Thread by @Delafina777

Like at some point we’re going to have to talk about the talent of the actors who made Whedon’s dialogue in a lot of his shows entertaining rather than just hours of insufferable

https://twitter.com/ZJemptv/status/1483575316589125633

Like I read a lot of screenplays, and one thing that always fascinates me is how often Whedon’s characters read really different from how they come across on screen

It’s similar to Sorkin, in a way, although I’m put off less by Sorkin on the page and more just bored.

They both write patter, and while I don’t want to undersell the role of the writer in writing patter that works, it lives or does in delivery.

There’s plenty to not like about the character of Mal, for example, but a lot of people describe *realizing* that Mal is not all that likable.

As in, they didn’t realize it at first.

And that’s because Nathan Fillion’s line readings slip under your defenses and turn something that on paper is just mean into something that’s self-deprecating or vulnerable or wounded or wry or full of weltschmerz.

And Whedon is different from Sorkin here, for all that they both rely on speedy delivery to sell a lot of their lines.

With Sorkin you can see actors he hasn’t worked with as much learning to speak Sorkinese.

Sorkin has sort of a standard rhythm and music in which his patter works.

Like I feel like I could almost do Sorkin patter with nonsense syllables and it would be recognizable.

And if an actor doesn’t use it, they can come across as stiff or awkward.

You can see it if you watch Sorkin movies with big-name actors. Not all of them have quite gotten how to deliver a Sorkin line—even some really good actors.

And it comes across as a little stage-y.

As opposed to the West Wing cast, who don’t usually feel like they’re delivering memorized lines.

It’s not because they’re better actors.

In fact, I suspect that big name actors sometimes can’t make Sorkinese feel lived-in precisely BECAUSE…

…they’re accustomed to more autonomy in how to deliver lines.

But for the most part, if you don’t get the pattern, it just comes off as stiff, not *mean.*

Whedon is different. His patter isn’t as formulaic in rhythm and the music of the line.

But it really took reading the lines on a page to realize how much the delivery was selling the lines, and not just in terms of comic timing or back-and-forth.

These characters are just waaaay less likable on the page.