5 Reasons (In His Own Words) Why We Love Joss Whedon

5. "People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy." - (Whedonesque.com entry) Anyone who's followed Whedon's work will know that he isn't exactly afraid to kill off characters he has created. also, just like puppies, he generally goes for the most loved ones first. Tara, Wash, Fred, Loo, he kills so many that when the Avengers was released, it is hardly surprising that he took the blame for Agent Coulson's death, even though it was someone else's idea. Although the above statement is the more quotable, the particular reason we love Joss Whedon is best explained by his mandate "Don't give people what they want, give them what they need." It's fair to say a writer this successful knows what's good for his audience, and his deaths, although perhaps now somewhat expected, do add drama and tension in a way that was previously lacking. You know that Captain Kirk and all the traditional heroes are going to find a way out of their predicament each week, after all, dying is what redshirts are for. But with Joss, anything could happen to anyone. At any time. In fact this is something that his growing tendency only adds to. Wash's death in Serenity, that sudden stabbing through all of our hearts, may have been brutal but was far from needless. Think about it, Serenity itself is so impossible it couldn't possibly have a sequel (fan protests can only go so far), Book has already met his maker, and Wash never even left his chair. When the rest of the crew make their final stand against the savage reavers, we're sat on the edge of our seats in the full knowledge that literally anything could happen to these characters we know and love. Who cares if we might not see them again, just please don't let them die! This is the feeling and emotion that high quality drama (and even comedy) creates in us when people are given what we need. Give people what they want on the other hand, and suddenly we have The Only Way Is Essex.