Firefly

I love Joss Whedon. I really, really do. I was originally a Xena fan, but Buffy, Angel and Firefly's sexy, strong female leads fufil I need I can't really explain. I think it's a need for positive role models, coupled with the need for solid entertainment. Or something.

So it disappoints me to discover I'm annoyed at him, and whoever's running his PR campaign for Serenity

Like I said, I love Joss Whedon. I watch his stuff, buy it when it's available and cheap, tape what I can, and am even going to try to pull off a Zoe costume at DragonCon. However, I'm not an obsessive collector, I don't read/post on the message boards, and have never in my life written a Whedon based fan fic. (I enjoy his work and play dress up at the con cause I'm a mild attention whore, that's all.) But those fans, those creepy obsessive fans, they exist. Okay for Buffy and Angel there's a wide swath of people who were misunderstood teens/young adults when the show aired, so this is to be expected, but Firefly is a whole different story.

I never saw Firefly when it was on the air. But then again, not many people did. It ran for an incredibly short time on Fox where is was pre-empted for baseball and sandwiched between truck commercials. (Everybody sing: "I'm a ford truck man...That's all I driiiive!") But the fan base was huge and rabid. The show went to DVD where it was in the correct order, not the order Fox aired it in, and the fan base expanded. I was introduced to Firefly by some people who sat me down and explained that this was one of the best sci fi shows ever and that they would be doing me a disservice by not showing me the show. I watched some. It was good.

That little scenario of "OMG, you have to watch this" played out repeatedly across the country. Or at least, that's the story I was fed during the pre-commercials commercials at the local AMC before a matinee showing of Brothers Grimm. In a gushing ten minute segment, I was convinced that Firefly had never really gotten a chance, (it hadn't), the fan base is great, (it is), and it's thanks to the support of loyal fans like me that Serenity the movie will make it to theatres sometime in September. (it will! yay!)

My problem, the reason I'm ticked at Joss right now, is that I buy that line. I totally believe that. I want to feel personally connected to this movie, to bring my friends and buy the merchandise, and stand in line for hours for the privilege of seeing this movie. I want to see it more than once in theatres. I want to feel that I have a connection to a greater community whose interests are being catered to and whose purchasing decisions I can ape. I want to feel that it's my love of this aborted show that makes the diffrence.I want to be able to point at that 10 minute commercial and say, "That's me. That's who I am, and that's where I'm going to be opening night."However, not all the facts line up.

After 10 minutes of feel good drivel, I realize that Joss Whedon cancelled his Dragon Con appearance because of a "prior engagement". No big deal, right? He's a grown man, and a busy man, surely he has better things to do that shake sweaty overweight hands, right? Well, sure. I don't feel he owes me anything. He's a guy who makes a show/movie I like. Nothing more. I just find it weird that the man who gushes on film about how vital the fan base is can't find time for a gathering of what, 30,000 fans? (estimate based on hearsay.) It's a massive sci fi convention. Massive. Either the gushing about the fans was him talking out his ass, or there's a part of this story that's missing.

So which is it? Do I assume the pandering to the fans is a smart marketing move to ensure the backing and eventual success of a project that he finds personally satisfying, or is it sincere and I don't know all of what's going on. Do I need to be slightly more obsessive to get access to the rumors about what's actually going on? Does it matter what's actually going on, or just the perception gleaned from what limited intelligence is available? Would it be smarter public relations to fake some information about the cancellation rather than post a sparse and sinister notice? (Yes.)

Does it even matter?

I dunno.