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May 20, 2004

Farewell to Fantastic Writing

I know a bunch of us Wumpii are fans of the TV show Angel and I wanted to acknowledge the contribution its creator has made to my creative efforts.

When I mention that I want to be writer, most people ask about influences and assume that if I want to be a writer I must love and try to emulate Aaron Sorkin. Now don't get me wrong, I love Sorkin, but the couple times I've thrown a Sorkinism in, it hasn't gone over big. Really, it hasn't gone over big. No, you want to know how it did go over? Sure how? Not Big...

So I have to say, of all of the writers I've looked to for influences, Joss Whedon would have to be the biggest. Whedon, as you may know, is responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and has touched up many scripts, including X-Men, and Speed.

I've been trying to put my finger on what sets him and his writing team apart from Sorkin, or the phalanx of writers on Friends, I think I've hit on several distinguishing features.

1. While the tone of any one of his projects may flies back and forth even within one episode, or even one scene, the theme remains constant. Buffy was always, at heart, about how an average girl grows up and deals with the travails of young adulthood. Angel was always about lost souls seeking redemption by throwing themselves into the battle against evil. However seldom did any one episode have a constant tone. The heroes celebrate their return from another dimension only to find out that Buffy is dead. In the final episode of Angel a character dies with heartbreaking emotion, not less than 20 seconds later it is followed by ridiculous violence. All of these switches feel natural.

2. Unlike Sorkin, who tends to show behind the scenes experiences of people in extraordinary situations, Whedon uses extraordinary situations to illuminate common experiences. When Angel's child is being born, it's chased by vampires, and demons, and cults, and creepy guys with gravely voices. But at the heart of the issue, Angel is still just a father who is overwhelmed by the responsibility of having a child.

3. Finally, near and dear to many members of Citizen Wumpus, Whedon et al write for an audience. Now while they do piss off their audience from time to time, they do know that the choices they make will affect their audience. Consequently, they've never made blatant attempts to widen their audience. They haven't pandered for ratings. They stick to vampires with souls, supernatural valley girls and sci-fi westerns. Many people, including their network have never taken them seriously, but for the person willing to give them a shot, they're deeply rewarding.

So going forward with Citizen Wumpus, I hope we're able to experience a fraction of the success that Whedon and crew have achieved, and I hope we don't lose sight of the concept of writing to affect an audience.