"I think everyone who makes movies should be forced to do television. Because you have to finish. You have to get it done, and there are a lot of decisions made just for the sake of making decisions. You do something because it's efficient and because it gets the story told and it connects to the audience"
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Whedon’s provocation doubles as a confession: the romance of cinema can be an alibi for endless tinkering, while television is a deadline with teeth. “Forced” is the tell. He’s not praising TV as some purer medium; he’s prescribing it as discipline, a corrective to the auteur fantasy that every choice must be precious, bespoke, and delayed until it’s perfect. In his framing, television is a gym for narrative: you show up, you lift the weight, you go home, then you do it again next week.
The subtext is craft over mythology. TV production, especially in the network and early prestige eras that shaped Whedon (Buffy, Angel), is a machine that rewards decisiveness. You can’t hide behind reshoots and “finding it in the edit” when an episode order, a budget cap, and a delivery date are non-negotiable. So “a lot of decisions made just for the sake of making decisions” isn’t cynicism; it’s a defense of momentum. Story is built from committed choices, not optimal ones.
He’s also sneaking in a populist argument about audience. “Efficient” is usually an insult in film talk, but Whedon treats it as an ethical category: clarity, pace, and emotional legibility are what “connects,” not ornamental mastery. In a culture that fetishizes cinematic perfection, he’s arguing for the messy virtue of completion - and for storytelling that respects the viewer’s time as much as the creator’s vision.
The subtext is craft over mythology. TV production, especially in the network and early prestige eras that shaped Whedon (Buffy, Angel), is a machine that rewards decisiveness. You can’t hide behind reshoots and “finding it in the edit” when an episode order, a budget cap, and a delivery date are non-negotiable. So “a lot of decisions made just for the sake of making decisions” isn’t cynicism; it’s a defense of momentum. Story is built from committed choices, not optimal ones.
He’s also sneaking in a populist argument about audience. “Efficient” is usually an insult in film talk, but Whedon treats it as an ethical category: clarity, pace, and emotional legibility are what “connects,” not ornamental mastery. In a culture that fetishizes cinematic perfection, he’s arguing for the messy virtue of completion - and for storytelling that respects the viewer’s time as much as the creator’s vision.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
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