Mickey Mouse Turns James Gunn to Dust
- Alex Lee
- Jul 31, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 24, 2021
And not everyone is "feeling too good" about it.
Marvel Studios certainly did not stand idle as DC reigned supreme at Comic-Con 2018 and finally went out with the 'W" in a long time. While DC whipped out an impressive lineup with Shazam, Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Marvel evened out the competition and reclaimed attention in the media by firing James Gunn, the brains behind the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. And for today's social standards and what is considered as socially acceptable, he is being punished for a good reason: his recklessness behind a compilation of offensive twitter jokes about pedophilia, rape, 9/11... you name it. There always seems to be a scandal in Hollywood every now and then, but even for James Gunn's standards, or at least who we thought he was, this is simply shocking news.
Now first things first, I think these tweets as jokes alone are terrible and would struggle to get a chuckle out of even the most easygoing people. Second of all, I've been consistently taught in class and by my parents that whatever you post on social media will be marked for a lifetime, which WILL affect how professional markets perceive you. Clearly, one of the most accomplished directors in Hollywood either forgot about his blemishes from 10 years ago or mistakenly assumed that no one could possibly have the curiosity to delve this deep into his past. Thirdly, and oddly enough, this controversy does not change my impression of James Gunn one bit. I may not personally know him enough to speak the truth of his character, but I do know that there is a difference between who a person "was" and who a person "is". Even if Gunn was well in his 40s when these revolting tweets were sent out, what matters more is learning from the awful decisions to become better. And seeing how things have been for him between the first Guardians of the Galaxy and now, his exotic films and jovial personality with the crew members and fans, this story certainly slaps incredulous looks onto fans left and right.
An interesting detail about this controversy is that James Gunn, who has publicly criticized the president before, was targeted by an alt-right activist named Mike Cernovich by drawing attention to the tweets. "Target" is an appropriate word to use, because Cernovich has been known to falsely accuse journalists and anti-Trump figures of being pedophiles or being supportive of pedophilia. The same case as happened over the past week with comedians Michael Ian Black, Dan Harmon, Sarah Silverman, and Anthony Jeselnik. To be fair, Cernovich is certainly not wrong about Gunn's lapses in character, nor is he at fault for a predicament based on a strictly business decision. But for goodness sake, this is the same director who produced "James Gunn's PG Porn", who is well aware of the very same jokes that we are talking about right now and has expressed deep regrets about them in 2012. And Disney is realizing this now? Are we missing something here?
When this story went viral over the media, I was quite astonished that the only rationale behind the firing was tweeting. There were no real accounts of sexual abuse as was the case for Harvey Weinstein, nor alleged sexual harassment accusations that Kevin Spacey suffered. The grand cause behind this conundrum is because of a bunch of antiquated antics on twitter that he made as an antiquated comedian. I previously described this as "an adequate reason" for punishment, but I must also emphasize "for today's social standards" along with it. There is an uncomfortable level of political friction in both Hollywood and Twitter, and like the film industry, the politics of North America has been rapidly shifting. This is an extremely difficult environment for comedians to work in, especially when anybody can judge an entire person based on a single sentence, if not a single word. If you identify as a Trump supporter for example, then you are immediately perceived (at least widely on the web) as a certain person, who does certain things, which are not this and that, and so on... You could see how this form of inductive reasoning based on stereotypes gets easily weaponized by people like Cernovich and wielded against celebrities like James Gunn in this political bloodshed, and frankly, it has led to a sad situation where comedy has become fully eclipsed. Perhaps it's also why I do not find past famous comedy shows like The Daily Show or Family Guy funny anymore; they are cuffed by a volatile group of consumers who strongly abide by very particular political views. There is no middle ground to be found or a safe haven from the gnarly nature of politics where people simply let go of themselves and have a good laugh.
I am not vindicating James Gunn by any means. What I am saying, however, is that double standards clearly exist when the realm of people's perception is so bipolar like North American politics. Has anyone paid attention to what the current President of the USA has said in his lifetime? And what is he now? Still the president of arguably the most powerful country in the world. One is still going on with his usual habits, while the other as publicly apologized before we even started talking about it. What about Herbert the Pervert from Family Guy, whose comedic representation of pedophile is no different from Gunn's tweets? One is celebrated in the community as an ingenious satire, while the other is denigrated to insensitive remarks. No human being in their right mind should condone the ridiculing of pedophilia or rape, but in Gunn's case, there is a whole film crew backing his genuine personality; in Drax's words (Dave Bautista), one of the most loving, caring, good-natured people [he has] ever met. Calling the entire GOTG crew liars would be taking a step too far, as these people have worked long enough with the director to know by heart that he is a good man. And considering how enjoyable and well-made the GOTG series was, I do not doubt their support one bit.
Ultimately, society has forgotten that people can grow, repent and not make the same mistakes. We are literally excavating almost a decade old tweets and completely reducing a proven director to some cherry-picked jokes. I prefer not to doubt the goodwill of any person; although if he/she is continuously proven to be a jerk or of sorts, then there is a problem. However, I will defend jerks who have realized their jerky attitudes on their own and amassed enough integrity to change their outlook. In such a case, there is no better cliché than "Not everybody is perfect". Unfortunately, this saying seems to have evolved into a form of chastisement rather than a respectful acceptance of a person's mistakes. There are various articles that discuss some political and sociological concepts behind this controversy (links are posted below), and I encourage you to visit them not for the sake of James Gunn's job, but for our own sake as interconnected people. #WeAreGroot
"I can see where statements were poorly worded and offensive to many. I'm sorry and regret making them at all."
- James Gunn, 2012
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