cross-posted at Burnt Orange Report & Texas Kaos
On June 16 - 24, all over the world, people have a chance to help out a great organization, Equality Now, and see a great movie. For the second year in a row, for Joss Whedon's birthday, screenings of the movie Serenity will be shown all across the globe as a fundraiser for Equality Now.
According to the Can't Stop the Serenity website, "Equality Now was founded in 1992 to work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world. Working with national human rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses."
I have a Firefly quote as my signature (when I'm not raising money for the AIDS Walk or the Hill Country Ride for AIDS), because I really love Firefly, Serenity and pretty much all things Joss. I love an openly feminist man writing strong female characters. According to Wheedon's Wikipedia page:
Whedon developed Buffy to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie."[8] Whedon wanted "to subvert that idea and create someone who was a hero."[8] He explained: "The very first mission statement of the show [is] the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it."[9]
I also remember, though I can't find the quote, Joss saying that one reason he did BTVS was so his kids could have a kick-ass female heroine. Firefly and Serenity, the movie based on the series, are science fiction, action-adventure, set in the far future. There are space ships, but no aliens. There is the sharp, witty dialog that Joss is known for. Our heroes are thieves, but they're honorable thieves. The movie is fairly violent - it definitely deserves the PG-13 rating.
This is happening literally all over the world from Dublin to DesMoines to Sydney. Here's the website:
http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com
I just wanted you all to know about this opportunity to see a great movie and help a great cause at the same time.