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Post by takewithfood on Jul 20, 2018 17:02:58 GMT -5
Hey guys, Just found out that James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy I and II has been fired by Disney over some offensive tweets dating back to around 2008-2011.It would be great if we could avoid getting too heated or political if we discuss this, but I thought it was noteworthy enough to start a thread. It's a pretty bold move by Disney, as Gunn has had nothing but success with what was once considered an underdog property. Together his two films have pulled in $1.64 billion and significantly contributed to the success of Avengers: Infinity War. It's arguably Disney/Marvel's most established series outside of Phase I properties like Iron Man, Cap, and Thor.
Guardians Vol 3 is also the only confirmed Phase IV film aside from Spiderman: Far From Home. Fortunately, it's in very early pre-production and isn't scheduled for release until 2020, so there is plenty of time to restructure after Gunn's departure. But still, yikes.
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Post by Hoots Rowlet on Jul 20, 2018 17:14:03 GMT -5
I don't even watch these movies, and I am pissed about this. There is no loyalty or forgiveness in this world anymore... Just a bunch of fair weather backstabbers who will cut off their own mother when it's convenient.
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 20, 2018 17:40:14 GMT -5
Well, to be fair, Gunn had this to say not even two months ago concerning Roseanne Barr getting sacked over her own offensive tweets: I guess the difference is that his tweets predate his work with Marvel/Disney by several years. But on the other hand it's Disney. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Post by Hoots Rowlet on Jul 20, 2018 17:47:18 GMT -5
the difference is that his tweets predate his work with Marvel/Disney by several years. You just shot your own argument in the foot.
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 20, 2018 17:50:04 GMT -5
Don't mistake me, it's not my argument. I'm just stating facts. I don't really have an opinion on the actual firing.
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Post by Hoots Rowlet on Jul 20, 2018 18:15:50 GMT -5
Sorry If I'm a bit hostile... It's just reading about the circumstances of what made this come to light, put me in a real dark place emotionally.
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Post by Manah on Jul 20, 2018 21:48:35 GMT -5
I'll be honest, at this point, I don't even want to think about Disney, so I will refrain from commenting on this.
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Post by Gris on Jul 21, 2018 4:40:01 GMT -5
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 21, 2018 7:25:13 GMT -5
I guess I'll weigh in this way: I see these sorts of things to be a combination of two problems:
1. Social media is still relatively new, and most people don't quite grasp just how far their voices can carry, or what a big deal it is that random stuff you say can last online forever. When you send a tweet, especially as a relatively or potentially famous person, you're basically speaking your statement into a microphone, then playing it back on loop, forever, into a room that contains every person alive and every person who will ever live. In that light, social media is maybe not the best medium for child rape jokes that came to mind while you were pinching a loaf in the men's room of a Taco Bell.
2. As a global society we have not reached the point where we are willing or able to distinguish between "that behaviour is racist/sexist/transphobic/etc" and "that person is racist/etc". Disney has its hands tied because enough people are always going to associate James Gunn with some racist/homophobic/anti-semitic/etc things he said ten years ago, regardless of who James Gunn is now or even who he actually was then. I admit, it's a very nebulous thing separating a person from their actions, or from the actions of their younger selves, and people do not like grey areas. People like black and white and simplicity.
Put these two things together and here we are in an age where Disney would fire Walt Disney.
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Post by Manah on Jul 21, 2018 8:02:58 GMT -5
You're absolutely right, but... I mean, Black and white and simplicity is the reason why there's racist/homophobic/anti-semitic/etc things in the first place. They should really learn to appreciate the value of shades of grey. Sometimes people make me want to facepalm with a shovel.
And I thought I was color-blind. XD
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 21, 2018 9:35:16 GMT -5
Oh I completely agree. I just mean that people are lazy by default and tend not to have the patience or even the ability to really wade into the grey areas of an issue.
Combine that with a permanent record of every dumb thing people say online and you have a recipe for a lot of firings. The Onion got it right in 2012 with their headline "Report: Every Potential 2040 President Already Unelectable Due To Facebook."
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Post by Manah on Jul 21, 2018 9:51:00 GMT -5
...lol. For some reason, that made me laugh a lot more than it should. XD
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Post by WildKnight on Jul 21, 2018 18:01:57 GMT -5
Guardians 2 was... not good. It was a rampage of Flanderization and bad retreads of jokes from the previous moment (to say nothing of having two virtually identical character arcs for two different characters, both of whom had already gone through pretty much the same arc in the previous film) that tried to cover for those weaknesses with cheap sentimentality at the end.
Independent of my feelings about his "jokes" in Twitter, I'd be real glad he was gone anyway, if not for the fact that they'll probably replace him with the even worse Watiti.
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 21, 2018 18:09:39 GMT -5
That's actually an interesting guess - Waititi replacing Gunn, I mean. I hadn't thought of that, but it seems like a possibility, especially if they aren't doing more Thor movies (which they might or might not be; we'll see how Avengers 4 ends, I guess).
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Post by oninowon on Mar 28, 2019 11:55:21 GMT -5
I actually liked the 2nd movie more than the 1st one. Groot as a teenager was hilarious!
As to Gunn, I can understand Disney having to fire him. Disney has that kid friendly, family oriented reputation and in business, anything that hurts your reputation, you need to rectify or face potential loss in money, customers, and business connections.
This is why I hate political correctness. It has gone too far. People now a days are too sensitive; so much so that you can't speak your mind. It is regrettable that people are losing their jobs or even worse, blackballed in their industry for what they said in their youth.
Of course, I still don't get how these people are so stupid enough to use social media to write or say controversial things and not think that it won't bite them in the ass later. The stories I hear about people using Facebook....
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