In philosophy, "the Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. In this context absurd does not mean "logically impossible," but rather "humanly impossible."^[1] The universe and the human mind do not each separately cause the Absurd, but rather, the Absurd arises by the contradictory nature of the two existing simultaneously. Absurdism, therefore, is a philosophical school of thought stating that the efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd) because the sheer amount of information, including the vast unknown, makes certainty impossible. And yet, some absurdists (such as Camus^{[citation needed]}) state that one should embrace mankind's absurd condition and continue exploring and searching for meaning. As a philosophy, absurdism also explores the fundamental nature of the Absurd and how individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd, should react to it.

Absurdism is very closely related to existentialism and nihilism and has its origins in the 19th century Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, who chose to confront the crisis humans faced with the Absurd by developing existential philosophy.^[2] Absurdism as a belief system was born of the European existentialist movement that ensued, specifically when the French Algerian philosopher and writer Albert Camus rejected certain aspects from that philosophical line of thought^[3] and published his essay The Myth of Sisyphus. The aftermath of World War II provided the social environment that stimulated absurdist views and allowed for their popular development, especially in the devastated country of France.

Brief description[link]

In absurdist philosophy, the Absurd arises out of the fundamental disharmony between the individual's search for meaning and the apparent meaninglessness of the universe. As beings looking for meaning in a meaningless world, humans have three ways of resolving the dilemma. Kierkegaard and Camus describe the solutions in their works, The Sickness Unto Death (1849) and The Myth of Sisyphus (1942):

• Suicide (or, "escaping existence"): a solution in which a person ends one's own life. Both Kierkegaard and Camus dismiss the viability of this option. Camus states that it does not counter the Absurd, but only becomes more absurd, to end one's own existence.

• Religious, spiritual, or abstract belief in a transcendent realm, being, or idea: a solution in which one believes in the existence of a reality that is beyond the Absurd, and, as such, has meaning. Kierkegaard stated that a belief in anything beyond the Absurd requires a non-rational but perhaps necessary religious acceptance in such an intangible and empirically unprovable thing (now commonly referred to as a "leap of faith"). However, Camus regarded this solution, and others, as "philosophical suicide".

• Acceptance of the Absurd: a solution in which one accepts the Absurd and continues to live in spite of it. Camus endorsed this solution, believing that by accepting the Absurd, one can achieve absolute freedom, and that by recognizing no religious or other moral constraints and by revolting against the Absurd while simultaneously accepting it as unstoppable, one could possibly be content from the personal meaning constructed in the process. Kierkegaard, on the other hand, regarded this solution as "demoniac madness": "He rages most of all at the thought that eternity might get it into its head to take his misery from him!"^[5]

Relationship with existentialism and nihilism[link]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (December 2009)

Related works by Søren Kierkegaard[link]

Kierkegaard designed the relationship framework based (in part) on how a person reacts to despair. Absurdist philosophy fits into the 'despair of defiance' rubric.^[6]

A century before Camus, the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote extensively on the absurdity of the world. In his journals, Kierkegaard writes about the absurd:

What is the Absurd? It is, as may quite easily be seen, that I, a rational being, must act in a case where my reason, my powers of reflection, tell me: you can just as well do the one thing as the other, that is to say where my reason and reflection say: you cannot act and yet here is where I have to act... The Absurd, or to act by virtue of the absurd, is to act upon faith ... I must act, but reflection has closed the road so I take one of the possibilities and say: This is what I do, I cannot do otherwise because I am brought to a standstill by my powers of reflection.^[7]

— Kierkegaard, Søren, Journals, 1849

Here is another example of the absurd from his writings:

What, then, is the absurd? The absurd is that the eternal truth has come into existence in time, that God has come into existence, has been born, has grown up. etc., has come into existence exactly as an individual human being, indistinguishable from any other human being, inasmuch as all immediate recognizability is pre-Socratic paganism and from the Jewish point of view is idolatry. Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Hong 1992, p. 210

