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    ‘The Piano Lesson’ Review: Ghosts in the Instrument

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    This film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play falters in some specifics, but is still vital viewing.Riddle me this: When is a piano not merely a piano? Answer: In “The Piano Lesson,” where one piano contains a whole world.A whole family’s world, anyhow. The piano in question is an old upright, carved all over with the faces and figures of departed ancestors and stolen from the white Mississippi man who once enslaved members of this family. For Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), that means it’s sacred, a link to past trauma and resilience that must be preserved.For her brother, Boy Willie (John David Washington), the piano represents something else: money. More precisely, when he looks at the piano he sees the cash he needs to buy a piece of land back home in Mississippi and set up his own farm. That’s why he’s traveled up here to Pittsburgh, where Berniece lives with her daughter, Maretha (Skylar Aleece Smith), and an uncle, Doaker Charles (Samuel L. Jackson). Ostensibly Boy Willie has come to sell watermelons to locals with his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher). But it’s the piano he’s after.To others, the piano means other things. For Avery (Corey Hawkins), an elevator operator who dreams of starting a church and marrying Berniece, the piano offers the possibility of a stable future. But for Doaker Charles’s brother Wining Boy (Michael Potts), the instrument is a reminder of the exhilarating, unrelenting life he once lived on the road as a successful pianist, before he became washed up and broke.In 1990, “The Piano Lesson” won the eminent playwright August Wilson his second of two Pulitzers for drama. It’s part of his Pittsburgh Cycle (sometimes called his Century Cycle), a set of 10 decade-spanning plays about Black American life, all set in Pittsburgh. It’s been staged repeatedly since then; the 2022 Broadway revival starred Washington, Jackson and Fisher in the same roles they play in this film.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Theater

      ‘The Piano Lesson’ Review: August Wilson’s Phantom Notes

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      John David Washington, Danielle Brooks and Samuel L. Jackson star in the first Broadway revival of Wilson’s haunting family drama set in 1936.Four Black men gathered around a kitchen table exuberantly sing a work song (“When you marry, don’t marry no farming man, hoh-ah,” they holler, clapping and stomping their feet), a Black woman girds herself with her grief for the husband and father she lost to the anger of white men, and siblings fight over a seemingly haunted family heirloom that tells a story of generational trauma and loss. These circumstances are more than enough to raise the dead.Or at least they are in the Charles household, in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” which opened Thursday at the Ethel Barrymore Theater.First staged in 1987 at the Yale Repertory Theater, “The Piano Lesson” made its Broadway debut at the Walter Kerr three years later. That year it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama — one of two Wilson won for his American Century Cycle, a collection of 10 plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, depicting African American life.In “The Piano Lesson,” it’s Pittsburgh, 1936, in the house of Doaker Charles (Samuel L. Jackson), an old railroad worker who is now a train cook. His niece, Berniece (Danielle Brooks), and her 11-year-old daughter, Maretha (played by Jurnee Swan at the performance I saw), live with him in what is, in Beowulf Boritt’s too on-the-nose scenic design, a skeletal facsimile of a house — just beams and planks, some of which don’t even connect. Though there’s not much to the house — a love seat, a tiny kitchen with an ice box — there is an ornately carved piano that commands attention, despite its place in the far corner of the living room.It’s an august instrument with a knotty history, linking the Charles family to their enslaved ancestors and the white family that owned them. Each panel is covered with figures representing the Charleses; even the piano’s front legs are elaborately sculpted.From left, Ray Fisher, Washington, Brooks, Trai Byers, Jurnee Swan and Samuel L. Jackson. The elaborately carved piano is covered with figures of the Charles family.