Blog Post #2 Joss Whedon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaczoJMRhs
Joss Whedon is probably one of my favorite writers/directors in television and film. His shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and Firefly have created some of the strongest female characters in television. As a writer, he is constantly asked by interviewers, "Why do you create such strong female characters?"  Whedon was so sick of constantly answering this question that he decided to address the issue through this speech entitled 'Equality Now.' The speech starts at around 3.40 and he begins by saying that he was influenced to be a feminist by his mother, who was a strong women. He then proceeds to acknowledge his stance on equality, and why this question should not even be relevant to his work. He believes that real question is, "Why are you not asking 100 other guys why they DON'T write strong women characters?" To Whedon, he is not doing anything out of the ordinary when he is creating these characters. To him, the concept of strong female characters should not be questioned but should just be accepted by their characteristics and not their gender. "Equality is not a concept, it is a necessity." Equality is already with us, but if everybody keeps focusing on the different aspects that separate us as people, we can never understand what is means to truly be equal. Whedon ends his speech by answering the question in the simplest and most sincere way possible by saying, "Because you are still asking me that question."