Joss Whedon was already a cult hero, bringing the masses the likes of BUFFY, ANGEL, DOLLHOUSE, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, the criminally cancelled FIREFLY (but we did get the fantastic SERENITY from its ashes) and he even got scribbling for TOY STORY, fact! If you’ve been away from the planet in the past few weeks, you may have also missed the rather celebrated success of THE AVENGERS or AVENGERS ASSEMBLE…only in the UK.
The latter has been breaking records astonishingly, there’s already been over $700 million taken in ticket sales and it’s only been out for a week in the USA. The rest of the world has taken the behemoth to their collective hearts in the weeks gone by but Whedon hasn’t forgotten the loyal fans who’ve stuck with him throughout the shifting allegiances of Hollywood. We think he deserves this time in the limelight, he may be a new name for some but Joss has made a truly great film for our times and actually got it right, who was worried? We weren’t, read our review!
In meantime, for your reading pleasure, is his open letter to all of us, the fans and the converted and click the link for the bigger Q&A over on Whedonesque:
Dear Friends,
Well, it’s been quite a weekend. Someday, long from now, I will even have an emotional reaction to it, like a person would. I can’t wait! But before I become blinded by this “emotion” experience, there’s a few things I’d like to say. Well, type.
People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true. And change is good — change is exciting. I think — not to jinx it — that I may finally be recognized at Comiccon. Imagine! Also, with my percentage of “the Avengers” gross, I can afford to buy… [gets call from agent. Weeps manfully. Resumes typing.] …a fine meal. But REALLY fine, with truffles and s#!+. And I can get a studio to finance my dream project, the reboot of “Air Bud” that we all feel is so long overdue. (He could play Jai Alai! Think of the emotional ramifications of JAI ALAI!!!!)
What doesn’t change is anything that matters. What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of — I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with “peeps” — that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of. When almost no one was watching, when people probably should have STOPPED watching, I’ve had three constants: my family and friends, my collaborators (often the same), and y’all. A lot of stories have come out about my “dark years”, and how I’m “unrecognized”… I love these stories, because they make me seem super-important, but I have never felt the darkness (and I’m ALL about my darkness) that they described. Because I have so much. I have people, in my life, on this site, in places I’ve yet to discover, that always made me feel the truth of success: an artist and an audience communicating. Communicating to the point of collaborating. I’ve thought, “maybe I’m over; maybe I’ve said my piece”. But never with fear. Never with rancor. Because of y’all. Because you knew me when.
If you think topping a box office record compares with someone telling you your work helped them through a rough time, you’re probably new here. (For the record, and despite my inhuman distance from the joy-joy of it: topping a box office record is super-dope. I’m an alien, not a robot.) So this is me, saying thank you. All of you. You’ve taken as much guff for loving my work as I have for over-writing it, and you deserve, in this our time of streaming into the main, to crow. To glow. To crow and go “I told you so”, to those Joe Blows not in the know. (LAST time I hire Dr. Seuss to punch my posts up. Yeesh!) Point being, you deserve some honor, AND you deserves some FAQs answered…
Well done that man and remember…
Source: Whedonesque // SarahAnneLangton