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesBerniece’s brother, Boy Willie (John David Washington), has traveled up north from Mississippi with his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) planning to cash it in for a plot of land and in the process hoping to transform an artifact of their family’s past struggles into a path to a better future. But Berniece refuses to give up the piano and all the bloody history it represents. To complicate matters, the piano is haunted by a recently dead member of the white family that once owned generations of the Charleses.Wilson’s usual signatures are here, including the somber subject matter related to Black disenfranchisement, prejudice, history and trauma — paired with witty, casual dialogue and flights into the surreal. Wilson makes poetry out of the mundane minutiae of daily African American life without forgetting how the past is present, alive and immediate like the melody of a song played by a piano that seems to have sprung to life.And yet even among Wilson’s outstanding and occasionally surreal plays, “The Piano Lesson,” both a family drama and a ghost story, stands out as one of the odder works. It’s a mix of themes and tones, both concrete and ethereal, ghoulish and comedic, but the imbalanced direction here, by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, overemphasizes the horror too literally; it works best on a metaphorical level.The performances are, in almost every case, engaging. Michael Potts, the veteran stage and screen actor who has appeared in other Wilson works, including the 2017 Broadway revival of “Jitney” and the 2020 film adaptation of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” is perfection as Doaker’s brother Wining Boy, an itinerant musician who can never seem to hold onto a dollar.As the surviving Charles brothers, Potts and Jackson (who played Boy Willie in the original 1987 production) have a breezy rapport: They joke, drink and reminisce like a couple of cads retired from most — but not all — of their wayward ways. Wining Boy remains a smooth scammer, and Doaker is an even-tempered dispenser of wisdom. Trai Byers, as Avery, a new reverend who’s enamored with Berniece, takes on his character’s highfalutin sermonizing with comedic aloofness, and April Matthis makes a brief, though memorable, appearance as a minor character with some big-city attitude. As the simpleton Lymon, Fisher occasionally goes too hokey, especially when it comes to his Southern drawl, but is endearing nonetheless with his dopey physicality and witless expressions.From left: Potts, Fisher, Jackson and Washington singing an old work song from their time as sharecroppers.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesFisher is a great contrast to Washington’s downright feverish performance as Boy Willie. He speaks in a hot spitfire of stubborn refusals, denials and lofty aspirations, convinced that he can put a price tag on his family’s past and use the money to build a future where he is equal to the white men who owned his ancestors and still hold power over him and his family.Washington, in a revelatory stage debut, is a blaze of energy lighting every scene he’s in. Brooks, who was a delight in “The Color Purple” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” as well as in her TV roles in “Orange is the New Black” and “Peacemaker,” isn’t as radiant a presence as in her other outings. Though she has a few standout moments, she, like her character, too often fades into the background, overshadowed by the extensive history and myths in the play.Despite Wilson’s eloquent writing, “The Piano Lesson,” at nearly three hours, drags on. The repetitive dialogue, especially in the second act, evokes a nagging sensation of déjà vu. The spooky shifts in lighting (by Japhy Weideman) and Boritt’s broken home, like a metaphor brought to life, leave nothing to the imagination.While in this production the play’s supernatural elements come across like anomalies, on the page they aren’t; the characters aren’t all that shocked by the eerie, odd occurrences and in fact continue on with their lives as usual. What haunts the Charles household is what haunts Black America every day — the living history of racial violence and pervasive inequality. Part of what’s missing in this mostly entertaining but often underwhelming “Piano Lesson” is the sense that this is a reality we’ve lived ourselves. Who hasn’t heard the melody of a ghost’s song in the middle of the night?The Piano LessonThrough Jan. 15 at the Barrymore Theater, Manhattan; pianolessonplay.com. Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes. More

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      in Movies