How can this absurdity be held or believed? Kierkegaard says:

I gladly undertake, by way of brief repetition, to emphasize what other pseudonyms have emphasized. The absurd is not the absurd or absurdities without any distinction (wherefore Johannes de Silentio: "How many of our age understand what the absurd is?"). The absurd is a category, and the most developed thought is required to define the Christian absurd accurately and with conceptual correctness. The absurd is a category, the negative criterion, of the divine or of the relationship to the divine. When the believer has faith, the absurd is not the absurd — faith transforms it, but in every weak moment it is again more or less absurd to him. The passion of faith is the only thing which masters the absurd — if not, then faith is not faith in the strictest sense, but a kind of knowledge. The absurd terminates negatively before the sphere of faith, which is a sphere by itself. To a third person the believer relates himself by virtue of the absurd; so must a third person judge, for a third person does not have the passion of faith. Johannes de Silentio has never claimed to be a believer; just the opposite, he has explained that he is not a believer — in order to illuminate faith negatively. Journals of Soren Kierkegaard X6B 79^[8]

An example that Kierkegaard uses is found in one of his famous works, Fear and Trembling. In the story of Abraham in the Book of Genesis, Abraham was told by God to kill his son Isaac. Just as Abraham was about to kill Isaac, an angel stopped Abraham from doing so. Kierkegaard believes that through virtue of the absurd, Abraham, defying all reason and ethical duties ("you cannot act"), got back his son and reaffirmed his faith ("where I have to act").^[9] However, it should be noted that in this particular case, the work was signed with the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio.

Another instance of absurdist themes in Kierkegaard's work is found in The Sickness Unto Death, which is signed by the pseudonym Anti-Climacus. In his examination of the forms of despair, Kierkegaard examines the type of despair known as defiance.^[10] In the opening quotation reproduced at the beginning of the article, Kierkegaard describes how such a man would endure such a defiance and identifies the three major traits of the Absurd Man, later discussed by Albert Camus: a rejection of escaping existence (suicide), a rejection of help from a higher power and acceptance of his absurd (and despairing) condition.

According to Kierkegaard in his autobiography The Point of View of My Work as an Author, most of his pseudonymous writings are not necessarily reflective of his own opinions. Nevertheless, his work anticipated many absurdist themes and provided its theoretical background.

Albert Camus[link]

Although the notion of the 'absurd' is pervasive in all of the literature of Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus is his chief work on the subject. In it, Camus considers absurdity as a confrontation, an opposition, a conflict or a "divorce" between two ideals. Specifically, he defines the human condition as absurd, as the confrontation between man's desire for significance, meaning and clarity on the one hand – and the silent, cold universe on the other. He continues that there are specific human experiences evoking notions of absurdity. Such a realization or encounter with the absurd leaves the individual with a choice: suicide, a leap of faith, or recognition. He concludes that recognition is the only defensible option.^[11]

For Camus, suicide is a "confession" that life is not worth living; it is a choice implicitly declaring that life is "too much." Suicide offers the most basic "way out" of absurdity: the immediate termination of the self and its place in the universe.

The absurd encounter can also arouse a "leap of faith," a term derived from one of Kierkegaard's early pseudonyms, Johannes de Silentio (although the term was not used by Kierkegaard himself),^[12] where one believes that there is more than the rational life (aesthetic or ethical). To take a "leap of faith," one must act with the "virtue of the absurd" (as Johannes de Silentio put it), where a suspension of the ethical may need to exist. This faith has no expectations, but is a flexible power initiated by a recognition of the absurd. (Although at some point, one recognizes or encounters the existence of the Absurd and, in response, actively ignores it.) However, Camus states that because the leap of faith escapes rationality and defers to abstraction over personal experience, the leap of faith is not absurd. Camus considers the leap of faith as "philosophical suicide," rejecting both this and physical suicide.^[12][13]

