LOCAL ACTOR JOINS EVIL LEAGUE OF EVIL (cont.)

I think one of the most apparent similarities is their elastic use of language. Shakespeare, who is credited with the creation of well over 2,000 words, delighted in the innovative use of language. He would create new forms of existing words, he took the noun assassin and created the verb assassinate; or he would put words together to form new ones, like eyeball or bedroom.

And then there are the words like whirligig which were just the sheer coinage of his brain. Whedon takes a similar delight in linguistic acrobatics. There is an entire book called "Slayer Slang" dedicated to his vocabulary.

Enquirer: Was Tur-Mohel inspired by Shakespeare?

Dubin: While I would love to say that Tur-Mohel was a contemporary interpretation of Shylock or something, the truth is, no, there was no Shakespearean influence for this character.

The idea came from some conversations I had had with friends who were debating whether or not they were going to have their children circumcised. It is apparently becoming more popular to forego this procedure, even though I don't think this movement has taken root in the Jewish community. I just envisioned a bunch of ticked-off idle mohels up in arms.

As for creating a winner, a huge amount of credit goes to Ryan Lewis, who directed and edited the piece. Ryan is a local filmmaker who I had worked with a couple of times before on the 48 Hour Film Project and another film of his called Emulsion.

Once I had the idea, I pitched it to him, and very fortunately he was excited to do it. He and Mike Maney (the director of photography) showed up on the day of the shoot with equipment, know-how and some very deft eyes. The shoot only took about three hours, and Ryan had it edited by the next day. 

Enquirer: What don't people get about the relationship between the classics, Buffy and comic book culture?

Dubin: It has often been suggested that comic books are the American mythology. They have become a part of our collective unconscious.

Whether or not one is an avid reader of comic books, everyone knows Superman and Lex Luther, Batman and the Joker. They are undisputedly a part of our cultural vocabulary, just as the pantheons of the gods were for the Greeks, the Romans or the Norse.

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