The Psychology of Joss Whedon: an Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly

by Joy Davidson

First there was “Buffy the Vampire Slayer"; then its spin-off “Angel"; then the cult hit “Firefly"; and its follow-up film, “Serenity." They all had two things in their creator, Joss Whedon … and their surprising psychological depth.Revisit the worlds of Joss Whedon … with trained psychologists at your side. What are the psychological effects of constantly fighting for your life? Why is neuroscience the Whedonverse's most terrifying villain? How can watching Joss's shows help you take on your own psychological issues?It's all the best parts of Psych 101—without Professor Walsh.* Robert Kurzban explains how Mal's morals are a form of evolutionary pornography, and why we like to watch* Thomas Flamson explores free will in the Whedonverse—with prophecies, sacred duties and the long arm of the Alliance, does anyone actually have any?* Carole Poole demonstrates how Buffy and Spike's season six relationship could be considered metaphor for narcissistic personality disorder—and concludes that Buffy may have been better off continuing it* Bradley J. Daniels looks at River's Alliance-altered brain, and the real effects of “stripping" the amygdala* Mikhail Lyubansky shows why, psychologically, death really is Buffy's gift* And editor Joy Davidson takes on Angel's mommy issues—how the course of his whole extraordinary existence can be traced back to the woman who made him a vampire

Genres: Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Psychology, Essays, Philosophy, Tv, Media Tie In

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2007

Reviews

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

zis book could also be called "Affirmations of Whedon's Awesomeness"

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I'm a Joss Whedon fangirl. I think he's a genius. On his worst day, his work is just fantastic as opposed to mindblowing. When The Psychology of Joss Whedon came across my radar, I was incredibly excited to read it. I have a large interest in psychology and the idea of delving into Joss's mind on that level, seeing what makes him tick, makes me more than a little giddy.

First, a warning: Do not read this book if you haven't watched Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Serenity. Spoilers galore. If you haven't seen Dollhouse or Dr. Horrible, get on that immediately, but don't worry about this book spoiling them as it was written before they came about.

As I mentioned above, I enjoy psychology. I've been known to read psychology textbooks for fun. And even I found the scientific details and explanations to be a bit too much in The Psychology of Joss Whedon. As a means to explore how Whedon creates creates characters, the information is interesting. Unfortunately, a number of essayists delved into way too much science and neglected to relate it to Joss or his characters in an entertaining way.

I'm a strong believer in educating someone by using their interests as examples. I think it helps a person process and retain information when it is presented in a context they are already familiar with. The Psychology of Joss Whedon does well here. Specific scenes fans know and love broken down by psychological analysis will help fans understand complicated psychology concepts while giving them a deeper appreciation of the series, characters and Joss himself.

The Psychology of Joss Whedon doles out a lot of great information, but it could have been a little lighter. Some essays were written with the intended audience in mind, while others are clearly more clinical in nature. Psychology of pop culture figures should be a little more fun than this and the seriousness of certain essays will definitely turn off readers who usually get their psychology from Dr. Phil and Dr. Drew.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration by Joy Davidson is my idea of a perfect read-like a day at the beach, unlimited Godiva chocolates & a paid-for-by-somebody-else shoe shopping spree all rolled into one. Intelligent writing on a beloved subject handled just well enough to keep my mind active without forcing it to work too terribly hard. Too easy=bored, too hard=frustrated;
this book=just right.

Although some essays were better than others, every one was worth the read.

Obviously, if you don't like Whedon or know his work, this book will probably be fairly incomprehensible. But then, why would you even be reading this review? If you like Whedon or are irritated by him or intrigued by his process and if you enjoy taking pop culture deeply into your heart and moving it to the head and engaging in lengthy discussions about-well, you've just gotta read this book.

Did I say I really, really liked it?