Lastly, a person can choose to embrace his or her own absurd condition. According to Camus, one's freedom – and the opportunity to give life meaning – lies in the recognition of absurdity. If the absurd experience is truly the realization that the universe is fundamentally devoid of absolutes, then we as individuals are truly free. "To live without appeal,"^[14] as he puts it, is a philosophical move to define absolutes and universals subjectively, rather than objectively. The freedom of humans is thus established in a human's natural ability and opportunity to create his own meaning and purpose; to decide (or think) for him- or herself. The individual becomes the most precious unit of existence, as he or she represents a set of unique ideals which can be characterized as an entire universe in its own right. In acknowledging the absurdity of seeking any inherent meaning, but continuing this search regardless, one can be happy, gradually developing his or her own meaning from the search alone.

Camus states in The Myth of Sisyphus: "Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death, and I refuse suicide."^[15] "Revolt" here refers to the refusal of suicide and search for meaning despite the revelation of the Absurd; "Freedom" refers to the lack of imprisonment by religious devotion or others' moral codes; "Passion" refers to the most wholehearted experiencing of life, since hope has been rejected, and so it is concluded that every moment be lived fully.

The meaning of life[link]

According to absurdism, humans historically attempt to find meaning in their lives. Traditionally, this search results in one of two conclusions: either that life is meaningless, or life contains within it a purpose set forth by a higher power - a belief in God, or adherence to some religion or other abstract concept.

Elusion[link]

Camus perceives filling the void with some invented belief or meaning as a mere "act of eluding"—that is, avoiding or escaping rather than acknowledging and embracing the Absurd. To Camus, elusion is a fundamental flaw in religion, existentialism (Atheist existentialism however does not include "Elusion"), and various other schools of thought. If the individual eludes the Absurd, then he or she can never confront it.

God[link]

Even with a spiritual power as the answer to meaning, another question arises: What is the purpose of God? Kierkegaard believed that there is no human-comprehensible purpose of God, making faith in God absurd itself. Camus on the other hand states that to believe in God is to "deny one of the terms of the contradiction" between humanity and the universe (and therefore not absurd), but is what he calls "philosophical suicide". Camus (as well as Kierkegaard), though, suggests that while absurdity does not lead to belief in God, neither does it lead to the denial of God. Camus notes, "I did not say 'excludes God', which would still amount to asserting".^[16]

Personal meaning[link]

For Camus, it is the beauty which people encounter in life that makes it worth living. People may create meaning in their own lives, which may not be the objective meaning of life (if there is one), but can still provide something for which to strive. However, he insisted that one must always maintain an ironic distance between this invented meaning and the knowledge of the absurd, lest the fictitious meaning take the place of the absurd.

Freedom[link]

Freedom cannot be achieved beyond what the absurdity of existence permits; however, the closest one can come to being absolutely free is through acceptance of the Absurd. Camus introduced the idea of "acceptance without resignation" as a way of dealing with the recognition of absurdity, asking whether or not man can "live without appeal", while defining a "conscious revolt" against the avoidance of absurdity of the world. In a world devoid of higher meaning or judicial afterlife, the human being becomes as close to absolutely free as is humanly possible.

Hope[link]

The rejection of hope, in absurdism, denotes the refusal to believe in anything more than what this absurd life provides. Hope, Camus emphasizes, however, has nothing to do with despair (meaning that the two terms are not opposites). One can still live fully while rejecting hope, and, in fact, can only do so without hope. Hope is perceived by the absurdist as another fraudulent method of evading the Absurd, and by not having hope, one will be motivated to live every fleeting moment to the fullest.

Integrity[link]

The absurdist is not guided by morality, but rather, by his or her own integrity. The absurdist is, in fact, amoral (though not necessarily immoral). Morality implies an unwavering sense of definite right and wrong at all times, while integrity implies honesty with one's self and consistency in the motivations of one's actions and decisions.