      Zack Snyder’s Rough and Tumble Ride With ‘Justice League’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyZack Snyder’s Rough and Tumble Ride With ‘Justice League’The director digs into his exit from the original version of the epic and what led to his edit, the Snyder Cut, which HBO Max will release Thursday. “Am I a provocateur? A little bit.”Snyder at his home in Los Angeles. He said of his exit from the original “Justice League”: “The decision to leave was 100 percent mine.”Credit…Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesMarch 14, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETEven superhero movies can have dual identities.To most filmgoers, “Justice League” is just another misbegotten comic-book adaptation that came and went in 2017 — one in which DC heroes like Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) united to battle an intergalactic foe.But to genre fans, “Justice League” is laden with notorious history: the director Zack Snyder exited the project during postproduction, leaving it to be completed by Joss Whedon (“The Avengers”), who had come on to help rewrite it. The result was an unsatisfying attempt by Warner Brothers to kick-start its own Marvel-style franchise.Snyder occupies a singular space in the blockbuster business. After breakthrough films like “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) and “300” (2007), he has been both praised and pilloried for unapologetically bombastic superhero opuses like “Watchmen” (2009), “Man of Steel” (2013) and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — his big, brutal dust-up between those two characters, which grossed $873 million worldwide in 2016 yet still ended up a critical and commercial disappointment.The making of “Justice League” coincided with a tragic period in Snyder’s life; his daughter Autumn died by suicide in March 2017, and his family was mourning her while he tried to finish the film.It would be understandable if Snyder had chosen to disown and disregard “Justice League” entirely, but he did not. His fans and cast members promoted online petitions and a hashtag, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, encouraging him to put forward his own edit of the movie. Eventually, Snyder acknowledged that such a project existed — not a finished version of the film but a rough assembly that Warner Brothers gave him a budget of about $70 million to complete. HBO Max (which, like Warner Brothers, is owned by WarnerMedia) will release this four-hour film, now called “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” on Thursday.From left, Jason Momoa as  Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Ezra Miller as the Flash in the Snyder Cut.Credit…HBO MaxOn a Sunday afternoon this month, Snyder, dressed in a basic white T-shirt that exposed his heavily tattooed forearms, was relaxing at his home in Los Angeles as he spoke in a video interview. In mid-conversation, his 10-year-old daughter, Sage, barnstormed through the room to fiddle with her father’s iPad settings, and he playfully shooed her away.Snyder, 55, is both self-serious and self-aware, sometimes puffing up his own accomplishments and tearing them down in the same breath. He knows that whether his “Justice League” cut is celebrated or panned like the original, it helps burnish his professional standing either way.Riffing on the exorbitant running time of the film, he said facetiously, “It’s like ‘The Irishman,’ but with action. You could say that. That’s a fine review. You could also say it’s the ‘Godfather’ of superhero movies. That’s another fine review.”More sincerely, he spoke of the strange satisfaction at getting to release the Snyder Cut and the toll it had taken on him. “It’s in some ways fun to surf the wave of a cultural phenomenon,” he said. “In other ways it’s terrifying and horrible.”He spoke further about the making of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the circumstances that led up to it and whether audiences still want to see his grandiose take on these enduring characters. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.Was there a point, going back to “Batman v Superman,” when you realized you were on thin ice with Warner Brothers?There was a definitely a shift in confidence that they had, and I think that kept multiplying as we went along. They had this giant I.P. [intellectual property] and their confidence in my point of view had eroded.Was it a warning sign when the studio brought in Joss Whedon for rewrites?It was a bit of a red flag. They were like, We think punching up the humor and doing some more fun stuff will be great. I was like, Hmm, I’m happy to shoot a scene if you guys have a good idea. We kicked around a bunch of different writers and they had come in with Joss. He’s a talented writer, no two ways about it. But I really didn’t see the point. And then when I was like, I’m done, I can’t do this, I feel like they were volunteering Joss as the de facto finisher.You left “Justice League” of your own volition?Absolutely. The decision to leave was 100 percent mine. I knew the fight that I was in for with them. And my family needed me, and I needed them. I was in a struggle at home, and then to go to my place of work and be in a second struggle there seemed like an outrageous thing to do to myself and my loved ones.Did you worry about the long-term ramifications your departure might have for your standing with Warner Brothers or your career?For sure. And the truth is, I was in such a place of desperation, I didn’t care. You know what? Good riddance to “Justice League.” I was like, Guys, really? You’re going to give me