A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts

AGE OF THE GEEK COLUMN: In all my years of attending ComicCon International, there is one event that always overrides all other attractions. I always go to the Joss Whedon panel.
Whether it's a panel about something he's working on or just him spending an hour talking to a room full of fans, I make sure I'm there to see it.
It's hard to quantify exactly how high I regard Whedon's work.
As a third generation television writer, Whedon created some of the best TV the medium has ever seen. From the groundbreaking "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" and it's equally successful spin-off "Angel;" to the now infamous "Firefly" where an untimely cancellation galvanized a fan-base powerful enough to demand a major motion picture; to "Dollhouse," which took a generic sci-fi concept and turned it into a thought provoking examination of who we are and how we interact with technology.
Outside of television, Whedon has proven to be equally proficient in storytelling. Entering the world of comics, Whedon wrote a landmark run of "Astonishing X-Men," correcting the course of that franchise after Grant Morrison pushed them away from their super hero roots. During the 2007 writer's strike, he spent his downtime creating "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog," a compelling tale of morality hidden behind silly musical numbers. And, of course, now he's a Hollywood filmmaker, with "Cabin in the Woods" being the best deconstruction of the horror movie genre since "Scream."
He also did a little film called "The Avengers," which remains to this day my favorite entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with its sequel falling close behind. And now that he's taking over the reins of "Justice League" from Zack Snyder, I'm optimistic that Warner Bros. might actually turn around their own comic book movie universe.
No matter the medium, Joss Whedon is unarguably one of the most gifted and successful storytellers of our time.
He's also an objectively terrible person.
As told in a scathing article recently published by his now ex-wife, Whedon's lifelong dedication to promoting female empowerment apparently meant empowering women in his employ to help him cheat on his marriage multiple times over the course of his ever skyrocketing career. It's not a moral infraction of Bill Cosby proportions, but it's enough.
Idolizing people is always risky, but we all do it anyway. It's in our nature to look for role models, whether they are parents, athletes, entertainers, or other highly successful people. It's a natural instinct to try to emulate that success, but that instinct inevitably leads to disappointment.
They say never to meet your heroes. By definition, idols will never live up to the impossible expectations we set for them. At best you'll discover that they are just people just trying to get through the day like the rest of us. At worst you'll discover that the person you looked up to was actually lower than you the entire time.
In this case, now comes the uncomfortable transition of readjusting how I feel about Whedon and his work moving forward. His past work is now tainted by the knowledge that the success it brought him enabled him to betray his marriage. His future work will be tainted by the same revelation.
There's an eternal debate about how much one should separate an artist from their work. Some would argue that we shouldn't let a creator's personal life influence how we judge the product they make, especially when it comes to large collaborative works where hundreds of people are involved. After all, statistically speaking, somebody at Chrysler in 2005 probably cheated on their spouse, or worse. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop driving my car.
Others would argue that financially supporting bad people is an endorsement of bad behavior and thus, should be avoided. It's not uncommon for business leaders and politicians to resign after losing the public trust for the same reason.
There is merit to both arguments but let's be honest, the line is usually drawn by comparing the moral failing to the quality of the work. As paradoxical as it sounds, the people we hold to impossibly high standards when they succeed are also granted the leniency of lower standards when they fail.
Perhaps that's how it should be so that things stay in balance. I won't be boycotting Whedon's work and I'll maintain my love of the stories he's created. But I don't think I'll be lining up to get his autograph again either.
Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and not even Joss can take the sky away from him.