When Joss Whedon’s sci-fi western television series, “Firefly,” was cancelled by the Fox network in 2002, the fans of the show were devastated. But Joss told his actors that he wouldn’t give up and that he would find the show a new home.
Eventually, he found that place with Universal Studios in 2005, where they made a feature length movie called Serenity and resurrected the “Firefly“ story.
Joss says about his movie making, “It’s not to make things people like. It’s never to make things people like. It’s only to make things that they love.”
Refusing to Let It Go
What I love about this story (in addition to loving the show unabashedly), is that Joss was so committed to vision and believed in it so much, that he refused to give up. And his fans and cast did too. Joss says about the experience, “[People] fell in love with it a little bit too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called ‘unrealistic’ … ‘quixotic’ … ‘obsessive’.”
He seems to be totally okay with that. :)
When he presented the first footage of the movie at San Diego Comic Con, he said to the assembled masses of fans, “This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don’t get made into major motion pictures unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason.”
Isn’t that the most beautiful turn of phrase?
What Do You Believe Beyond Reason?
What are you so ridiculously over the moon about that it makes you giddy just to think about?
The word passion has become so overused in our culture today, I’m not even sure we know what it means anymore.
To most of us it apparently means something like, “What do you think is a realistic way to make money that you would enjoy doing?”
And while that is a useful question when one is paying one’s bills, it is NOT really the same question as “What are you passionate about?”
Seems to me it’s time to change the question.
Let’s start asking, “What do you BELIEVE BEYOND REASON?”
“What do you believe in so deeply, so permanently, so passionately that you can hardly keep yourself in your skin because you are exploding with joy when you consider it?”
“What brings tears to your eyes when you allow yourself to even just consider the possibility that you might be lucky enough to do it for a single minute of your life?”
Do that. And do it as quick as you can.
Because really, why would we do anything else?
Time’s a wastin.’
Watch Joss’ Introduction Here
Your Turn
I always love hearing from you in the comments on my blog.