a hard time? Let’s go. I’ll fight you right now. [Laughs.] I was not in the mood for that kind of thing. I felt like we had done a great job, and the movie was done, even the two-hour-and-20-minute version that the studio had knocked me down to.How did you end up with a director’s cut of the film?Almost every movie I’ve ever made has a director’s cut. When I said, OK, I’m done, I [told] one of the editors I worked with [Carlos Castillón]: Put it together as best you can, and give it to me. A bunch of my inner-circle buddies who worked on the movie always talked about, Oh, maybe we just drop a thumb drive somewhere and let a “fan” [he makes air quotes] find it. And I was like, that’s funny but I think it’s better if it just lives as this thing that no one will ever see. I’ve lost my appetite for the fight.Should he have tried to emulate Marvel more? Snyder said no: “A director has one skill — your point of view.” Credit…Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesWere you dropping hints to its existence in the hopes that it would eventually be released?It was more just me having fun on [the social network] Vero with my fans. Did I think there would ever be a version of this where the fans’ rallying cry got so loud that a big company like WarnerMedia would consider this as an option? Absolutely not. I thought maybe in 10 years, there might be a DVD version where they might go, Hey, maybe it’s worth a couple dollars if we spruce up the Snyder cut.And now the same media company you clashed with on “Justice League” — under different management — is letting you put out your version of it.I appreciate that, I really do. This movie wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for HBO Max; I’m eternally grateful for them. And the viewing experience is still at a hugely high quality. It’s really up to your TV. It’s in the same aspect ratio as “First Cow.” Those two movies share some common DNA, I think. [Laughs.] I really did like “First Cow,” actually. I would love that in a double feature, “First Cow” and the Snyder cut of “Justice League.”Do you see the DC heroes on a grand level, like characters from Wagner or “Lord of the Rings”?It’s obvious I take these characters and their mythology really seriously. I want them to be fully realized as characters, existing in that world. I don’t think that it’s cool to have fun at their expense. And there was a vision that we had, a complete universe, fully fleshed out, that we really wanted to take all the way.Was that to draw an intentional contrast with what Marvel is doing in its movies?I knew it before “BvS,” when we made “Man of Steel.” Marvel is doing something else. They’re doing, at the highest level, this popular action-comedy with a heart. And they have that nailed. An effort to duplicate that is insanity because they’re so good at it. What DC had was mythology at an epic level, and we were going to take them on this amazing journey. Frankly, I was the only one saying that.The release of your “Justice League” brings back some painful memories, but aren’t you savoring it a bit, too?Only in the sense that it’s three years later, and here I am releasing a four-hour version of the movie. It really shows that the consumer is not wrong in a lot of ways. “They can’t handle anything over two hours, they’re going to lose their minds.” They were underestimated, the audience themselves.How long did you want the theatrical cut of “Justice League” to be?My point of view is that the movie should be about 20 minutes longer each time. “BvS” should be 20 minutes longer than “Man of Steel,” and “Justice League” should be about 20 minutes longer than “BvS.” I thought the movie should be a little closer to three hours when I initially went into it. I know that it’s indulgent. The truth is there’s probably about 10 Snyder cuts — there’s a longer version than the four-hour version. There’s a three-hour version. A two-hour and 20. I think I showed the studio two hours and 40 minutes. And then I showed them subsequent cuts of two hours and 30 minutes, and two hours and 28 minutes, and two hours and 22 minutes.How did you end up with enough footage for a four-hour movie?I do it on every movie. I tend to shoot a lot, but it’s really carefully done. It’s not like we’re just running a second camera. Everything is very methodically thought out. When I sit down to draw the movie, the movie is different than the movie the studio wants or that anybody knows about.Ben Affleck as Batman in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the director’s cut of the movie.Credit…HBO MaxWhy did you bring back some of your actors to shoot a new finale?I added it because this was going to be the last movie I make for the DCU and to have this entire cinematic universe without Batman and Joker meeting up just felt weird. Jared [Leto] and I had a bunch of conversations about it. I had mentioned it to Ben and I was like, Ben, let’s just do it at my house. I could shoot it