In response to JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, my (former) idols
I really didnāt want to have to do this.
So in addition toā¦=gestures vaguely=ā¦all of that, the last few months have been kind of sucky when it comes to learning some really unpleasant things about artists that I looked up to, admired, and was in fact inspired by. Iāve already spoken about the Speaking Out movement revealing a lot of ugly behavior from various wrestlers, some of which I was big fans of, and then later we got Chris Jericho being a full-on MAGA. Yeah, that all sucked. But those were just performers whose work I enjoyed watching. The one that really hurt were writers who I deeply admired, whose stories I love, and who I was heavily influenced by.
The first, of course, was finding out that JK Rowling, the author of perhaps the single biggest YA fantasy series of all time Harry Potter, is a TERF. This really sucked for a number of reasons. Firstly, I really like Harry Potter! I mean, Iām not a super fan or anything. I came into it when things were kind of dying down, like the whole book series had already been released and there were only a few movies left, but I still really enjoyed it, have all the books and movies and a fair amount of merchandise swag, including a nifty wand I got at Universal Studios. Shit, I got two replicas of the Sword of Griffyindor, thanks to them screwing up my order in my favor and sending me a duplicate! Theyāre on my wall right across from me as I type this!
But in addition to writing a book series I really liked, JK Rowling was supposed to be one the good guys. Sheās been vocally progressive, often openly comes down on British right-wing nonsense, has supported various persecuted minorities, and is on record as being one of the few self-made billionaires to actually stop being a billionaire for a time because she donated so much money to charity. And while we mock it now, her revealing Dumbledore as gay was a huge deal at the time. Plus, she cultivated this reputation as Auntie Jo, that cool, supportive aunt we all wanted.
But for a while her stock has been dropping. Her preference for confirming ārepresentationā via tweets instead of explicitly putting it in the text of her stories has raised the question of queer-baiting, especially with a whole-ass movie with a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald to make their relationship explicit but failing to do so. The whole Nagini thing from the latest Fantastic Beasts movie was pretty gross. And re-examination of various problematic elements from the original novels has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Now, none of these really looked to be intentionally malicious, of course. Just about everyoneās early work will have problematic elements; thatās just how people work. And the later stuff smacked more of ignorance than anything. But after all this time, itās like, cāmon. You should know better by now.
But the biggie came when her transphobic views finally came to light. Now, this one had been brewing for a while, due to some questionable likes and statements on her twitter. But then she decided to just go public and published what essentially amounts to a TERF manifesto, one with a very ālove the sinner, hate the sinā condescending attitude and had a real persecution complex air to it.
Now, Iām not going to go into detail about what the manifesto was about, what the circumstances surrounding it were, or how wrong it was. Itās already been raked over the coals, dissected, answered, and debunked in detail by people far more qualified than me, so odds are, youāre already well aware of its contents and the subsequent rebuttals. But the gist of it comes down to her basically believing that transwomen are actually cis men claiming to be trans so as to infiltrate and invade female-only spaces.
Okay, thatās gross, butā¦why? Why is someone so noted for being progressive and wanting to foster an inclusive environment making this the hill of exclusion that she wants to die on?
Well, thatās where things get tricky. She mentions that prior to Harry Potter, her first marriage was highly physically and sexually abusive, and when she escaped from that, she had no place to go, leading her to be homeless for a time.
Well, that makes sense. Someone goes through a highly traumatic experience with a member of the opposite sex, has no support structure when she escapes it, is left to fend for herself, only to suddenly get rocketed into fame, fortune, and influence, which in turn leads to a Never Again mentality. She was hurt, no one was there to help her, and now sheās afraid of men invading women-only spaces to victimize others like she was victimized. Soā¦literally transphobic. Literally a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
Guys, this is so fucked up. Like, how do you even approach something like this? Sheās a victim in every sense of the word, so of course sheās going to have physiological damage and a warped view of things. I mean, if I found out that a close friend of mine went through the same thing and had the same prejudices, I would be nothing but sympathetic! I mean, Iād still do what I can to convince her to overcome those prejudices, but Iād still show sympathy and support for what she went through.
