Organizational Communication Approaches to the Works of Joss Whedon

Book excerpt: In Organizational Approaches to the Works of Joss Whedon, Andrew F. Herrmann offers an in-depth analysis of the connections between communication, organization, gender, discourse, and ethics in the works of Joss Whedon. Herrmann examines how characters go to work in organizations, how characters fight against organizations, and how some organizations themselves are characters. Whedon’s works offer both popular and scholarly appeal, often including portrayals of organizations, such as The Union of Allied Planets in Firefly and Serenity and S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Herrmann argues that by looking at how Whedon portrays these organizations—including the ways in which employees are impacted by their organizations and how decision-making is affected by gender, masculinity, and economic discourses—we can gain fresh insights into our own working lives. Scholars of film studies, organizational communication, gender, rhetoric, and ethics will find this book particularly useful.