in the backyard. Don’t tell the studio and I’m not going to pay you guys. I’m just going to shoot it myself.Is that what you ended up doing?No, what happened is it worked out and we were able to do it for real. And then I called the rest of those cast members and said, Hey, would you guys be down to come around and do it.The actor Ray Fisher raised complaints, alleging that Whedon was abusive to him on the “Justice League” reshoots, which led to an investigation by WarnerMedia and other actors coming forward with accounts of similar experiences with Whedon. Were you aware this was happening?Not at the time. The last thing they wanted to do was call me, complaining about them having a hard time shooting. But in retrospect, do I feel bad that they had to go through that? I do. These guys are my friends, and they’re amazing actors, and they’re strong people. I want them to be taken care of and in a healthy situation. I wasn’t there, so your opinion on it is probably is as good as mine.Why did you end the movie with, essentially, a cliffhanger teasing another movie that’s never going to come?The ask was for my version of the movie.Had you gotten to make further ‘Justice League’ movies, what would have happened in them?It’s the fall of Earth, when Superman succumbs to anti-life. And then sending Flash back in time to change one element so that doesn’t happen. And then the big battle where we beat him. When [the villain] Darkseid comes to Earth, in the movie that you’ll never see, the armies of Earth all unite again, as they did before. This time there would be aircraft carriers and Special Forces guys, all the armies of the world would come together, as well as [Aquaman’s fellow] Atlanteans rising out of the ocean and the Themyscirans [Wonder Woman’s compatriots] coming off their island. That was our big finale. But it’s a long drum roll and guitar solo to get there.Darkseid in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” If there were sequels, the character would have had a larger role in those, the director said.Credit…HBO MaxSince “Justice League,” there have been other DC movies, like “Aquaman” and “Shazam!”, that have gotten more enthusiastic reviews and made more money. Does that sting for you, that your films didn’t achieve that?I couldn’t be happier. It doesn’t sting for me at all. Those movies are cool, and they’re really well-made and excellent. But “BvS,” love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references. It’s the closest thing to a cult film that could exist at this level of pop culture. Am I a provocateur? A little bit. Is my job to make some pop-culture piece of candy that you eat and forget about the next day? Nah. I would rather [expletive] you up in a movie than make it nice and pretty for everybody. Let’s be frank, there’s no cult of “Aquaman.” Jason is a force of nature, and by all means, I want there to be 100 “Aquaman” movies because he’s an awesome guy. But it’s not controversial. And I have purposely, because I love it, made the movies difficult.Is it possible that the zeitgeist just didn’t embrace your interpretation of these characters?It could be. And that’s fine, too. I don’t have a dog in the hunt. When I made “Watchmen,” it’s deconstructionist. It’s a movie that pokes holes in your heroes. And “BvS” is the same thing. It’s meant to say, Oh, Batman’s drunk and taking painkillers and he’s sleeping with some anonymous girl. He’s a broken person. He dresses up as a bat and he goes out at night and he beats people up. He has issues. I do think the movie came along at a point where everyone was like, oh, we don’t want that Batman. We want Batman to be the warrior-monk who’s cool. And I personally am fine with that.When you see what Marvel is doing in its movies, do you ever think, I should be doing more of that?No, not at all. I don’t know how to hit a ball any different than I hit it. A director has one skill — your point of view. That’s all you have. If you’re trying to imitate another way of making a movie, then you’re on a slippery slope.Even though the DC movies have retained your principal cast members like Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa, they’re moving away from story lines that your films set up and the sense of a shared universe they established. Do you feel like they’re dismantling your legacy?They are 100 percent moving away. They consider the theatrical cut of “Justice League” as canon. That’s their decision. I wish them all the best, and I hope the whole thing is a giant blockbuster on top of blockbuster on top of blockbuster. The stars of those movies are my friends, and I want them to be prosperous, and I want people to love it.Gal Gadot and Affleck in “Batman v  Superman.” Snyder said of that film, “Love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references.”Credit…Clay Enos/Warner Bros.You’ve been making comic-book adaptations for some 15 years. Are you done with that genre entirely? Do you feel you need to get away from it for a while?I don’t think about it in those terms. It was nice to go do “Army of the Dead” [a coming zombie action movie for Netflix]. They were completely supportive, and it was an incredible, cathartic re-immersion into that relationship. I’m trying to put together this movie called “Horse Latitudes,” a super-microbudget movie that I’m going to go shoot with my buddies in South America. It’s about a man’s journey into his past and how does death shape you? Am I ready to make a movie like that? I think so.Are you still planning an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”?