Abuse warps people. Thereās a reason why so many abusers are abuse survivors themselves. It makes you terrified of being hurt again and often causes people to adopt toxic behaviors, beliefs, and reactions to protect themselves. Iāve already talked about it at length while discussing She-Ra and its own handling of the cycle of abuse, which included franks discussions of Catraās horrible behavior, why she was the way she was, while never losing sympathy for her and rooting for her to overcome it. So if JK Rowling is an abuse survivor, is it really right to come down on her for having warped views because of that abuse?
But thatās the problem. See, she isnāt your troubled friend that youāre trying to help. She isnāt your cousin Leslie whoās a really sweet person but unfortunately adopted some bad ideals due to trauma suffered. She JK freakinā ROWLING, one of the most famous, wealthy, and influential women in the world. She has a platform of millions, if not billions, which means her voice lends credibility to her bigoted beliefs. Alt-righters and other TERFs have already swooped upon this for giving validation to their awful beliefs, which puts trans people even more at risk. And as horrible as Rowlingās experiences might have been, the trans community is often the victim of far worse, and they donāt have a mountain of money and an army of defenders to protect them like she does. Iāve said it time and time again: just because youāre a victim, that doesnāt give you the right to victimize others! And bringing things back to Catra, as much as I loved her redemption in the final season, she was still a TERRIBLE PERSON for a huge chunk of the show, one that needed to be stood up to and stopped.
So yeah. Thatās the messiness that is JK Rowling.
Now, letās talk about the one that really hurts. Letās talk about Joss Whedon.
Iāve made no secret of what a huge Whedon fan I am. Unlike Rowling, I was a HUUUUUGE superfan. Seeing Serenity for the first time in theaters was akin to a religious awakening to me as a storyteller, making it one of my top three movies of all time. Firefly is my favorite show ever. And I adored Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse as well. I love Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers. The very first fanfic I ever wrote was a Firefly fanfic that disappeared along with my old laptop. I know his style isnāt for everyone, but I cannot understate how much of a personal inspiration he is to me as a writer.
And like Rowling, Joss was supposed to be one of the good guys! Buffy was monumental in pushing the needle when it came to female empowerment. Will and Tara were groundbreaking as a gay couple. Heās been outspoken for years about his feminist views and beliefs and was seen as one of the most prominent and influential feminist voices in Hollywood!
And then things started to go bad.
One day he was on top of the world, the mastermind behind the first two Avenger movies. And the next, it seemed like he was in freefall. Itās hard to really pinpoint exactly when the change took place. Some would say him being brought in as a last-minute substitute for Zack Snyder to take over on Justice League after Snyder had to leave due to family tragedy, and the subsequent awful critical reception to that film tarnishing his image, even if those were very unique circumstances that couldnāt really be blamed on him. Others might point to Age of Ultronās less than stellar reception, as well as criticism of some questionable jokes and certain creative decisions regarding the character of Black Widow, which then led to a more critical examination of how Whedon continues to write female characters, as while his work might have been revolutionary in the 90ās, his failure to evolve with the times had meant that many of his portrayals are now woefully outdated and problematic, with his vision for a Batgirl movie getting hit with a lot of backlash as a result.
Again, Iām not going to go into too much detail, as this is all public knowledge and can be easily looked up, but overall it seemed that Whedon entered into a period where he was getting criticized more than he was celebrated, and his image of a guaranteed hit maker was now in doubt.
But all of this wasnāt the big problem. All creators go through rises and slumps, and everyone hits points where they get hit with a barrage of criticism; thatās just part of being a public creative figure, especially a progressive one. And had nothing happened after, it would have probably faded, got forgotten, and Whedon would have moved onto the next project with no fuss.
But as it turned out, it wasnāt just a minor slump in his career. Instead, it was the priming of the pump.
