Where do I start with this? Is it listing all the reasons that Joss Whedon is absolutely abhorrent? Or is it just simply sharing what Firefly star Nathan Fillion said, thus proving that he’s not really there to care about the experience of others but only himself? How about both?! On a new episode of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Fillion talked about a great many things and recognized that his experience working on sets differs from those around him, even stating, “There’s not much people will do in front of me. That’s what I’ve learned. My experience at work is different from other people’s experiences at work. I have learned this much.”
That left the entire internet (except those of us who are kind of tired of Fillion being dream-cast in everything) a bit shocked when he went on to talk about his former showrunner, Joss Whedon. Now, let’s get into Whedon for a second shall we? He’s been constantly called out (recently) for his unprofessionalism on the set of Justice League, involving stars Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot, after people had begun to sour on him thanks to an essay by his ex-wife, Kai Cole. That then led to Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, to share her story about Whedon and the alleged abuse she suffered while on set. Then more of the cast and crew from Buffy shared their stories about Whedon, and it continued all because of the bravery that Ray Fisher had in speaking out against the racism and toxicity of the set that Whedon created.
And all of that led to Nathan Fillion saying, “I had an entirely … that was not my experience with that man.” So, you know, he doesn’t see why bringing back any of Whedon’s shows without Whedon would make sense and is ignoring all the reports of toxicity from his sets. Instead of maybe just not, Fillion went on to praise Whedon and talk about how he’d work with him again. “He was funny, self-deprecating, and incredibly talented. Maybe a little haunted. By his own admission, that guy is a work in progress,” Fillion continued, “and I appreciate that. I would work with Joss again in a second. I would work with him in a second.”
Stop letting toxic men win because you had a good time
This is sadly a classic example of people just ignoring the experiences and feelings of others to reinforce the fact that they had a wonderful time. What’s baffling is that Fillion even pointed out that people “behave” around him, so does that mean he just didn’t want to recognize that Whedon might be behaving around him and not behaving elsewhere? Is he so lost in his own friendship with Joss Whedon that he can’t see what has been going on when he’s not around?
It’s just beyond frustrating because he could have simply not said anything, but he clearly wanted to support Whedon in the face of what others have said about their own experiences, and he did just that, and now we all know where Nathan Fillion stands. Whether he meant to or not, he is supporting a friend who others have said has been absolute terror on multiple sets, and we’ve seen just how sexist his writing can be (thanks to that horrific Wonder Woman script), and that’s all I personally need to know about Nathan Fillion.
(via Pajiba, featured image: Fox)
