Hello. I’d like to write a little something.
Joss Whedon deleted his Twitter account today. From what I can gather, it’s because of a lot of harassment and death threats he’s received, and Twitter’s continuing inability to stop such behavior.
There are at least two groups I’m aware of that are responsible for that behavior: GamerGate and its kind that hate any kind of positive depiction and treatment of women (as well as Whedon himself for speaking out against them), and some pro-diversity types that blame Whedon for Disney/Marvel’s decisions and are stupid and awful enough to send such attacks.
For GamerGate and its kind, taking Joss Whedon down is an achievement. His history with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and subsequent view of him as a major feminist icon, as well as his fame for Firefly and the Avengers films, have all made him a potential obstacle for GamerGate types to “neutralize.” Take him down, so the thinking goes, and a lot of feminists and women in general will be disheartened and more submissive to anything oppressive or that treats and depicts women poorly.
Of course, it would be horrible not to admit that some diversity and feminist people are in the mix too. I’ve seen tweets and Tumblr posts blaming Whedon and only Whedon for things like Wanda and Pietro getting whitewashed in Age of Ultron, or for Vision getting added and not Black Panther.
For that latter group, while it’s possible Whedon has some blame and at the very least permits such things in his film, you have to keep in mind that Whedon is not the one in control. Marvel is in control of the films, and Disney is in control of Marvel.
Whitewashing Wanda and Pietro isn’t something Whedon decided to do, it’s something Disney and Marvel decided to do. Just like Disney and Marvel decided to force a stupid retcon that suddenly made Wanda and Pietro not Magneto’s kids anymore. The heart of the problem isn’t one man that’s done with the Marvel films after Age of Ultron, the problem is the companies that hired him and set demands upon him, just like they set demands on Edward Norton, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Wright.
And even if Whedon had been responsible, that still does not in any way justify death threats and harassment.
Now that Joss Whedon left Twitter, the GamerGate crowd is doing something very predictable: they’re trying to make it look like they had no hand in running Joss Whedon off Twitter, and trying to make it sound like he left Twitter because people that support social justice “turned on him.”
If you’re just an average person, keep that in mind. The GamerGate crowd is one that’s far worse. They’ll doxx and SWAT people on top of sending death threats and harassment, then pretend they had absolutely no hand in it and try to pin the blame on their “enemies.” With the exception of good people tricked into supporting GamerGate by their spin and lies, GamerGaters are a slimy, horrid, manipulative bunch. They will do whatever it takes short of actually committing murder, rape or assault to get their way.
Though I will add that I think Joss Whedon receiving enough death threats and attacks for him to leave Twitter the immediate weekend after Age of Ultron is yet another of the many cracks in the Marvel Cinematic Universe plan starting to show.
That’s all I have to say at the moment.
salarta 