See also[link]

Philosophy portal

• Absurdist fiction
• Discordianism
• Existential nihilism
• Existentialism
• Lottery of birth
• Nihilism
• Non sequitur (literary device)
• Pataphysics
• Peter Wessel Zapffe
• The Stranger (novel)
• Theatre of the Absurd

References[link]

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (May 2010)

Further reading[link]

• OBERIU, edited by Eugene Ostashevsky. Northwestern 2005 ISBN 0-8101-2293-6
• Thomas Nagel: Mortal Questions, 1991. ISBN 0-521-40676-5

External links[link]

• Fiction of the Absurd
• Absurdist Monthly Review Magazine
• Gone Lawn Excavation Project : active absurdist and related authors
• The New Absurdist

v t e Søren Kierkegaard 1843–1846 On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates Either/Or Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Repetition Three Upbuilding Discourses Fear and Trembling Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Three Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Philosophical Fragments Prefaces The Concept of Anxiety Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions Stages on Life's Way Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments Two Ages: A Literary Review 1847–1854 Edifying Discourses in Diverse Spirits Works of Love Christian Discourses The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air The Sickness Unto Death Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Practice in Christianity Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays The Book on Adler For Self-Examination Attack Upon Christendom Posthumous publications The Point of View of My Work as an Author Judge for Yourselves! The Journals Writing Sampler Ideas Philosophy Theology Angst Anguish Authenticity Double-mindedness Indirect communication Infinite qualitative distinction Knight of faith Leap of faith Levelling Present age Ressentiment Rotation method Related topics Regine Olsen Peter Kierkegaard Hans Lassen Martensen Danish Golden Age Søren Kierkegaard Research Center Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library

Joss Whedon
Whedon at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.
Born	Joseph Hill Whedon (1964-06-23) June 23, 1964 (age 48) New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Wesleyan University (1987)
Occupation	Screenwriter, director, executive producer, composer, and actor
Years active	1989–present
Notable work(s)	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Angel Firefly Dollhouse Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog The Cabin in the Woods The Avengers
Style	Science fiction, Supernatural drama, Comedy-drama
Influenced by	Stan Lee, Tim Burton, Frank Herbert, Jean-Paul Sartre, Monty Python, Alan Moore, Stephen Sondheim, Ray Bradbury,[1] William Shakespeare,[2] Frances Hodgson Burnett,[3] Rod Serling,[4] James Cameron
Influenced	Patrick Rothfuss, Daniel Abraham, Russell T Davies
Board member of	Mutant Enemy Productions
Religion	None (atheist[5] and secular humanist)
Spouse	Kai Cole[6]
Children	Arden Cole Squire Cole[7]
Relatives	John Whedon (grandfather) Tom Whedon (father) Lee Stearns (mother) Samuel Whedon (brother) Matthew Whedon (brother) Jed Whedon (brother) Zack Whedon (brother)

Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon^[8] ( /ˈwiːdən/;^[9] born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures. He is best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004), Firefly (2002) and Dollhouse (2009–2010), as well as the short film Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008). Whedon co-wrote and produced the horror film The Cabin in the Woods (2012), and wrote and directed the film adaptation of Marvel's The Avengers (2012).^[10][11]

He is also notable for his work in film, comic books, and online media. Many of Whedon's projects enjoy cult status.^[12]

Early life[link]

Joss Whedon was born in New York City. He has been described as the world's first third-generation TV writer,^[13] as he is the son of Tom Whedon, a screenwriter for The Electric Company in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s, and the grandson of John Whedon, a writer for The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s.^[5][14] His mother, Lee Stearns, taught history at Riverdale Country School as Lee Whedon,^[15] and was an unpublished novelist.^[5] Joss Whedon is the younger brother of Samuel and Matthew Whedon and older brother of writers Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon.^[16]

Whedon graduated from Wesleyan University in 1987. Before going to Wesleyan he spent two years at Winchester College in England. He attended Riverdale Country School in New York City where his mother taught history.^[17] At a young age he was a prolific writer, loved Monty Python and showed great interest in acting.^[18]

Career[link]

Television work[link]

Following a move to Los Angeles, Whedon secured his first writing job on the television series Roseanne. After working several years as a script doctor for films, he returned to television, where he created four TV shows.

