After Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon deleted his Twitter account on Monday, scuttlebutt pointed the finger at "militant feminists" who were angry about certain aspects of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Whedon himself made no public comment on the circumstances surrounding his Twitter exit at the time, but reading through the vicious comments that were hurled in his direction made it easy to put two and two together. Today Whedon is ready to set the record straight.
In short, he calls the militant feminist theory "horsesh*t." In a phone interview with BuzzFeed, Whedon explained why that notion is nonsense.
"I have been attacked by militant feminists since I [first] got on Twitter. That's something I'm used to," he said. "Every breed of feminism is attacking every other breed... because god forbid they should all band together and actually fight for the cause. I saw a lot of people say, 'Well, the social justice warriors destroyed one of their own!' It's like, Nope. That didn't happen."
So why did he quit social media?
"I just thought, 'Wait a minute, if I'm going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place,'" Whedon explained. "And [Twitter] is the least quiet place I've ever been in my life. It's like taking the bar exam at Coachella. It's like, 'Um, I really need to concentrate on this! Guys! Can you all just... I have to... It's super important for my law!'"
What the conspiracy theorists seem to have ignored is that Whedon has gone on record several times noting his desire to pull back from the spotlight as soon as his PR duties for Age of Ultron were complete. Ultimately, he said, the problem he had with Twitter was himself. The social media network is just too addictive, and he needs time away from it to "get stuff done."
The smartest bit in the BuzzFeed interview comes when he's asked point-blank if he quit Twitter to get away from the haters.
"So many people have said mean things, but so many people have said wonderful things. But how much approbation do I need before I become creepy?" Whedon explained. "I so appreciate when people took the time to say something nice. But for my own self, it's like, at some point, you're just like a little compliment leech. That's not going to help your writing any more than people slamming on you."
Writers, take note of Whedon's clarity and perspective. It's worth emulating.
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