In 2016, Whedon divorced his wife of sixteen years, Kai Cole, and in an open letter, Kai Cole accused him of being a serial cheater, who would have affairs with a great many women, from co-workers, to actresses, to friends, to even his fans. And in addition to raising questions of him possibly abusing his position as showrunner to elicit sex from those working on his projects, there also is the ugly question of how could someone who speaks so highly of women then go and backstab the person who was supposed to be the most important woman in his life, as well as lying to her and denying her the autonomy of deciding whether or not she even wanted to continue to have a relationship with him?
Furthermore, Whedon himself has not explicitly denied these accusations, and comments made by him seem only to confirm them.
Now if youāll recall, I reacted publicly to this news, and despite my admiration of Whedonās work, I came down on Kai Coleās side, and stated that while things like marriage issues and infidelity were no oneās business but that of the coupleās, it did raise a lot of uncomfortable questions about how Whedon treated the women in his life and he really needed to get his shit in order.
But hey, a messy private life and a guy falling into temptation isnāt that big of a deal, right? Plenty of creators also go through multiple marriages and have problems staying faithful and still continue making great art. Weāre all human, itās a stressful job, and this shit just happens, right? Sure, itās gross and a shitty thing to do, but aināt no business of ours, right?
In late 2020, actor Ray Fisher, who played the role of Cyborg in Justice League, openly accused Joss Whedon of fostering a hostile work environment, claiming that the directorās behavior was abusive and unprofessional, and that Whedon in turn was protected by DC executives.
DC and Warner Bros. came down against Fisher, claiming they had done an internal investigation that turned up no evidence of wrongdoing (yeah, sure they did), and soon Fisher was out as Cyborg, apparently for rocking the boat.
But then Charisma Carpenter, noted for her important role as Cordelia Chase in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, then spoke up, claiming to be inspired by Fisher in doing so. She described Whedon did indeed foster a hostile work environment on his projects, that his often acted in a toxic manner, from asking incredibly invasive and inappropriate questions regarding her pregnancy to insulting her on set. She said that she made excuses for him for years, but after undergoing a lot of therapy and reading what Ray Fisher had to say, she felt compelled to speak out.
And this just open the floodgates. Other actors and actresses also came forward, some with stories of their own, others to offer support. Even Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, confirmed Carpenterās stories and said that she no longer wanted to be associated with Whedon. Michelle Trachtenberg, who played the character of Dawn, stated that she also experienced toxic treatment from Whedon despite her being a minor at the time, and says that the set had a rule that Whedon wasnāt allowed to be alone with her again, which really raises some sickening questions of what happened the first time. Even male stars have spoken out, from words of support and apologies for not speaking up earlier from Anthony Stewart Head and David Boreanaz, to an earlier interview with James Marsters, in which he described being terrified of Whedon, mainly due to an instance when Whedon was frustrated with the popularity of Marstersās character of Spike messing with his plans and physically and verbally taking it out on the actor. There have been many corroborating stories of Whedon being casually cruel on set, on seemingly taking delight in making his fellow show writers cry, and even the man himself admitting to enjoying fostering a hostile work environment during his director commentary of the Avengers. Weāve joked about Whedonās supposed sadism for years, but that was in regards to how he treated the characters in his stories, not the people helping him make them!
So yeah. Thatās the problem with Joss Whedon.
So, do I think that Joss Whedon is somehow some kind of sociopath who lied about his feminist principles and deliberately put on a progressive faƧade specifically to get into a position of power so he could torment people? No, of course not. I think he was sincere about his beliefs, and I do think he didnāt realize the wrongness of his behavior. But thatās kind of the problem. See, itās one thing to have kind of a trollishness to your nature, a sort of sadistic side. No one can help that. But when someone with that quality gets put into a position of power in which they are protected by both the higher-ups and their legions of fans, they are allowed to mistreat and continue to mistreat people. And by never suffering any consequences, that sort of toxic behavior becomes internalized, becomes a habit, becomes their moda operandi. And when youāre constantly getting praised as a creative genius and a wonderful feminist voice, any self-criticism just gets wiped away, and you think yourself above reproach, leading to what Joss Whedon became and went on being.
