss!" Our whole mission statement was that we would bury their first kiss inside an episode that had nothing to do with it, and never promote it, which I guess caught people off-guard at The WB. The reason we had them kiss was because if they didn't, it would start to get coy and, quite frankly, a little offensive, for two people that much in love to not have any physicality. But the whole mission statement was, "We'll put it where nobody expects it, and we'll never talk about it." I mean, there are people who are genuinely concerned--are we falling into a pattern that other shows are falling into? It's very possible. The WB was like, "We have gay characters on all our shows. Why didn't you tell us you were making characters gay?" "Well, I don't watch your other shows. I didn't know." I'm sort of not really aware of what's going on out there. So the accusations of, "You shouldn't have a gay character on your show," those people are just--they should just be tied to a rock. "Whatever, you dumb people." Not that I feel strongly. But the other ones, "Oh, you just do that because it's sexy"... Well, the writers, and the men and women on the set, are like, "Yeah, it is pretty sexy!" I mean, so were Buffy and Angel. If it's not sexy, then it's not worth it. Like those two guys in thirtysomething sitting in bed together, looking like they were individually wrapped in plastic. They did a scene with two guys in bed, and it was a big deal, on thirtysomething, and it was the most antiseptic thing I've ever seen in my life. They were sitting ramrod-straight, far away from each other, and not even looking at each other. I was like, "Ahhh, sexy!"

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There is much more goodness there of a non-W/T nature, which I will leave for you to find on your own.

Oh, and also - there's extra sections of the interview here:
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub373 ... 3731b.html

It actually ran longer than they had space for, so they put the cut Q&A's on another page.

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"

"Nothing excites me more than the possiblity that I might fail." - Joss Whedon

I

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This is such a hilarious quote:

[quote:6d2ad706fe]"You look at shows like Ally McBeal and Party Of Five, which both did lesbian kisses that were promoted and hyped for months and months, and afterwards the characters were like, "Well, I seem to be very heterosexual! Thank you for that steamy lesbian kiss!""[/quote:6d2ad706fe]

I'm so glad that Willow didn't have a situation like that. You just know that, in anybody's hands other than Joss', it would have ended up that way. This is really one of the best JW interviews I've ever read! It's very comprehensive. I was surprised by the fact that Joss was not the one to originate the idea of Buffy as a TV series, that Gail Berman had done it.

It seems trite, but I'm so happy that Joss was the one who wrote that hilarious exchange in X-men with Wolverine "It's me." "Prove it." "You're a dick."

And, oh my, here's another hilarious exchange from the interview:
[quote:6d2ad706fe]O: How do you think the move to UPN will affect the series?

JW: ...I don't think anything will change. I mean, there'll be wrestling. But tasteful wrestling. Wrestling with a message behind it.[/quote:6d2ad706fe]

[This message has been edited by darvangi (edited September 05, 2001).]

I

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cooooooooool interview! thanks for posting!

I

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Thanks for posting it, Joss gives such a great interview, I just love that guy!

My favourite bit had to be :-

The reason we had them kiss was because if they didn't, it would start to get coy and, quite frankly, a little offensive, for two people that much in love to not have any physicality

I'm sorry, I know I'm a sap, but how cool is it for Joss to say that

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I am in thunderous agreement, oh glittering, glistening Glorificus! : Jinx in Tough Love

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Great interview! I like it YAY Joss

Later,
Reba

I

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The idea of a comic-book character saying
"Oh, I'd never say that in boldface!"

Heh, heh, heh, love it, love it, love it--the man really IS a genius .

I

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Mmmn, very good interview, one of the best I have read. Thanks for that.

Katharyn

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She's my always

I

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"Our whole mission statement was that we would bury their first kiss inside an episode that had nothing to do with it, and never promote it, which I guess caught people off-guard at The WB."

Where they buried it was entirely apropos which also made it great.

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Willow smiles and Tara blows out the candle!

I

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quote:

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Well, the writers, and the men and women on the set, are like, "Yeah, it is pretty sexy!" I mean, so were Buffy and Angel. If it's not sexy, then it's not worth it.

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That's it my favorite quote of all. See this is the kind of revolutionary view. You do something just because it works. I hope they hold to the motto and continue to make it sexy and I also noticed something else that made me very excited:

quote:

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Our whole mission statement was that we would bury their [b:b8a2369b2f][i:b8a2369b2f]first[/b:b8a2369b2f][/i:b8a2369b2f] kiss inside an episode that had nothing to do with it, and never promote it, which I guess caught people off-guard at The WB.

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Which is to say I expect more

I

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quote:

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Like those two guys in thirtysomething sitting in bed together, looking like they were individually wrapped in plastic

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Safe sex maybe?

D

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They have Dial-A-Prayer for atheists now. You call up but nobody answers.

I

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I Love Joss!!
Its just that there should be more than One kiss. If they want to make it realistic!
Anyway, I think the way they handled that kiss was very good.

I

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Didn't Joss, or Amber or Aly (someone, at least), say that when they did that first kiss, they did loads of takes, and at one point Joss said "okay, try to make it a little less like you're both about to jump into bed together". If they have the ability to act passionately and make it convincing (and I'm even more in awe of both director and actors in that ep that they were able to then turn it down - they conveyed exactly the emotion they needed for that moment), which evidently they do, then they should use it. If you've got a chemistry there, surely the thing to do is make a thing of it, at least occasionally? Theirs is the most natural relationship on the show, and they're the most nuzzely, so I'm gonna agree with xita and start praying fervently for muchas smoochies

I

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LOL! Exactley they should show anything if it has chemistry!

I

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cool interview - thanks for the link

i, for one, am very pleased that joss was smart enough to not turn the whole willow/tara thing into something purely sensational...

i love joss!

I

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joss' interview was fun. but, i do miss season 1 and 2 joss who was so self depricating and sillier. but, i guess like buffy and willow he has grown some confidence.

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I almost peed my pants over the 'Can we get a 'sarcasm' font?' LOL, Joss. I love that guy, he just rocks.

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"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."

-Gimli, from Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King

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Cool! Thanks for posting that.

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Oooo, thanks for posting this, QoD! I do so love Joss interviews.

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"O: Was it a personality conflict between you and (Donald) Sutherland, or was he just not what you'd envisioned in that role?
JW: No, no, he was just a prick"

The man shoots from the hip, eh? Gotta love 'im.

S

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