(From left to right) Tom Lenk, Emma Caulfield, Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Whedon, Michelle Trachtenberg at the Buffy cast party.

Years after having his script for the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer produced, Whedon revived the concept as a television series of the same name. Buffy the Vampire Slayer went on to become a critical and cult hit receiving an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series in 2000. Buffy ran for five seasons on The WB Television Network before being relocated to the UPN Network for its final two seasons. Angel was a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, featuring Buffy's vampire-with-a-soul ex-boyfriend as the title character. Angel debuted on The WB in September 1999 and ran for five seasons; during its first two seasons, Angel episodes were broadcast immediately following Buffy episodes.

In 2002, Whedon created the Space Western television series Firefly, which was broadcast on the Fox network. The series was canceled after only 11 of the 14 completed episodes were aired, many out of intended order. After the cancellation, Whedon wrote the script for a Firefly movie, titled Serenity. In early 2004 Whedon announced that it had been greenlit by Universal Studios, and the film was widely released in the United States on September 30, 2005. In the DVD release, Whedon discusses how Serenity would not have been made if not for the dedication of the Browncoats, fans of the series.

In late 2007, Eliza Dushku, with whom Whedon worked on Buffy and Angel, met over lunch to discuss possible ideas for a series for her to star in and came up with an idea which excited both of them.^[19] The show, Dollhouse, was announced by Fox in November 2008 to begin airing on February 13, 2009. Dollhouse was canceled after two seasons due to low ratings.

Whedon is also noted for his directing work in television, which includes two 2007 episodes of The Office ("Business School" and "Branch Wars"^[20]) as well as a 2010 episode of the musical series Glee ("Dream On") in which he reunited with his Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog star Neil Patrick Harris.^[21]

Although not an actor, he has made cameos in his own shows as well as others. He voiced a radio newsreader in the Buffy season one episode, "I, Robot... You, Jane". In the season two Angel episode "Through the Looking Glass", he made a cameo appearance under heavy makeup as Numfar, a character whose entire role was to perform comical dances. In Firefly, Whedon appeared as a guest at a funeral in the final produced episode, "The Message". He made a brief appearance as an overbearing rental-car clerk in an episode of Veronica Mars, "Rat Saw God", in 2005; Whedon is a vocal fan of Veronica Mars. He voiced himself in two episodes of Seth Green's television series Robot Chicken titled "Rabbits on a Roller Coaster" in 2007 and "Help Me" in 2008.

Feature films and video[link]

Whedon wrote or co-wrote several films, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Alien Resurrection and Titan A.E.. The song "My Lullaby" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was written by him and Seattle native Scott Warrender. He was nominated (along with six other writers) for an Academy Award for Toy Story's screenplay.

He also wrote uncredited drafts or rewrites of Speed, Waterworld,^[22] Twister and X-Men, although in interviews, Whedon disowned the latter two films.^{[citation needed]} He claimed that he had a good script for Alien Resurrection, which he felt was spoiled by its director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.^[23] Only two of his lines were kept in the final script of X-Men.^[24] Even the Buffy movie bore little resemblance to his original screenplay.^[25] According to Graham Yost, the credited writer of Speed, Whedon wrote most of its dialogue.^[26]

He wrote and directed 2005's Serenity, based on his television series Firefly. Serenity won the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. Beginning in January 2006, fans (with Universal's blessing) began organizing worldwide charity screenings^[27] called "Can't Stop the Serenity" (CSTS), a play on a line in the film: "You can't stop the signal", to benefit Equality Now, a human rights organization supported by Joss Whedon. Over $500,000 has been raised for Equality Now since 2006.^[28] As of May 1, 2011, 45 cities were registered for CSTS 2011 in 6 countries and 24 U.S. states.^[29]

With the cast of The Avengers, and Kevin Feige at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.

