Disney Drops James Gunn From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Franchise After Offensive Tweets

[Renae]

Director James Gunn has been dropped from Disney’s Marvel franchise “Guardians of the Galaxy” over old tweets.
“The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,” said Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, in a statement.
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“Expendables is so manly I f–ed the s– out of the p-ssy boy next to me,” he wrote in one.
“The best thing about being raped is when you’re done being raped and it’s like ‘whew this feels great, not being raped!'” read a tweet from February 2009.

https://www.thewrap.com/disney-drops-james-gunn-guardians-galaxy-franchise-offensive-tweets/

Well, that was unexpected.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

This kind of stuff is getting ridiculous. The bad taste joke from a decade ago apparently didn’t matter when he directed the other movies. But now, after even MORE time has passed since the tweet, it all of a sudden is a problem?

Now, if he is harassing people at work or victimizing people I completely get it. But over dumb, tasteless or even offensive jokes on personal time? I don’t like the road we are going down.

 

[Xelor]

Who is James Gunn?

 

[Beaudreaux]

This kind of stuff is getting ridiculous. The bad taste joke from a decade ago apparently didn’t matter when he directed the other movies. But now, after even MORE time has passed since the tweet, it all of a sudden is a problem?

Now, if he is harassing people at work or victimizing people I completely get it. But over dumb, tasteless or even offensive jokes on personal time? I don’t like the road we are going down.

If all it takes is a bad joke from 20 years ago, although I can't remember any at this point, I'm probably screwed.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

If all it takes is a bad joke from 20 years ago, although I can't remember any at this point, I'm probably screwed.

Back in my 20s my friends and I would play a game where we would take turns seeing who could come up with the most offensive joke possible. We didn’t actually believe the things we said. It was the absurd over-the-topness of them that made them funny. Immature, sure, but not all humor has to be sophisticated. Sometimes it is just fun to laugh at absurd things. The last thing this world needs is less laughter.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

Who is James Gunn?

Director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

 

[Renae]

Back in my 20s my friends and I would play a game where we would take turns seeing who could come up with the most offensive joke possible. We didn’t actually believe the things we said. It was the absurd over-the-topness of them that made them funny. Immature, sure, but not all humor has to be sophisticated. Sometimes it is just fun to laugh at absurd things. The last thing this world needs is less laughter.

Imagine if you guys had an offensive tweet chat, and 20 years later you were fired from a dream job over it>?

 

[Skeptic Bob]

Imagine if you guys had an offensive tweet chat, and 20 years later you were fired from a dream job over it>?

Yep. It would suck and would be a gross overreaction. I actually feel sorry for kids and young adults today. They don’t have the luxury we had of silly behavior being forgotten with time.

 

[VanceMack]

Who is James Gunn?

Didnt you read before you posted?

 

[VanceMack]

If all it takes is a bad joke from 20 years ago, although I can't remember any at this point, I'm probably screwed.

Im grateful that I have the flexibility to tell anyone that is offended by something I said 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago "too ****in bad". If someone is so delicate that they are offended by words, thats one of those things I happily call 'your problem'. And luckily...I no longer live in England where they throw their kneeling subjects in prison for saying things other people find offensive.

I think its a shame that a leftist got torched by the leftist agenda. But hey...they made that bed...........

 

[Surrealistik]

Im grateful that I have the flexibility to tell anyone that is offended by something I said 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago "too ****in bad". If someone is so delicate that they are offended by words, thats one of those things I happily call 'your problem'. And luckily...I no longer live in England where they throw their kneeling subjects in prison for saying things other people find offensive.

I think its a shame that a leftist got torched by the leftist agenda. But hey...they made that bed...........

Can't believe it needs to be said, but not all leftists are ravening tumblrinas that lack any sense of moderation or proportion; in fact the majority are not, nor do we share in or support the agenda of some concerning the censorship or punishment exceeding reciprocity of everything we might find distasteful.

 

[Beaudreaux]

...

I think its a shame that a leftist got torched by the leftist agenda. But hey...they made that bed...........

Sure looks like the PC crowd has been getting hammered regularly with the thought police culture (not referring to the actual assaults) that they created.

 

[Beaudreaux]

Can't believe it needs to be said, but not all leftists are ravening tumblrinas that lack any sense of moderation or proportion; in fact the majority are not, nor do we share in or support the agenda of some concerning the censorship or punishment exceeding reciprocity of everything we might find distasteful.

Noted, and I agree it shouldn't need to be stated. Not all non-leftists blame all leftists for the PC oppressiveness. But I do blame the PC crowd and admit that I get a chuckle at the irony when one of them gets hammered by their own PC hammer - if your a hammer, everything is a nail, and there is no nuance to response.

 

[Xelor]

This kind of stuff is getting ridiculous. The bad taste joke from a decade ago apparently didn’t matter when he directed the other movies. But now, after even MORE time has passed since the tweet, it all of a sudden is a problem?

Now, if he is harassing people at work or victimizing people I completely get it. But over dumb, tasteless or even offensive jokes on personal time? I don’t like the road we are going down.