And you know what scares me the most about this particular issue? Itās not that I am a fan of his stories. Itās that I can so easily see myself turning out the same way.
Look, Iāll be upfront about it: Iām kind of a sadist myself. Youāve seen it in my stories, youāve seen me gloating after a particularly dark plot twist makes my readers freak out. That sort of stuff is fun to me. Thereās a reason why I have a much easier time in the dark and violent scenes, because Iām channeling something ugly within me. We all have a dark side, and this is mine.
But UNLIKE Whedon, that doesnāt carry over to how I treat people in real life (unless Monopoly or Mario Party are involved, then itās fair game). Maybe itās because I wasnāt given the sort of power and praise he did so early, and I was always taught to be considerate of other peopleās feelings, but if I ever find out that I hurt another person or went too fair, I feel TERRIBLE, and it just throws me off all day until I apologize. Even if I donāt notice right away that what I said or did wasnāt cool (autistic, remember?), when itās pointed out to me and I have some time to think on it, yeah, the guilt is on and I make a point to apologize to whoever Iāve hurt. Iāve even made a point to apologize to members of my family for inconsiderate stuff I said years ago as a little punk kid because it wouldnāt stop bugging me.
So maybe Whedon got too big, too fast. Maybe putting people on these sorts of pedestals, especially progressive ones, is ultimately a bad thing.
So where does this leave us? How are we to treat JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, one who developed a lot of transphobia due to abuse suffered while the other became a toxic individual due to unchecked control and a lack of consequences? Can we still enjoy their stories despite them now being colored by their creatorsā falls from grace? Can we separate the art from the artist, or do we have to do a clean split?
Honestly, I feel that has to come down to the individual. I canāt remove the influence Rowling and Whedon have had on me as a storyteller, and I still highly respect both of their talents despite taking major issue with their problems as people. And Iām not going go throw away all of my Harry Potter or Firefly stuff. Because thatās my stuff. It has value to me, it doesnāt represent the issues with their creators, and a lot of it was gifts from people who are dear to me. Though I do think itāll be a long time before I return to either of their work, as I just donāt have the stomach for it now.
But I will be avoiding any projects they have in the future. I donāt want to put money in their pockets that might go on to support their toxic beliefs or behavior. And as for royalties for their past work that would also support the cast and crew of the Harry Potter films or those who worked on Whedonās shows who do not deserve to lose money because we donāt want any of that money going to the creators? Er, that question is a little above my paygrade. I donāt know. Youāll have to all decide for yourselves. As for me, I still have a lot of thinking to do.
Regardless though, if I or anyone else is still able to enjoy their work, then itās important to not divorce what these people said or did from the art they created, even if it makes enjoying that art less fun. Itās important to be critical about what we enjoy, to acknowledge the bad aspects along with the good, and open up discussion of those elements, because thatās what mature adults are supposed to do.Ā
And as for JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, whose stories I love, whose talent I admire, and whose past good work Iāll happily acknowledge, I do hope they both experience some sort of realization and enter into a period of self-examination that leads to them getting help for their issues, for Rowling to get help in coming to terms with her trauma and realizing that sheās wrong about the trans community and a full apology, and for Whedon to also come to terms with his toxic behavior and how he treats people, for him to make no excuse for what he did and sincerely apologize to those he hurt and work on bettering himself, as well as them both examining some of the more problematic tropes still present in their works. Because despite everything, I do feel that they can still be a creative force of good, and it would be a shame if they let themselves self-destruct.
But if not, then if it comes down to choosing between Rowling and the protecting the trans community, if it comes down between choosing between letting Whedon continue to make shows and protecting actors and writers from his abusive behavior, then I know who Iām siding with, and it aināt the two individuals this whole essay is about. No story, no matter how good, no matter how creative, is worth letting sacrificing vulnerable people in order for it to be made.
