All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Joss WhedonRead
I never write anything without humor, just because I like humor, but at the same time, it is a way for anything fantastical to become relatable.
Interpretation
Humor makes complex and fantastical ideas more relatable to people.
Joss Whedon emphasizes the importance of humor in storytelling, suggesting that it serves not only as a personal preference but also as a crucial tool to connect extraordinary concepts with everyday experiences. By infusing humor into his writing, he aims to bridge the gap between the fantastical and the relatable, making his work more accessible to a wider audience.
In practice
During a speech at a writing conference, I shared this quote to highlight the role of humor in storytelling.
All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Because itβs no longer enough to be a decent person. Itβs no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself.
I designed 'Buffy' to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved. Because it's about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult.
My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy.
I loved the idea of a girl going into a dark alley, and a monster comes, and then she just aces him. Itβs like, you want to see the tiny person suddenly take control. God, my whole career is basically about that!
Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful. When you can have everything, it's very hard to make things feel real and lived in.
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
I would not want to live if I could not perform. It's in my will. I am not to be revived unless I can do an hour of stand-up.
Never knew before what eternity was made for. It is to give some of us a chance to learn German.
Now, some people do this for shock value. Shock is just another uptown word for surprise. Granted it has a different quality to it, but a joke is about surprising someone. I'm a great believer in context. You can joke about anything. I do like finding out where the line is drawn, deliberately crossing it and bringing some of them with me across the line, and having them be happy that I did.
There are no exceptions to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule.
I wish my name was Brian because maybe sometimes people would misspell my name and call me Brain. That's like a free compliment and you don't even gotta be smart to notice it.
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