Joss Whedon as Film Auteur

I really hope that one day I get a chance to write a paper arguing that Joss Whedon is a film auteur. I've been reading about the French New Wave critics, and auteur theory, and their views on Hitchcock and all that- and from what I understand of the definition, I think Whedon's work really defines him as such.

The most simple, encompassing definition I have seen so far is in Marilyn Fabe's An Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film Technique, which says that auteurs have a "unique style and vision [that] mark their films" and that "according to the French critics who defined the term, even when an auteur makes a work based on some else's novel, drama, or screenplay, he somehow manages to inscribe upon it his own thematic concerns."

Joss, of course, is best known for his series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, and Firefly/Serenity. What themes and concerns come across most strongly in all of these? Things like real families vs. chosen families; the inability for two people in love to have a perfect relationship; free will vs. a pre-programmed destiny; women who say the awkward-but-true things about situations; the prevalence of father-figures over real fathers; a setting that has just as much characterization as one of the actual characters; use of extraordinary situations to explore ordinary issues.

He also wrote the screenplay for Toy Story. Where Woody and Buzz struggle to understand the meaning of their chosen family of the other toys, and their place in it- and their value to their adopted "father," Andy. Where Woody struggles with the issue of will he be a favored toy, or is he destined to be pushed under the bed and forgotten? Bo Peep, I think, fills the role of Cordelia in Angel, or Anya in Buffy- to be both the truth-teller and comforter. The oversized world of the bedroom and Andy's house is just as characterized as the ship Serenity, or the Hyperion Hotel. Though not the director of the film -the typical film auteur- I think it can most definitely be argued that he has imprinted many of the same concerns and themes on Toy Story as he does on his other works.

Even in Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, for which Whedon only wrote a treatment, the same themes return again. Milo Thatch and the crew of explorers struggle with their bond to each other vs. their treasure-seeking expedition. Atlantean princess Kida, unfamiliar with the surface world and its social norms, asks the same questions that River or Anya might ask to get an explanation for a situation. The Shepherd's Book that guides the explorers to Atlantis and the writings on the city itself are a lore and prophecy that challenge ideas of free will and determinism, much like the situation that Buffy found herself in, as the chosen Slayer. The absent father theme comes up again, as Milo's grandfather proves to be far more of a presence and influence on Milo's life.

While most of the auteur information I'm coming across is in regards to Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock, I think that Joss Whedon does fit into this category of filmmaking. I just wish he'd be a little more prolific! (But I hear Dollhouse and Goners are a go, sometime, though!)