Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the star of every oversleep I had as a teenager. We will pick a season and stay up all night watching the whole thing. We will find ourselves vague and exhausted when the sun rises, but sleep does not lie on the table. Look Buffy was a ritual, a night of worship of our favorite demon-killing cheerleader. We were able to quote the best moments and debate endlessly about the usual fandom controversies, even though we always looked like ‘Spike of Angel?’
Buffy and her Scooby Gang were an important part of the formative years for many women of a certain age. We all know why. Buffy broke the teen soap noise through the 90s with an empowered hero conveying the script about what women could do on screen. “Feminist” critics call it over and over. And it definitely felt that way, and it certainly was, but every time I look at it again as an adult, the cracks are clearer.
It was easier to ignore the problems when we were just obsessed teenagers. Like how characters in the show are always punished for having sex. Or Spike’s attempted rape. Or the lack of color marks. Or how the show buried ‘Tury and Willow’. It was also easier to ignore the rumors about the show’s creator, Joss Whedon, because he had long been regarded as a geeky demigod and feminist hero.
Yet it has been clear for years that something has gone down between Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia on both Buffy and Angel, and Whedon, who both created series. In Season 4 of Angel, things got weird. Despite being a much-loved character, Cordelia fell into a coma and disappeared from the show. There have been rumors on fans and message boards about a feud with Whedon related to her pregnancy. That Whedon allegedly loved it and took it out on her. In 2009, Carpenter spoke at a meeting about her relationship with Whedon.
‘What happened was that my relationship with Joss became strained. We all go through our stuff in general [behind the scenes], and I got through my stuff, and then I got pregnant. And I think he had another way of [fourth] season, ”she said at the time.
‘I think Joss was honestly crazy. I think he was mad at me and I say it in a loving way, that is: it’s a very complicated dynamic job for so many years for someone and expectations, and also for eight years on the program, you have to live your life . And sometimes you can obstruct the creator’s vision of the future as you lead your life. And it becomes conflict, and that was my experience. ”
Then, yesterday, in an Instagram post, she writes that Whedon “abused his power on several occasions” and created a “hostile and toxic work environment”. She said she kept her tongue shut for nearly two decades about how Whedon threatened, manipulated and harassed her during her pregnancy.
Shortly afterwards, she Buffy costers sent messages of support. Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy, said on Instagram: “Although I’m proud of my name associated with Buffy Summers, I do not want to be associated with the name Joss Whedon forever.” Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s sister, Dawn, responded to Gellar’s message, calling Whedon’s ‘inappropriate behavior’. Behind. The. Tonele. ”
Amber Benson, who played Tara, said on Twitter that ‘Buffy was a toxic environment.’ Meanwhile, messages of support from the men who played in it Buffy and Angel remains furiously absent.
Whedon did not respond to a request from BuzzFeed News for comment.
This controversy comes on the heels of statements by actor Ray Fisher in July that Whedon was ‘rude, insulting, unprofessional and completely unacceptable’ on the set of 2017s. Justice League. Whedon did not comment on the allegations, but DC Films issued a statement denying them.
Also in 2017, Whedon’s ex-wife, Kai Cole, wrote an essay in which he asked him because he had a long history of maintaining a shield of performative feminism while hiding business with colleagues. (A Whedon spokesman at the time said the piece contained ‘inaccuracies and misrepresentations’.)
That all to say: women who come forward after Whedon’s behavior are not new. It’s the same story when any Hollywood man is accused of abuse. We knew, people say. There was whispering, or more realistically there was a cry for help that was simply ignored or rejected. Hollywood does not like these secrets much, because they have never been secrets.
Yes, there was a shift. #MeToo has changed things, although I’m not scared as we had hoped. It is noteworthy that Carpenter’s story is now, at least in the press, being taken seriously. There was wall-to-wall coverage, and I’m glad to see it. But if the information is not new, will it be handled differently now?
Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I have reason to be. Earlier this month, Evan Rachel Wood publicly stated that her fiancé Marilyn Manson abused her. Manson denied her allegations, saying they were “horrific distortions of reality”. Shortly afterwards, Mansa’s label, Loma Vista, dropped him.
‘In light of the disturbing allegations of Evan Rachel Wood and other women whom Marilyn Manson cites as their abuser today, Loma Vista will stop furthering its current album, which is effective immediately. “Because of these developments, we also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on future projects,” the company said, according to Rolling Stone..
But why now? Wood testified in 2019 about domestic abuse, and the details of her words pointed to Manson, even though she did not mention him. This begs the question: what is the threshold for when allegations that are not proven criminally enough are enough to drive someone out of an industry? Is it all a matter of optics?
We began to overcome the idea that a criminal conviction is necessary to stop working with someone. Allegations, even if they can not be proven, count it in such a way that it is just bad to do nothing. Take Armie Hammer, who has recently been fired from several projects, as well as by his publicist and his agency WME, after allegations of his abuse of women spread online. He denied the allegations and called them “malicious and false attacks”.
There is clearly a difference between the allegations against Whedon and Manson, but I think the entertainment industry is playing the same. Managers only try to find out when they are forced to stop pretending that everything is doing business as usual. If anything has changed in the #MeToo era, allegations of abuse or mistreatment are less likely to be written off as feuds, or rumors, or false accusations of publicity. This is undeniably a step forward, but the real settlement will only take place if there are lasting consequences. In cases where there is not easily a criminal case, abusive men here and there may lose some work, but in the end it will be fine. They have their money, their leftovers and the protection of drivers who have always been willing to overlook their bad behavior. They will get more jobs. They always do.
Buffy was created by Whedon, but it was not just his. The writers, the fans and the actors made the show what it is. The character Buffy was special to me and so many others because she saved the world, even when it sucks, because someone had to.
And if Buffy were a Hollywood executive, instead of a very strong teenage girl, she would not tolerate it.