Director James Gunn under fire for offensive tweets [Update: Fired]

[Nick]

I don't really know what to say here besides those tweets were really disturbing. The fact that Disney hired him knowing this is very questionable judgement on their part, but I don't see this as them being hypocrites either. He was caught up in this in 2012 and they stuck by him. Well in 2012, GotG wasn't even out yet and it was small potatoes to defend him back then. No big deal from Disney's perspective, just a slap on the wrist.

This was a big strike though. The thing is, Disney doesn't like to have a bad look from a PR perspective. So the fact that he's the guy who is at the forefront of what is now - six years later - a pretty popular franchise in the enormous MCU, made it easy for Disney to bring out the axe. They had to separate themselves from him.

The online twitter culture today of trying to get people fired over every little tweet is more to blame here than anything. People blow things wildly out of proportion - however, most people probably hadn't seen those tweets before and they were all incredibly graphic and in poor taste. It would've been a bad look to stick by him whereas six years ago it was a lot easier to get away with because things didn't spread so fast to where there was a twitter wildfire within minutes.

In conclusion, Twitter has gotten out of control and has far too many gang-up tendencies these days.

 

[TheGentTrent]

I guarantee you that had Disney not taken immediate action, Gunn likely would have stepped down after a couple days of nonstop coverage. No one wants this kind of bad publicity surrounding an upcoming film.

 

[Miketheboss]

 

[DK745]

 

[Teebin]

^ What a coincidence! I had never heard of that actor until last night watching blade runner.

 

[amityboattours]

No one in the world is clean, everyone's told jokes that would offend somebody.
Heck, My wife's Mum died of Cancer when my wife was very young and she often makes jokes about cancer, because humour like that is a coping strategy to dealing with the darkest stuff we have to deal with as human beings.
I don’t know if this is a particularly UK based thing, but people over here often make jokes about celebrities and people they know when they die too, which can come across as very mean spirited if you want to see it that way. However, if you see it for what it really is, it’s a defence mechanism, a way of coping with the fragility and hopelessness that people feel when forced to consider their own mortality.
Taboo humour should not be completely vilified without looking at the reason for its existence in the first place.

 

[DK745]

^ What a coincidence! I had never heard of that actor until last night watching blade runner.

His role was brief but great in Blade Runner 2049.

He was with WWE from 2002-2010, then left to pursue acting. He's been in GOTG films, the Bond film Spectre, Blade Runner 2049...also came back and did a brief 6 month run with WWE again 2014.

Acting wise he might not be as well known but he's been around for a while if you throw in wrestling. Also he's a better actor than The Rock :grin:

As one of the stars of the film his opinion has some merit but not sure it'll really lead to anything.

 

[Lucky Planet]

if this had happened to a conservative person. everyone would be saying they deserve it. lol.

But because he made guardians of the galaxy, hes being defended. i do laugh at that. is really funny to see people online (specially celebrities) have that double think.

 

[Brian G.]

if this had happened to a conservative person. everyone would be saying they deserve it. lol.

But because he made guardians of the galaxy, hes being defended. i do laugh at that. is really funny to see people online (specially celebrities) have that double think.

C’mon now.

 

[Dhdhddh]

My God this feels like a real life Black Mirror episode.

I don’t know if Phil Lord and Chris Miller would be too fond of Disney after being fired off of Solo from Lucasfilm, but I really think their direction could work for the franchise based off of their previous movies (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie, etc.). I don’t think Taika would be able to hit the emotional beats that Gunn has despite Ragnarok being a very funny movie. Lord and Miller seem like they’d be better equipped to take over the Guardians.

 

[TDBLMT]

C’mon now.

if this had happened to a conservative person. everyone would be saying they deserve it. lol.

But because he made guardians of the galaxy, hes being defended. i do laugh at that. is really funny to see people online (specially celebrities) have that double think.

OoOoO this Hot Take is cute.

 

[jseal777]

This outrage culture on the internet bears a lot of the same problems that our criminal justice system has had for years and years (focus on punishment over reform and rehabilitation). The big difference here is that at least if you actually do something illegal you have a right to a lawyer and a speedy trial and all that fun constitutional stuff.

With thoughtcrime you have none of that and your punishment is whatever the loudest voice says it is.

 

[Disneyhead]

Maybe they can get Rian Johnson to take over the Guardians series.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Gunn's tweets are pretty disgusting, but he made them years ago and has already publicly apologized for them. This is a stupid move on Disney's part and incredibly reactionary. It doesn't help that an alt-righter took him down just because Gunn doesn't like Trump.

 

[jtsalien]

Maybe they can get Rian Johnson to take over the Guardians series.

:ban:

But really. The nerd outrage is gonna be severe on this one. You can be there's hoards of slighted fans currently scanning the internet fingerprints of Johnson, Kathleen Kennedy, et al to try and find some measure of retaliation.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

In gaming there's a harassment campaign called Gamergate that aims to remove women and minority groups from the conversation and game creation. It's based around "the press and developers shouldn't mingle" and "gamers are a subgroup don't ignore us" but in reality it uses these ideas as a way for those who can't hear the dog whistle to back them. "Well of course we shouldn't let devs and the press mingle" says honest person who doesn't see that the target harassment campaign and doxxing is based around hearsay, fake outrage, and outright lies to silence someone because they're a woman, queer, or a minority.

