My James Gunn Thoughts
Ok, NOW I have something to talk about and sink my teeth into. You might want to grab a sandwich and settle in. This is gonna be a long one.
So, ahem...James Gunn said some offensive tweets long ago, and CERTAIN people (more on that in a bit) dug them up and got all riled up about them. Because of this, Disney let him go from the making of Guardians of the Galaxy 3. So, first, a few disclaimers so that they don't get lost in what I'm about to say.
1) I will not defend what he said long ago. They are indefensible. And if you are truly disturbed by what he said, then definitely do not like him as a person and as a content creator if you can't separate the art from the artist. I certainly don't like those tweets, and I'm not going to pretend those tweets aren't awful.
2) Disney ABSOLUTELY has a right to fire him if what he said long ago does not fit their brand image now. After all, Disney is REALLY hoping you don't remember they once put out Song of the South.
3) Bad behavior should not be tolerated AT ALL, and this includes tweeting offensive crap.
So, with that out of the way...
This whole thing was kicked off by a person named Jack Posobiec (and Mike Cernovich, but who gives a shit about him) who obviously did not like James Gunn's attacks on trump (considering on his description tag on his twitter that he's the author of the book Citizens For trump). So he obviously took the time to dig through James Gunn's twitter feed for anything to throw back at him, and came up with the offensive tweets that occurred years ago. This caused the pushback that got Gunn fired.
Here's my HOTTEST of hot takes: He was correct in bringing up the tweets, but what I question is his motivations. Did he do this out of a sense of justice, or was it because he took offense at Gunn's trump remarks and wanted to get back at him? I leave it up to you, gentle reader, to guess which one it is.
As I said, I will not defend Gunn's tweets. I will, however, defend his mindset at the time. And if you want proof of his mindset at the time, go watch his 2010 film Super. This is a dark, edgelord-y film. I saw it, and I was legitimately disturbed by what I saw. And I 'm usually not disturbed by films like this. Thinking back on it, I don't like the film, but I did like where he was going with the story and what he was trying to say. And it was certainly weird and different. This, by the way, is why Disney hired him to do the Guardians movies. He was great at weird and different. They knew what he was about, and hired him anyway. Disney firing him for the same weird edgelord-y mindset that got him hired in the first place seems more than a little off.
And about that weird edgelord-y mindset: He clearly grew out of the edgelord-y part but kept the weird part. If you read subsequent tweets from then on out over the years, he grew and changed as a person. And I am willing to forgive a person if they grew and changed. People forgave me when I was a young, terrible jerk and grew out of it. So I'm willing to grant the same leeway, so long as that person makes the effort, and that growth is shown through later actions.
This is why James Gunn gets the leeway, while someone like, oh, trump, Tomi Lahren and people like them do not. Because those people DON'T change and grow. This is the same reason why I don't like Rob Liefeld the artist. Dude, you're supposed to be a better artist over time, not worse. Why is Captain America's chest bigger than Dolly Parton's.....ok, getting off track here.
And while James Gunn apologizing for his dumb antics years ago is too little too late, at least he apologized. I've yet to hear alt-right idiots apologize for their bad behavior. Although I have heard some trump voters apologize for voting for this idiot. And they get the same leeway Gunn does. So do criminals who have done their time in jail and paid for their crimes, and try to be productive members of society. They get the same chance and leeway from me.
And that's my thoughts. Whoever they get for Guardians 3 will be fine, I'm sure. Disney usually pays a lot for good talent. And I'm sure James Gunn will be fine. He'll get work elsewhere. He's too good a talent to waste. But I'm sad that this happened.
So, ahem...James Gunn said some offensive tweets long ago, and CERTAIN people (more on that in a bit) dug them up and got all riled up about them. Because of this, Disney let him go from the making of Guardians of the Galaxy 3. So, first, a few disclaimers so that they don't get lost in what I'm about to say.
1) I will not defend what he said long ago. They are indefensible. And if you are truly disturbed by what he said, then definitely do not like him as a person and as a content creator if you can't separate the art from the artist. I certainly don't like those tweets, and I'm not going to pretend those tweets aren't awful.
2) Disney ABSOLUTELY has a right to fire him if what he said long ago does not fit their brand image now. After all, Disney is REALLY hoping you don't remember they once put out Song of the South.
3) Bad behavior should not be tolerated AT ALL, and this includes tweeting offensive crap.
So, with that out of the way...
This whole thing was kicked off by a person named Jack Posobiec (and Mike Cernovich, but who gives a shit about him) who obviously did not like James Gunn's attacks on trump (considering on his description tag on his twitter that he's the author of the book Citizens For trump). So he obviously took the time to dig through James Gunn's twitter feed for anything to throw back at him, and came up with the offensive tweets that occurred years ago. This caused the pushback that got Gunn fired.
Here's my HOTTEST of hot takes: He was correct in bringing up the tweets, but what I question is his motivations. Did he do this out of a sense of justice, or was it because he took offense at Gunn's trump remarks and wanted to get back at him? I leave it up to you, gentle reader, to guess which one it is.
As I said, I will not defend Gunn's tweets. I will, however, defend his mindset at the time. And if you want proof of his mindset at the time, go watch his 2010 film Super. This is a dark, edgelord-y film. I saw it, and I was legitimately disturbed by what I saw. And I 'm usually not disturbed by films like this. Thinking back on it, I don't like the film, but I did like where he was going with the story and what he was trying to say. And it was certainly weird and different. This, by the way, is why Disney hired him to do the Guardians movies. He was great at weird and different. They knew what he was about, and hired him anyway. Disney firing him for the same weird edgelord-y mindset that got him hired in the first place seems more than a little off.
And about that weird edgelord-y mindset: He clearly grew out of the edgelord-y part but kept the weird part. If you read subsequent tweets from then on out over the years, he grew and changed as a person. And I am willing to forgive a person if they grew and changed. People forgave me when I was a young, terrible jerk and grew out of it. So I'm willing to grant the same leeway, so long as that person makes the effort, and that growth is shown through later actions.
This is why James Gunn gets the leeway, while someone like, oh, trump, Tomi Lahren and people like them do not. Because those people DON'T change and grow. This is the same reason why I don't like Rob Liefeld the artist. Dude, you're supposed to be a better artist over time, not worse. Why is Captain America's chest bigger than Dolly Parton's.....ok, getting off track here.
And while James Gunn apologizing for his dumb antics years ago is too little too late, at least he apologized. I've yet to hear alt-right idiots apologize for their bad behavior. Although I have heard some trump voters apologize for voting for this idiot. And they get the same leeway Gunn does. So do criminals who have done their time in jail and paid for their crimes, and try to be productive members of society. They get the same chance and leeway from me.
And that's my thoughts. Whoever they get for Guardians 3 will be fine, I'm sure. Disney usually pays a lot for good talent. And I'm sure James Gunn will be fine. He'll get work elsewhere. He's too good a talent to waste. But I'm sad that this happened.
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