Opinionated: Guardians of the Guy Who Hired Vin Diesel to Play a Talking Tree
A few days ago, James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, was fired from directing the third film in the series when a man named Mike Cernovich found old tweets of Gunn’s from around the 2008-2011 range that made risqué jokes about rape and pedophilia. One such joke was, to paraphrase, “The best part about being raped is when the raping stops” and other quips of that nature. Gunn has claimed he made these jokes when he considered himself a provocateur of sorts. Gunn had apologized for these comments at the time he said them. The exhumation of Gunn’s comments in a time of #MeToo and #TimesUp has caused Disney, who employed the sexual deviant John Lasseter and had to fire him, as well as having to fire Roseanne for her abrupt, crass Twitter remarks over the past decade, caused Gunn to be the latest casualty in the hunt for any-one in Hollywood who would appear to be amoral. I’m happy to see the nasty people get their just desserts, but when a person who has, on many occasions over several years, apologized for his actions, I’d like to think such people would deserve the benefit of the doubt, at least to a certain extent. That being said, Cernovich is the one has created this nightmare for Gunn and it is only fair to check into his record, if only to find any trace of hypocrisy… boy is there ever.
It would appear that Cernovich has been on public record as stating that he believes women should submit to the power of the Alpha Male, which is a concept that was actually dispelled by the man who proposed the theory in the 1970s. Making a career out of being involved with fake news web-sites, Cernovich was the one who kept the fictional Pizzagate conspiracy popular, despite the fact it was a concoction meant to attract viewers. Cernovich has even made the repulsive proclamation that date rape is not real, and what’s more, developed by the Liberal Media to destroy America or some-thing like that. Cernovich has been working towards crushing any opposition to President Donald Trump, as he feels a certain connection to the man, as Cernovich has expressed in so many words. Now, James Gunn has lost his job because of one man’s flagrant attitude about how to use the truth in every-day life. Fortunately, there are those who have come to his defense, and in rather spectacular fashion.
The likes of Batista, the professional wrestler who plays Drax in the Guardians films, has charged to Gunn’s rescue and claimed that his firing is a gross abuse of power, to paraphrase. Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord in Guardians, made a more subdued pledge to Gunn, referencing biblical proverbs that amount to second chances and turning the other cheek, among others. Zoe Saldana seems to support her frequent director, while Bobcat Goldwaithe asked that Disney remove his voice from their parks. Even Selma Blair supports Gunn, claiming, as best as I remember, that he is one of the good ones. The biggest card in Gunn’s deck is that some-one started a Change.org campaign to reinstate Gunn as director of the picture, although that person is under the impression that his efforts will be for naught. In my opinion, Gunn should never have been fired and the fact that he was released over these comments is a sign that we are in an era where the sensitive can become sadistic and greed can breed paranoia at any time. Disney simply fired Gunn because they were afraid of being banished from the bank accounts of the entire planet. Gunn seems to be a kind, decent man who is guilty of not knowing when to tell a joke and how to do so safely.
I don’t know if James Gunn will get the chance to return to film his picture, but I hope that this calamity that has befallen Gunn’s career will remind people of the importance of context as well as content, in addition to the fact that you never know when some-one will try to pull the rug out from under you.
