#003 – Much Ado About Whedon

On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast:

We try to class the show up a bit by discussing Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing! or at least the latest interpretation of a popular Shakespeare play by one of the hottest names in Hollywood right now, Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers). After leaving every other Summer blockbuster in the dust with the $1.5 billion success of The Avengers, Joss was mandated to have some time off — which he used to make this film in twelve days. It almost seems like showing off at this point. Though, to “Whedonites,” this is business as usual.

Shakespeare is already considered the greatest playwright in history because of gems like Much Ado About Nothing but we try to get at the heart of what makes a comedy like this really stick. With characters that have inspired numerous romantic comedy archetypes, this play is ripe with statements about the roles of men and women, what love looks like, and the ridiculous things that it makes us do. Fortunately, we have our first two female guests on the show to help us sort through it all.

***EDITOR’S NOTE*** Please excuse the recording issue that pops up about 20min in and wasn’t noticed until the show was nearly finished. The conversation was so good we just couldn’t hope to redo the whole thing!

This weeks panel included Claire Alston and Laura Fissel.

Claire Alston (@clairealsto)
Cultural Preservation Volunteer Work:
To Keep Up With What She Is Doing
To Support Claire

Laura Fissel (@laura_fissel)
Writing:
Leaving Teaching Blog

Download Episode 003 Here:
Reel World Theology #003 – Much Ado About Whedon

Podcast Notes and Links:

Much Ado About Nothing on IMDB

Much Ado About Nothing Trailer on YouTube

Much Ado About Nothing on Rotten Tomatoes

“Much Ado as a Romantic Comedy and Cop Show” at NPR

“Whedon Does William Justice in Much Ado About Nothing” at The Nerdist

“Theology at the Movies: Much Ado”

“Shakespeare’s in the House” at SMH.com

“The Darkness at the Heart of Much Ado About Nothing” at theguardian.co.uk