I have never seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the motion picture. I have never seen more than a few minutes of the long running TV series of the same name. I have never seen Firefly. In fact, I have seen almost nothing of the work of Mr. Joss Whedon. Following the shenanigans, no matter how peripherally, that transpire in Tinseltown; I was of course aware of his name and his showbiz undertakings. I was not aware that he was, allegedly, a tyrant. His entire career is now being retrospectively scrutinized because, apparently, he was a d**k. I do not know the man, so I can't say either way whether he was or wasn't or is or isn't. I'm going to assume, at least, that he created a "toxic environment" on the sets that he oversaw. That sucks. Nobody wants to work in a toxic environment, either literally or metaphorically. But I think most of us have. Who here hasn't had a boss that was a complete and total asshole? Or a teacher who got off on wielding power and was more concerned about making life miserable for people than educating them? Or a bully whose goal in life it was to make life as toxic as possible for whoever it was they chose to bully? Yes, it's awful and it sucks; but it's the way of the world. But it wasn't/isn't a crime.
However, now it seems that having created a toxic work environment is some kind of crime. Mr. Whedon is actually being "investigated" by a major studio for having done this. Why? Is this a prosecutable offense? What is the hope that if this reassessment of Mr. Whedon's past job performance is found to have been "toxic"? An apology? A ban on his being able to work again? A kinder, gentler work place for superheroes? Are they going to have shoulder rubs at the craft service table (no, we don't want to invite inappropriate touching allegations (have you ever been in a group shoulder rub? They're quite popular at community theater rehearsals; and yes, they're as creepy and inappropriate as they sound). How about a Trust Fall and a round of Mr. Rogers' "It's You I Like" between takes? Not to diminish the complaints of several of Mr. Whedon's employees; but let's face it. Some people are mean and you just have to deal with it. And let's face this: in a lot of cases, mean people get shit done. Cranking out a brand new hour of TV once a week for seven years, I think, would make anyone a little testy. And other than him being a jerk; it doesn't seem as though he did anything that was criminal. Perhaps morally and ethically wrong. And now he has to apologize? If we expect apologies from everyone in our lives who were mean to us; all we'd do is sit around listening to apologies. I worked in Hollywood. I was publicly bullied in front of an audience by the star of the show. Do I want an apology now? No. I chalk it up to experience. And today I'm a better man for it. It made me pull up my big boy pants and soldier on. And now I have an anecdote and that person still has a Q rating that's in the single digits.
However, now it seems that having created a toxic work environment is some kind of crime. Mr. Whedon is actually being "investigated" by a major studio for having done this. Why? Is this a prosecutable offense? What is the hope that if this reassessment of Mr. Whedon's past job performance is found to have been "toxic"? An apology? A ban on his being able to work again? A kinder, gentler work place for superheroes? Are they going to have shoulder rubs at the craft service table (no, we don't want to invite inappropriate touching allegations (have you ever been in a group shoulder rub? They're quite popular at community theater rehearsals; and yes, they're as creepy and inappropriate as they sound). How about a Trust Fall and a round of Mr. Rogers' "It's You I Like" between takes? Not to diminish the complaints of several of Mr. Whedon's employees; but let's face it. Some people are mean and you just have to deal with it. And let's face this: in a lot of cases, mean people get shit done. Cranking out a brand new hour of TV once a week for seven years, I think, would make anyone a little testy. And other than him being a jerk; it doesn't seem as though he did anything that was criminal. Perhaps morally and ethically wrong. And now he has to apologize? If we expect apologies from everyone in our lives who were mean to us; all we'd do is sit around listening to apologies. I worked in Hollywood. I was publicly bullied in front of an audience by the star of the show. Do I want an apology now? No. I chalk it up to experience. And today I'm a better man for it. It made me pull up my big boy pants and soldier on. And now I have an anecdote and that person still has a Q rating that's in the single digits.
Mean people are not just going to go away because we investigate them. It's like trying to keep bullying out of the schools. You can't. It's part of human nature. It's part of the game of being a kid: survival of the fittest. And being an adult. It too sucks; but it's inescapable. Not everyone can be nice. Sometimes you have to be mean. We say we hate meanness in people and now we're actually trying to police it--retroactively yet. But, look at our culture. We LOVE mean people. Nobody watches the Real Housewives franchise to see them be nice to one another. Tina Fey made a cottage industry out of meanness with Mean Girls. A movie. A musical. A TV sequel. It's celebrated. Apparently it's a good thing for girls to be mean. I wonder what Rosalind Wiseman thinks about all this. Rosalind who? Exactly. She was the author who penned Queen Bees & Wannabes on which Tina based her Mean Girls empire. Ms. Wiseman apparently wasn't very wise. So maybe Tina took the idea and ran with it (like Lucy Van Pelt's football); but I'm thinking Rosalind probably thinks Tina is a mean girl herself. And I'm thinking that anyone who refers to themselves as Bossypants probably is.
Are people just that bored that they're like doing deep-dive research into incidences of meanness from days gone by? Why is Paris Hilton getting press for her old interview with David Letterman wherein he ridiculed her for her stint in prison? Did she not know what David Letterman was like? His whole schtick was making people uncomfortable and mocking them and needling them without mercy if he so chose to fixate on something needleable. That was his stock and trade. He built a talk-show on being an asshole. He was mean if he wanted to be and especially if he didn't like you. Even if he did like you! He liked Paris enough to have her on the show numerous times after this traumatic event; and she went on...so, like, why are we even talking about this? Lindsay Lohan's fans are whining about her treatment on Letterman. Again, Letterman was a professional d**k. Why did she go on his show if she knew she was at risk of being mocked? And why is her having been mocked then being reassessed now? And excuse me, but weren't Paris, Lindsay and Britney Spears all getting in and out of numerous and sundry motor vehicles around this time and "accidentally" flashing their exposed "intimate areas" for all the paparazzi to photograph and the world to see? I mean I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we still feel sexually harassed by that "fad." Where's our apology for that? If male celebrities started flashing their junk getting out of limos, I'm pretty certain it would end their careers faster than you could say "chocolate starfish." But male or female; nobody wants to see your exposed bathing suit areas, uninvited. I don't care if it is pixelated.
That's just a mean thing to do.
Are people just that bored that they're like doing deep-dive research into incidences of meanness from days gone by? Why is Paris Hilton getting press for her old interview with David Letterman wherein he ridiculed her for her stint in prison? Did she not know what David Letterman was like? His whole schtick was making people uncomfortable and mocking them and needling them without mercy if he so chose to fixate on something needleable. That was his stock and trade. He built a talk-show on being an asshole. He was mean if he wanted to be and especially if he didn't like you. Even if he did like you! He liked Paris enough to have her on the show numerous times after this traumatic event; and she went on...so, like, why are we even talking about this? Lindsay Lohan's fans are whining about her treatment on Letterman. Again, Letterman was a professional d**k. Why did she go on his show if she knew she was at risk of being mocked? And why is her having been mocked then being reassessed now? And excuse me, but weren't Paris, Lindsay and Britney Spears all getting in and out of numerous and sundry motor vehicles around this time and "accidentally" flashing their exposed "intimate areas" for all the paparazzi to photograph and the world to see? I mean I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we still feel sexually harassed by that "fad." Where's our apology for that? If male celebrities started flashing their junk getting out of limos, I'm pretty certain it would end their careers faster than you could say "chocolate starfish." But male or female; nobody wants to see your exposed bathing suit areas, uninvited. I don't care if it is pixelated.
That's just a mean thing to do.