“Fountainhead” right now is on the back burner, and I don’t know how that movie gets made, at least not right away. We need a less divided country and a little more liberal government to make that movie, so people don’t react to it in a certain way.Meaning, if it had come out in the last few years, it would have struck the wrong tone?I think so. But we’ll see. I’m in no rush.Do you think your “Justice League” has broader implications for the film industry and the lengths that studios will continue to go to cater to audiences?This is a social experiment. For millions of people, it’s, Oh, look a giant superhero movie — I guess that’s cool. But then for a large portion of my fans, it comes custom-made. [As a viewer] you have the perception, more than ever, that the movie was made singularly for you as you watch it. It’s the culmination of this entire experience: I fought and used the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, and it’s in my world, in my computer, on my TV, in my house. I don’t think anybody can quantify what that means yet.What will you do when it’s finally released?I have to go to the dentist on the 18th. That’s how my day’s going to be.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      in Television

      For ‘Buffy’ Fans, Another Reckoning With the Show’s Creator

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyFor ‘Buffy’ Fans, Another Reckoning With the Show’s CreatorMany fans said they are trying to reconcile accusations of misogyny against Joss Whedon, the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” with their love of a show that celebrated female empowerment.Joss Whedon, seen here at a premiere in 2018, has been accused of abusing actors who worked for him.Credit… Gabriel Olsen/WireImage via Getty ImagesFeb. 15, 2021Updated 4:37 p.m. ETThe Whedon Studies Association, a society of academics devoted to studying the works of Joss Whedon, is debating whether to change its name. Fans who grew up with his signature show, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and were planning to introduce it to their children are grappling with what to do.Some said they are regretting tattoos inspired by “Buffy” and other shows Mr. Whedon created.For years, fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which aired on the WB and UPN from 1997 to 2003, have had to reconcile their adoration for a show about a teenage girl who slays monsters with the criticism that often swirled around her creator.Mr. Whedon’s early reputation as a feminist storyteller was tarnished after his ex-wife, the producer Kai Cole, accused him of cheating on her and lying about it. The actress Charisma Carpenter, a star of the “Buffy” spinoff “Angel,” hinted at a fan convention in 2009 that Mr. Whedon was not happy when she became pregnant.In July, Ray Fisher, an actor who starred in Mr. Whedon’s 2017 film “Justice League,” accused him of “gross” and “abusive” treatment of the cast and crew. Mr. Whedon has disputed some of Mr. Fisher’s accusations, and said his ex-wife’s 2017 account included “inaccuracies” and “misrepresentations.”On Wednesday, Ms. Carpenter released a statement in support of Mr. Fisher, in which she said Mr. Whedon harassed her while she was pregnant and fired her after she gave birth in 2003.“Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,” she said in the post, hashtagged #istandwithRayFisher. The post set off a new accounting for longtime fans of Mr. Whedon’s work, and some of the people who helped him create it.Over the past week, many of the actors who starred on “Buffy,” including Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy Summers, have expressed solidarity with Ms. Carpenter and distanced themselves from Mr. Whedon. The actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn, alleged on Instagram on Thursday that Mr. Whedon was not allowed to be alone with her.“I would like to validate what the women of ‘Buffy’ are saying and support them in telling their story,” Marti Noxon, one of the show’s producers and longtime writers, said on Twitter. Jose Molina, a writer who worked on Mr. Whedon’s show “Firefly,” called him “casually cruel.”A representative for Mr. Whedon declined to comment.Charisma Carpenter, seen here in 2019, played Cordelia on “Buffy” and “Angel.”Credit…Nina Prommer/EPA, via ShutterstockThrough “Buffy,” Mr. Whedon sparked a universe that inspired scholarly articles and books, countless online groups that still dissect plotlines and characters more than 17 years after the final episode aired, and legions of fans who connected deeply with a teenage girl forced to fight unimaginable horrors.