In November 2008, Whedon guest starred in the premiere episode of The Write Environment, a direct to DVD series featuring in-depth, candid one-on-one interviews with some of TV's most prolific and well known series creator/writers.^[30]

Whedon wrote a horror film titled The Cabin in the Woods with Drew Goddard, which finished production in 2009. The film was produced by MGM, but once the studio went bankrupt, the film was held back. It was given a theatrical release on April 13, 2012 and was distributed by Lionsgate.^[31] Goddard directed the Whedon-produced film, which starred Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, and Richard Jenkins.^[32]

In April 2010, it was confirmed that Whedon would direct The Avengers, a live-action adaptation of the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name.^[33] The film was released on May 4, 2012. To date, it had the largest opening weekend in history, with a record box office take of $207.4m, and is both the 12th film to surpass $1 Billion, and the 4th highest grossing film of all time. The film also received considerable praise from critics, scoring an aggregate 93% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

On October 24, 2011, Bellwether Pictures confirmed they had completed principal photography on an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing, which is directed and produced by Joss Whedon. It was filmed in 12 days in Santa Monica.^[34] Whedon is also the writer and producer of the upcoming paranormal romance film In Your Eyes. It is the second feature film under production by Bellwether Pictures.^[35][36][37]

Comic books[link]

Whedon, a lifelong comic book fan, is the author of the Dark Horse Comics miniseries Fray which takes place in the far future of the Buffyverse. Whedon returned to the world of Fray during the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight arc, "Time of Your Life".^[38]

Like many other authors from the Buffy TV show, he also contributed to the show's comic book version: he wrote three stories in the anthology Tales of the Slayers (including one featuring Melaka Fray from Fray) and also the main storyline of the five-issue miniseries Tales of the Vampires.

The three-issue miniseries Serenity: Those Left Behind, based on the Firefly series and leading up to the film Serenity, was released June through August 2005. Co-written with Brett Matthews and pencilled by Will Conrad, the first issue featured covers drawn by John Cassaday, J. G. Jones, and Bryan Hitch, as well as other artists for the second and third issues. The first two issues went to a second printing. The trade paperback featured a new cover by acclaimed painter Adam Hughes.

A second three-issue Serenity miniseries Serenity: Better Days, was released in March, April, and May 2008. "Better Days" reunites Whedon, Matthews, Conrad, and Adam Hughes, who will provide all three covers. The three covers form a larger panorama of the ship's crew. "Better Days" is set before "Those Left Behind", and features the full crew of Serenity. A trade paperback featuring a cover by Jo Chen was released in October 2008.

Whedon and others have mentioned that more Serenity comics are planned for the near future, and will be based in the Firefly continuation of the series, including one about Shepherd Book.^[39][40][41] Likewise, Whedon and other former Buffy writers have released a new ongoing Buffy which takes place after the series finale "Chosen", which he officially recognizes as the canonical "Season 8". The first issue was released on March 14, 2007 by Dark Horse Comics. Following the success of issue one of Buffy season eight, IDW Publishing approached Whedon about similarly producing a canonical Angel Season 6.^[42] Angel: After the Fall has 14 issues published as of November 19, 2008 with 3 more to come following the adventures of Angel and his team after the TV series ended, where the title of the series will then change to Angel: Aftermath.^[43] Although Whedon has not had the time to write the series, he has served as executive producer with Brian Lynch, writing the season 6 story.^[44]

Whedon wrote Astonishing X-Men in Marvel Comics' popular line of comics about the X-Men but finished his 24 issue run in 2008 and handed over the writing reins to Warren Ellis. The title, recreated specifically for Whedon, has been one of Marvel's best-selling comics as of 2006 and was nominated for several Eisner Awards including Best Serialized Story, Best Continuing Series, Best New Series and Best Writer, winning the Best Continuing Series award in 2006. One storyline from this comic, the notion of a cure for mutation being found, was also an element in the third X-Men film, X-Men: The Last Stand. Whedon also introduced several new characters into the Marvel Universe such as the villainous Ord, X-Men Ruth "Blindfold" Aldine and Hisako "Armor" Ichiki, Runaway Klara Prast and Special Agent Abigail Brand, along with S.W.O.R.D., the organization she commands.

