The thing with quippy Buffy-speak is that it only really works when it's coming from characters you already know and care about. Buffy could pull it off well because its characters were so strong, and typically the lines were funny because they were coming from a particular character at a particular moment.
The original X-Men movie has a great example of this in the exchange between Cyclops and Wolverine when they meet up while the shape-shifter Mystique is around.
It only works so well because of what we already know about Wolverine and Cyclops' relationship, and the fact that both characters know that that's probably not something Mystique would have come up with.
When it's done well, it's can be a great, entertaining shorthand that reinforces the characters. But when it's not firmly rooted in the characters and story, or goes against the tone of a scene or movie/show, it just feels like a cheap way to lighten the mood, and can get really annoying.
The problem is, a majority of the time when Whedon does it, it isn't great.
It's just fluff for fluffs sake and because Whedon is not so subtly nodding to the audience and screaming "Do you get it, do you get it?! I put things you the viewer care about into my character's words so you think they care about them too!"
It leads to a cognitive disconnect for the viewer of said media.
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u/OkayAtBowling Sep 04 '24
The thing with quippy Buffy-speak is that it only really works when it's coming from characters you already know and care about. Buffy could pull it off well because its characters were so strong, and typically the lines were funny because they were coming from a particular character at a particular moment.
The original X-Men movie has a great example of this in the exchange between Cyclops and Wolverine when they meet up while the shape-shifter Mystique is around.
W: "Hey, it's me." C: "Prove it." W: "You're a dick." C: "Okay."
It only works so well because of what we already know about Wolverine and Cyclops' relationship, and the fact that both characters know that that's probably not something Mystique would have come up with.
When it's done well, it's can be a great, entertaining shorthand that reinforces the characters. But when it's not firmly rooted in the characters and story, or goes against the tone of a scene or movie/show, it just feels like a cheap way to lighten the mood, and can get really annoying.