Joss Whedon Versus the Corporation: Big Business Critiqued in the Films and Television Programs

by Erin Giannini

Overview

Screenwriter, director, producer and comic book author Joss Whedon is best known for his television series and films featuring villainous vampires, angry gods and even bloggers who wish to rule the world. Within these works is a prevalent yet commonly overlooked theme—the corporate antagonist.

This book examines the effects of this corporate culture on the protagonists of Whedon's most famous works (including Buffy, Roseanne, the Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Dollhouse) to reveal explicit sociopolitical commentaries on corporate control in the real world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476667768
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2017
Series:	Worlds of Whedon
Pages:	223
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Erin Giannini served as an editor and contributor at PopMatters, and has written numerous articles about topics from corporate culture in genre television to production-level shifts and their effects on television texts. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sherry Ginn is a retired educator currently living in North Carolina. She has authored books examining female characters on science fiction television series as well as the multiple television worlds of Joss Whedon. Edited collections have examined sex in science fiction, time travel, the apocalypse, and the award-winning series Farscape, Doctor Who, and Fringe.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction. The Scariest Monsters of All: Corporate Culture in the Works of Joss Whedon
Part I. Antagonists, Complicity and Insidious Movements: An Overview of Corporate Culture in the Works of Joss Whedon
One. “Evil white folks really do have a mecca”: The Corporate Antagonist in Angel and Firefly
Two. A Stranger Comes to a (Small) Town: Buffy, Roseanne and the Long Reach of Corporate Culture
Three. Who Owns the Show? The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel vs. Mutant Enemy
Four. In the Belly of the Beast: Dollhouse, The Cabin in the Woods and Dr. Horrible’s ­Sing-Along Blog
Part II. Subverting Tropes, Corporations and Media: A Dollhouse Case Study
Five. “That is their business, but that is not their purpose”: Dollhouse as a Subversive Text
Six. Curiosity or Arrogance? Dollhouse and the Troubled Relationship with ­Corporate-Sponsored Technology
Seven. “We’re pimps and killers, but in a philanthropic way”: Interrogating Corporate and Governmental Politics
Eight. “Call us what you want, just not family”: Undermining Whedon Tropes in the Dollhouse
Conclusion. Whedon as Corporate Critique, or Can TV Change the World?
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Television and Filmography
Index