Whedon is the second writer of the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite Marvel comic Runaways, taking over after series creator Brian K. Vaughan completed his run.^[45] Whedon had been a fan of the series for some time, and had a letter published in the first volume, which was included in the Volume 1 hardcover.

Whedon's other comic-related work includes writing the introduction to Identity Crisis trade paperback and a contribution to the "jam issue" Superman/Batman #26 (to date his only published work for DC Comics), writing short pieces for Marvel's Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man and Giant-Size X-Men #3 and also being the subject of an issue of Marvel Spotlight (alongside artist Michael Lark). He contributed as part of a panel of writers to Marvel Comics' Civil War crossover event, lending advice in how to tell the story and how to end it.

In February 2009, Astonishing X-Men #6, which depicted the return of Colossus to the title, and concluded Whedon's first story arc on that title, was named by Marvel Comics readers the #65 in Marvel's Top 70 Comics of all time.^[46]

Online media[link]

Whedon with Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris in September 2011

In 2005 he released a series of online shorts titled the R. Tam sessions, starring himself and Summer Glau, which served as a form of viral marketing for Serenity. In 2007, he launched a free webcomic, titled Sugarshock! hosted on Dark Horse comic's Myspace page.^[47]

In March 2008, Whedon teamed up with his brothers Zack Whedon and Jed Whedon, along with Jed's then-fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen to write, compose and produce the musical superhero spoof, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The musical stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Whedon conceived of Dr. Horrible over the year before and production took place over seven days during the Writers Guild strike. The project was freely available online from July 15 until July 20. In August, Whedon released a new Serenity/Firefly comic free online Serenity: The Other Half.^[48] In September, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Soundtrack, made the top 40 Album list despite being a digital exclusive only available on iTunes.^[49] The Soundtrack was successful enough to pay its crew and all its bills.^[50]

In February 2009, he stated that after his series Dollhouse is over, whether by cancellation or reaching its end, that he plans on putting his efforts purely into on-line content like Dr. Horrible.^[51] In the Dr. Horrible bonus feature Commentary! The Musical!, Joss sings the song "Heart (Broken)" about the crippling scrutiny and commercialisation of producing fiction for a modern consumer audience.

Unrealized projects[link]

Whedon had a number of planned television projects that have become stuck in development or terminally stalled. Among these was a Buffy animated series, a set of made-for-television movies for The WB based on Angel and Buffy characters, and Ripper, a proposed BBC pilot about Rupert Giles. Ripper was announced to be in development at the San Diego Comic-Con 2007. The development process was set to begin in 2008 and Ripper to be shown that summer but the pilot has not materialized yet due to characters rights.^[52]

Early in his career Whedon sold two spec scripts that have not yet been produced, Suspension and Afterlife. He sold Suspension for $750,000 with an additional $250,000 if production commences.^[53] It has been described as "Die Hard on a bridge." A year later in 1994 he sold Afterlife for $1.5 million with an additional $500,000 if production commences. As of 2000 Andy Tennant was in talks to direct and rewrite.^[54] In Afterlife are precursors to many of the themes Whedon would later explore in Dollhouse. The script is about Daniel Hoffstetter, a government scientist, who awakes after dying to discover his mind has been imprinted on a mind-wiped body.^[55]

Whedon had been signed to write and direct Warner Bros.' adaptation of Wonder Woman but on February 3, 2007, Whedon announced that he would no longer be involved with the project. "We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time."^[56]

Late in 2009, Whedon made a humorous bid of $10,000 for control of future Terminator material.^[57] He was rebuffed at that time and it is not known if he has plans to attempt this again.

