An Open Letter to Joss Whedon

Dear Mr. Whedon,
While on my cruise to Mexico with my family last week, I managed to not see your recently released film Avengers 2: Age of Ultron before we boarded the boat. But while on the cruise, I overheard on the few television stations the boat gets that you had quit twitter. And I knew.

In the world we live in nowadays, we generally can’t have nice things. I mean, we say we want nice things, like a second Avengers movie for instance. But then we get the nice thing and we can’t be happy with it.  It isn’t quite what we wanted so we lose ourselves and we break the nice things and, way worse, we break the people who help bring us nice things. (See here for more examples of how Twitter is sometimes filled with evil people.)

When you were announced as the director of the first Avengers movie, I called everyone I knew. I sent emails. I cheered loudly in my home.  Because I knew that you had the two things that were needed to make a great movie: you understood the characters and you do teams really, really well.

When the young people in my life occasionally ask me about a comic series to start with, I hand them the wonderful run of Astonishing X-men that you penned. It is a beautiful thing and shows just how much you love the Marvel Universe. SPOILER AHEAD: And they always come back and say, “When Kitty Pryde…” and I hold them, cry tears with them and explain that it is comics, so she is back.

When the time comes to think of gifts for my dad and brother at Christmas, I look for the things you’ve done. This year, everyone got the graphic novel Leaves on the Wind, the next chapter of the Firefly universe that you built.

When I want to point to some of the best seasons of television ever made, I point to Buffy and Angel and explain how great they are and thank the good Lord you don’t believe in Netflix streaming them.

When I saw your speech at Equality Now many years ago, it changed my charitable giving and how I advocate for equality for women everywhere.

When I want to geek out with my drama kid friends, we do Dr. Horrible Sing-a-Longs. And laugh every time when we find out what “The Hammer” is.

You didn’t disappoint with the first Avengers movie. It is glorious. The way you pulled the developing pieces of the Marvel Universe and sanded their rough edges just enough to put them in a team was fantastic.  It was the thing that many of us waited our whole lives to see on the big screen. And it didn’t disappoint.

So, when the trolls of the world turned against you when Avengers 2 came out, I am sorry. You deserve better. You’ve been a great teller of stories and I am worried that you are going to keep us away from more nice things. Please don’t.