Joss Whedon è conosciuto dai più per il film sui Vendicatori uscito l’anno scorso, campione d’incassi e piuttosto amato anche in redazione. In realtà la poetica di Whedon inzia vent’anni fa, con Buffy l’ammazavampiri: e da lì attraversa delle serie molto belle (Firefly, ingiustamente sacrificata all’altare dell’audience), serie che partono male e chiudono prima di ingranare fino in fondo (Dollhouse), autentici capolavori (Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog). Per capire un po’ chi è e in cosa crede, il suo discorso ai laureati dell’università di Wesleyan lo scorso 26 maggio capita a fagiolo:

(…) This connection is part of contradiction. It is the tension I was talking about. This tension isn’t about two opposite points, it’s about the line in between them, and it’s being stretched by them. We need to acknowledge and honor that tension, and the connection that that tension is a part of. Our connection not just to the people we love, but to everybody, including people we can’t stand and wish weren’t around. The connection we have is part of what defines us on such a basic level.

Freedom is not freedom from connection. Serial killing is freedom from connection. Certain large investment firms have established freedom from connection. But we as people never do, and we’re not supposed to, and we shouldn’t want to. We are individuals, obviously, but we are more than that.

So here’s the thing about changing the world. It turns out that’s not even the question, because you don’t have a choice. You are going to change the world, because that is actually what the world is. You do not pass through this life, it passes through you. You experience it, you interpret it, you act, and then it is different. That happens constantly. You are changing the world. You always have been, and now, it becomes real on a level that it hasn’t been before. (…)