[edit] Goners

Goners was announced in 2005. According to Variety magazine, it is a fantasy thriller under development by Universal Studios, and is to be produced by Mary Parent and Scott Stuber.^[58]

When asked about the film itself during an interview, Whedon said:

It is a fantasy thriller, it is pretty dark and it’s all me. So people will pretty much know what that means if they look at my body of work. But it’s a new universe set in the present day with a new concept for me and a new bunch of characters. It’s been a long time since I got to do that, so that’s really fun.^[59]

From an interview with Fanboy Radio:

I've been seeing a lot of horror movies that are torture-porn, where kids we don't care about are mutilated for hours, and I just cannot abide them... it's an antidote to that very kind of film, the horror movie with the expendable human beings in it. Because I don't believe any human beings are.^[60]

Common themes and motifs in Whedon's works[link]

Strong women[link]

Whedon gives his mother, Lee Stearns, a feminist, credit for inspiring his worldview. When Roseanne Barr asked him how he could write so well for women, he replied, "If you met my mom, you wouldn't ask."^[61]

The character Kitty Pryde from the X-Men comics was an early model for Whedon's strong teenage girl characters: "If there's a bigger influence on Buffy than Kitty, I don't know what it was. She was an adolescent girl finding out she has great power and dealing with it."^[62] Kitty Pryde was one of the main characters in Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men.

Whedon was honored at an Equality Now benefit in 2006: "Honoring Men on the Front Lines",^[63] and his fans raised a considerable amount of money in support of the organization.^[64]

Dialogue[link]

The dialogue in Joss Whedon's shows and movies usually involves pop culture references both notable and obscure, and the turning of nouns into adjectives by adding a "y" at the end of the word ("listy"). According to one of the Buffy writers, "It's just the way that Joss actually talks."^[65]

Whedon also heavily favors the suffix -age (Linkage, Lurkage, Poofage, Postage, Scrollage, Slayage).^[66] Also, phrasal verbs usually ending with "out" are changed into direct verbs, for example "freak" rather than "freak out", "bail" rather than "bail out", or "hang" rather than "hang out". Whedon also tends to change adjectives into nouns such as "happy", "shiny" (positive thing), "bad" (mistake), "funny" (joke) – for example, a character may say "I made a funny" instead of "I made a joke".^{[citation needed]} So many of Whedon's altered usages, new words, and heavily popularized words have entered the common usage that PBS in their article series "Do You Speak American" included an entire section on "Slayer Slang".^[67]

In an issue of Buffy Season Eight where Buffy travels to the future, Whedon writes Buffy's reaction to the future dialect of Manhattan; this allows Whedon to comment on Buffy's distinctive style of dialogue. "Buffy blames herself for what's happened to the English language, and there's a lot of hubris in that joke. I like to think that adding Y's to words that don't usually have Y's is going to destroy the whole fabric of our society." ^[68]

Spiritual and philosophical beliefs[link]

Whedon has identified himself as an atheist on multiple occasions.^[5] When interviewed by The A.V. Club on October 9, 2002, Whedon answered the question "Is there a God?" with one word: "No." The interviewer followed up with: "That's it, end of story, no?" Whedon answered: "Absolutely not. That's a very important and necessary thing to learn."^[69] In one of the Buffy DVD commentaries, Whedon comments that "I don't believe in the 'sky bully'", referring to God under a name coined by his colleague Tim Minear.^[70] In addition, during a question and answer session found on the Serenity DVD with fans of the Firefly series at Fox Studios in Sydney, he identifies himself as an atheist and absurdist.

Whedon has also spoken about existentialism. On the Firefly DVD set, Whedon explains in detail how existentialism, and more specifically the book Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre, was used as a basis for the episode "Objects in Space".^[71] On this commentary he claimed interest in existential ideas and described the impact of Nausea on his early life.

Whedon also identifies himself as a humanist. In April 2009, the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University presented Whedon with the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism.^[72]

Frequent casting[link]

Television credits[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]