This recently came up again with the firing of two developers at ArenaNet, the developer of Guild Wars. In a twitter thread about game design a woman developer was "well actually"-ed and asked if a basic solution to a complex concept was right; something that insulted her ability and intelligence. Instead of putting up with this, again, she blocked the dude and was "rude" to him. The Gamergate crowd pounced on this and in 24 hours she was fired, along with a colleague who backed her up. This is despite the fact she brought up her outspokenness of liberal issues on twitter to her boss and employer and they said it was fine. ArenaNet's capitulation to an online silencing campaign not based on her being rude but her having unrelated ideas Gamergate didn't like has turned into a mess with women ALL OVER the industry being targeted with harassment to provoke them and even *Insert Woman's Name* blank forms asking for firings. It's a mess with expanding and dangerous consequences. (An additional link to a video of Waypoint talking about this issue because Austin Walker is baller and smarter and more well articulated than I'll ever be)

It's hard to not see some parallels to the ArenaNet fiasco and this firing and it's horrifying to think what the consequences of this could be for other films, studios, and in entertainment. MC is a conspiracy nut who does not care about the truth, empathy, or understanding, he thinks "Hollywood" is filled with pedophiles (same with "Washington DC", seriously if a dude is this tied up with pedophilia?) and waged a pearl clutching attack against Gunn not because he found the tweets hurtful but because Gunn is loud voice about empathy, toxic masculinity, and a critic of President Trump. MC doesn't give a rats ass about jokes, context, or understanding, he wants people to shut up so he can feel better about being a terrible human being. In fact he got an MSNBC reporter fired... who was then immediately rehired once they found out who MC was. Disney f***** up, badly.

I fully expect Rain Johnson, Kathleen Kennedy, Jimmy Kimmel, and more to be attacked even more and the same tactics used to silence Gunn to silence and remove them just as it's happening after ArenaNet. This isn't conservative vs liberal (even if the bad faith actors hide behind "conservative ideas"), it's freedom against toxicity and destruction.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

This was also part of a coordinated, targeted hit job from convicted rapist and known conspiracy shiller Cernovich, the guy behind "Pizzagate" (which almost got people killed). He and his ilk are scum, and Disney just bowed to their pressure.

Disney knew about these tweets. Gunn has apologized for these tweets, publicly, several times. He came out of Tromeo, a production company known for being over-the-top insane in its provocation. I'm not saying those tweets aren't gross - they are. But this sets a terrible precedent.

...who also temporarily got Sam Seder fired for a tweet about Roman Polanski from 2009. Then when Kyle Kulinski called him out on his BS, he cried about being "harassed."

So sick of snowflakes on both the left and right.

Oh, and while I don't like what it is now, I kiiiiinda sympathize with GG (and I'm left, by American standards at least). Put it this way, gamers have been blamed for everything under the sun, mainly by the right. Well, when gaming journalists begin calling gamers horrible sexists, day in and day out, they're going to get angry--especially when a large number of gaming magazines printed the same inflammatory articles about all gamers.

 

[Lucky Planet]

C’mon now.

OoOoO this Hot Take is cute.

lol this didn't age well :shrug:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

lol this didn't age well :shrug:

Since you're playing the Roseanne card I'll address something I didn't in my prior post.

Roseanne Barr was fired for repeated posting of racist, sexist, and homophobic statements while working at ABC. She was given many free passes and constantly feigned ignorance or shifted the blame elsewhere (see: "Ambien doesn't make you racist"). She was called out by those hurt by her comments and the position of power she was in. She was fired after showing callous intent towards others.

Gunn was let go after conspiracy theorists didn't like him calling out their bullshit and they went through his history to find dirt, dirt he took responsibility for, apologized for, and tried to show others how to be better in 2012. MC was not hurt by Gunn's bad, tasteless jokes, he wanted fodder for silencing. In fact those hurt by his statements called him out on it in 2012 and he owned up and apologized for it.

Additionally, Disney knew about Barr and Gunn's history prior to their hirings. Just as they made the choice to hire them and took on all that comes with it, they also took on all the responsibility and fall out of letting them go. I don't know the contract Gunn or Barr signed, but it appears they could be let go for causing the company harm or giving them a bad look.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Since you're playing the Roseanne card I'll address something I didn't in my prior post.

Roseanne Barr was fired for repeated posting of racist, sexist, and homophobic statements while working at ABC. She was given many free passes and constantly feigned ignorance or shifted the blame elsewhere (see: "Ambien doesn't make you racist"). She was called out by those hurt by her comments and the position of power she was in. She was fired after showing callous intent towards others.

Gunn was let go after conspiracy theorists didn't like him calling out their bullshit and they went through his history to find dirt, dirt he took responsibility for, apologized for, and tried to show others how to be better in 2012. MC was not hurt by Gunn's bad, tasteless jokes, he wanted fodder for silencing. In fact those hurt by his statements called him out on it in 2012 and he owned up and apologized for it.

Additionally, Disney knew about Barr and Gunn's history prior to their hirings. Just as they made the choice to hire them and took on all that comes with it, they also took on all the responsibility and fall out of letting them go. I don't know the contract Gunn or Barr signed, but it appears they could be let go for causing the company harm or giving them a bad look.

I'm against both being fired, FYI.