Why Joss Whedon is Sexy

I’m currently obsessing on the film “Serenity,” based upon Joss Whedon’s short-lived but awesome sci-fi TV series “Firefly.” But you may be a fan of Buffy and/or Angel, Joss’s more long-running creations. Joss seems to have a knack for creating characters that inspire cult-like followings, and in the case of “Firefly,” those fans were so passionate they may be the main reason “Serenity” ever got made.

I loved Buffy, skipped Angel, but was finally turned into a Whedonphile for good and all by the fabulous character development in “Firefly.” I was crazy about half the characters after one episode, and the other half after two. This is almost impossible to achieve in television. I believe only seven episodes of the show aired and yet in that time Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew became so vivid to me that the cancellation made me genuinely grieve.

But enough about TV shows, what’s this I’m saying about Joss being sexy? Well, he’s another example, like composer John Williams, of a man whose mind is so marvelously creative, ingenious, and inventive that he could be short an eye and have an extra arm and still be hot to me. Listen to him do the director’s commentary on a DVD and you will marvel that he is so brilliant and yet so adept at making that brilliance effective to the average person. And he’s damn hilarious too (the #1 sexiest trait in men).

The sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, always quirky Captain Mal came from Joss’s brain. As did the childlike, witty, preternaturally skillful pilot Wash (my favorite character). As did chilling villains like The Operative. And amazing women like Zoe, Kaylee and River, not to mention Buffy herself before them. With swift strokes, never wasting a word, Joss creates characters so three-dimensional, so complex, so engaging, that they become vital in record time.

I’m not sure what could be sexier than that. On a small scale, a guy like this is like God. He invents worlds the soul longs to inhabit, and creates people the heart burns to know. Sure, I’ll give credit too to the wonderful acting of his cast members, and the skill of set designers, special effects people, composers, camerapersons, etc. for superb execution. But behind it all is the dazzlingly creative mind of one man.

Perhaps I admire him most because he excels at the very thing I myself strive to achieve: making characters. It is an art form I understand, a craft I myself have experience with. Because I so well appreciate the process, I go breathless thinking about Joss’s achievements. It’s intense, it’s inspiring, it has overcome me completely once or twice. Sounds pretty sexual to me.

[And if you haven’t read between the lines yet, I’m suggesting you see “Serenity.” It puts an awful lot of science fiction and action movies to shame.]