“Many people came out and said that ‘Buffy’ saved their lives,” said Alyson Buckman, a professor at California State University, Sacramento, and member of the Whedon Studies Association, who surveyed fans of the show for an upcoming book. “It was incredibly meaningful for them. It taught them to stand up for themselves. It taught them that they could go on.”She added: “Is that all ruined by one man?”Welcome to the HellmouthIn March 1997, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” premiered on the WB, then a fledgling cable network, and was quickly praised as a smart and campy series about a teenage girl and her friends fighting the forces of evil.The show was full of clever metaphors — Buffy lived in a California town that sits on a hellmouth, a place where vampires and monsters converge and a sly comparison to the pains of adolescence. Writers like Ms. Noxon and Jane Espenson developed rich plotlines and provided the actors with snappy dialogue that fascinated linguists. The characters struggled with evil boyfriends, their own sexuality and the death of a parent in ways that fans found cathartic.“The show was really a lifeline for me at the time because I didn’t have community,” said Jen Malkowski, a film and media studies professor at Smith College, who identifies as queer and trans nonbinary and began watching the show in high school.“I was working with my sexuality, coming to terms with coming out,” said Professor Malkowski, who uses they and them pronouns. “Buffy was a huge source of comfort for me.”Mr. Whedon’s fame grew, and he went on to direct and write myriad other films and television series, including the wildly popular “Avengers” and one of its sequels, “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” In 2013, the human rights group Equality Now honored him as a champion of storytelling who fought for gender equality.“Buffy was such a powerful show not just because it was about girl power, but also because it was about women’s voices,” said Jodi Eichler-Levine, a professor at Lehigh University who described herself as “obsessed” with the show in graduate school.“Hearing just how profoundly the voices of women in the cast were ignored cuts deep,” she said.Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy Summers, said she was proud of the role, but does not want to be forever associated with Joss Whedon. Credit…WB‘The story is not just Joss Whedon’s’In pop culture and beyond, there’s a long history of fans working through how to separate their art from its creator or stars. And for years, many fans have had to compartmentalize their love for “Buffy” as more accusations swirled against Mr. Whedon and multiple viewings of the show revealed aspects of it that had not aged well.Nat Brehmer, a freelance writer in Apopka, Fla., described on Twitter how he thought of Mr. Whedon as “some kind of god” when he first watched the show in high school. Episodes like one about a student who feels so unseen by her classmates that she literally becomes invisible helped him cope with the anxieties he felt as a teenager.Over the years, Mr. Brehmer said he has had to contend with some troubling remnants of the show’s legacy, like its treatment of minority characters and its depiction of sexual assault.The latest controversy surrounding Mr. Whedon is a reminder of the danger of idolization, Mr. Brehmer said. But he said that if he has children, he will watch “Buffy” with them.“Buffy is still my favorite show of all time,” he said. “Probably, by and large, one of my favorite stories ever told.”“Buffy” fans know that the “story is not just Joss Whedon’s,” said Kristin Russo, a co-host on the podcast, “Buffering the Vampire Slayer.” She compared the loyalty of fans to the show to that of fans of Harry Potter, who have distanced themselves from J.K. Rowling and transphobic comments she has made, while still embracing the books.“It’s the fandom claiming it back,” Ms. Russo said. “I don’t think that anyone would think that Buffy Summers belongs to any one person.”Professor Malkowski said boycotting “Buffy” and other shows Mr. Whedon created would also obscure the legacy of the other writers, producers and actors who worked on those series.“I want to hold on to Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson and Charisma Carpenter,” they said. “To me, it’s more important to keep what’s of value than to cancel what has been revealed to be troubling.”But in case the new allegations compel networks and streaming services to stop playing old episodes of Mr. Whedon’s shows, Professor Malkowski is ready:“I will never let go of my Buffy DVDs.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More