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joss Whedon’s prolific imagination took off with his notion of a petite blond that kicked butt. Strong women aren’t new to fiction; lots of people from Marion Zimmer Bradley to Rob Tapert have had a go at crafting tough ladies who took no guff from anyone. But few have created shows with so many layered meanings behind them, shows that spawned endless groups, panels, conversations and arguments among fans and the literati alike. This book draws together many erudite minds to discuss the various themes and points of appeal from Whedon’s famous tv trios: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel” and “Firefly”.

Rest assured, you don’t need to be a trained psychologist or have a Ph.D. to understand these essays. While some of them do use erudite terms, they deal with very real human issues, thoughts and feelings by showing how Whedon expertly plumbed the heights and depths of human expression. Whether you liked these shows for their mere entertainment value or argued strenuously for or against certain characters, The Psychology of Joss Whedon gives new perspective to the monster-of-the-week genre.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and would probably recommend it to other Joss Whedon fans. However, some of the analysis seemed a bit contrived and weakly formulated. But that really doesn't matter too much since the essays in this book are really written for the fun of it, rather than to exhaustive psychoanalysis of the Jossverse. Anyway, I had a good time with it and if you are a fan of Buffy/Angel/Firefly, then you probably will too.

[HadiDee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very variable collection of essays on the Buffy, Angel and Firefly verses. Some interesting stuff but a most seem to be rambling and somewhat confused. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale" is a much better book if you’re interested in this kind of analysis, which I am, and it was fun to read into the bargain.

[Lani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I guess what I want is friendly deep conversation about Whedon's shows, not annoying psych evals. I'm a psych nerd and I found a lot of this pretty boring. There were, like in any essay collection, a few highlights that I enjoyed, but much of it was VERY dry.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little Buffycentric (I'm more of a Angel/Firefly fan) but a fun and engaging series of articles. The authors as a group show an admirable willingess to mix some humour into their generally serious and well thought out writings about various aspects of the Whedonverse.

[Sharron]

I love Joss Whedon's work. Buffy, Angel and Firefly are missed but their is always DVD.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times interesting, and plodding at others. Mix of good and tepid essays psychologically looking at Whedon, his work, and his characters. Very uneven reading, in my experience.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

the best essay was the last, by Joy Davidson

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The level of psychology in this book is very much 101, but it's a fun read for Joss fans.

[Eilis O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for lovers of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. Interesting, insightful essays on the show (and no you don't need a psychology degree to get them!).

[Sj Banham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute joy!
If, like me, you're a die hard Firefly fan, there is nothing about this book that you won't want to know. I listened to the audiobook version and wondered if the essays would be dry, but far from it. I didn't know you could have funny, comedic, or even sensual essays. Quite the eye-opener.
It contains more than just Firefly of course, but that was the draw for me.
Interestingly it did make me more interested in Buffy though.
Particularly enjoyed the deliberate name choices in Firefly, the feminist qualities in all Whedon's works, and the psychology/sociopathy of Mal and Jayne.

Have listened twice...in different orders. I think that says something about the content. Shiny (IYKYK)

[Corey Herlevsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readable,, equal parts educational and entertaining. If you are familiar with the work of Joss Whedon and have an interest in psychology this is a must read. It needs to be updated to include Dollhouse.

[N.D. Wisard · Rating 3 out of 5]

zis book could also be called "Affirmations of Whedon's Awesomeness"

[Stacey Handler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written in 2007 and it shows. You wouldn't think psychology would change much, but if this book was written today it would be totally different, and that's partly what kept me interested.

It's a book about the genius of Joss Whedon. By it's very nature, it's pretty laughable, especially the essay on feminism, where I was told that Joss was practically a radical feminist. (Ah yes, I picture him reading Dworkin and Daly by candlelight in his garret)

This book, knowing what we know now, will make you gasp with the wrongness of it. I skipped the Firefly/Serenity chapters as Buffy is my true love.

[Olivia Ambrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology, there are some really good essays and some that I didn't enjoy as much. But it's always fun to revisit Buffy/Firefly and look at them through different lenses.