Joss Whedon left Twitter on Monday, just as backlash erupted over the portrayal of Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The filmmaker finally got to explain his decision and is also getting some support from actor Mark Ruffalo.
There was speculation that the backlash was the reason why Whedon suddenly deleted his Twitter account after the film came out. He received plenty of complaints from people who didn’t like the idea that Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, was matched with The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo.
“That is horses**t,” Whedon bluntly told Buzzfeed Tuesday. “Believe me, I have been attacked by militant feminists since I got on Twitter. That’s something I’m used to. Every breed of feminism is attacking every other breed, and every subsection of liberalism is always busy attacking another subsection of liberalism, because god forbid they should all band together and actually fight for the cause.”
Instead, Whedon decided that if he was serious about getting back to other projects, he had to “go to the quiet place” and Twitter is certainly not a quiet place.
“It’s like taking the bar exam at Coachella,” Whedon explained. “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!”
In a Reddit AMA session today, Ruffalo sid it was “sad” that Whedon was the target of all that criticism.
“I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don't have as many women as we should yet, they're very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now,” the Oscar-nominated actor wrote. “But I think what's beautiful about what Joss did with Black Widow - I don't think he makes her any weaker, he just brings this idea of love to a superhero, and I think that's beautiful.”
He later continued, “There's an equal amount of people who find the love interest between Banner and Black Widow to be a big standout. And it's very satisfying to people. So it's a movie. People are going to have their opinions. And that's actually a great thing. The fact that this is a debate that's coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing.
“I just don't think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is - of anyone - an advocate for women. He's a deeply committed feminist.”
Ultron ended up making $191 million at the box office this weekend, earning the second-biggest debut weekend in film history.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com
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