I had to look-up who James Gunn is. One thing I observed is that James Gunn is today a 51 year-old who a decade ago was 41 years-old.

His remarks were they made at 14 or maybe even at 24 years old, would be thought merely a joke in poor taste and something borne of youthful imprudence. At 41 and in 2009, however, there is a legitimate expectation that an adult would have more empathy, prudence, and maturity than to joke about rape, which is not a joking matter. There is nothing funny about others' misfortune, most especially not one's having been violently abused, raped.

Some people perhaps ascribe to moral relativism. I do not. What is and is not within the realm of good character, what is morally/ethically right and wrong, has been the same for thousands of years. What changes over time is culture's approbation and forbearance of what's wrong, not what is wrong. 2009 is not, however, that different from 2018. It's safe to say that a 41 year-old in 2009 should have known better than to abstractly, blithely make merry about the occasion of rape.

And, no, there is no moral equivalence among all ribald remarks. While all of them are in poor taste, some are beyond the pale. By the time one's 41, one should know better than to say things that one would not care to later in life have others evaluate them against whatever then be the cultural mores. Frankly, if one is indeed a good Christian living a life of Christ, good Muslim living as Muhammed/Allah instructed, good Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, or even Zoroastrian, the notion of eschewing such insouciance toward others should be one in which one is well practiced.

 

[Hawkeye10]

I had to look-up who James Gunn is. One thing I observed is that James Gunn is today a 51 year-old who a decade ago was 41 years-old.

His remarks were they made at 14 or maybe even at 24 years old, would be thought merely a joke in poor taste and something borne of youthful imprudence. At 41 and in 2009, however, there is a legitimate expectation that an adult would have more empathy, prudence, and maturity than to joke about rape, which is not a joking matter. There is nothing funny about others' misfortune, most especially not one's having been violently abused, raped.

Some people perhaps ascribe to moral relativism. I do not. What is and is not within the realm of good character, what is morally/ethically right and wrong, has been the same for thousands of years. What changes over time is culture's approbation and forbearance of what's wrong, not what is wrong. 2009 is not, however, that different from 2018. It's safe to say that a 41 year-old in 2009 should have known better than to abstractly, blithely make merry about the occasion of rape.

And, no, there is no moral equivalence among all ribald remarks. While all of them are in poor taste, some are beyond the pale. By the time one's 41, one should know better than to say things that one would not care to later in life have others evaluate them against whatever then be the cultural mores. Frankly, if one is indeed a good Christian living a life of Christ, good Muslim living as Muhammed/Allah instructed, good Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, or even Zoroastrian, the notion of eschewing such insouciance toward others should be one in which one is well practiced.

"He is offensive....OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" does not work for me.

There are other options.

 

[Xelor]

Who is James Gunn?

Didnt you read before you posted?

Before I posted the question I asked? No.

I did, however, read about him before I posted my remarks about his comportment.

 

[Mr Person]

Take note: plenty of people accused of being "on the left" think PC goes too far rather often.



Actions matter far more than words. A lame joke in bad taste from whatever years ago shouldn't get you. What should get you is sexual assault, etc. If comedy bows to the over-the-top PC culture, we won't have funny things anymore. That may not happen. There's already blow-back. And it would be quite terrible if the overreaction to overly PC crap results in a dismissal of meaningful claims of sexual harassment.

But people do have a habit of not knowing when to quit and thereby shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[Xelor]

"He is offensive....OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" does not work for me.

There are other options.

And by all means, when you are the principal who has to choose what options to pursue, you will likely choose one of them. Disney's principals have chosen the course of action they think best befits their owners' interests, and that's that.

 

[Hawkeye10]

And by all means, when you are the principal who has to choose what options to pursue, you will likely choose one of them. Disney's principals have chosen the course of action they think best befits their owners' interests, and that's that.

Dismissing opinions on a debate site....CUTE!

 

[apdst]

Can't believe it needs to be said, but not all leftists are ravening tumblrinas that lack any sense of moderation or proportion; in fact the majority are not, nor do we share in or support the agenda of some concerning the censorship or punishment exceeding reciprocity of everything we might find distasteful.

All Leftists are drama queens to one extent, or another.

It's why one of their favorite talking points is: "free speech doesn't mean free from concequences".

 

[Felis Leo]

Who is James Gunn?

The director of Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[apdst]

And by all means, when you are the principal who has to choose what options to pursue, you will likely choose one of them. [BpDisney's principals have chosen the course of action they think best befits their owners' interests[/b], and that's that.

And it's stupid.

 

[Felis Leo]

This kind of stuff is getting ridiculous. The bad taste joke from a decade ago apparently didn’t matter when he directed the other movies. But now, after even MORE time has passed since the tweet, it all of a sudden is a problem?

Now, if he is harassing people at work or victimizing people I completely get it. But over dumb, tasteless or even offensive jokes on personal time? I don’t like the road we are going down.

Social media posts age like a fine wine. In fact, the more time that passes, the more offensive people seem find them, because it only goes to show that you were a horrible, evil, wicked person longer than they originally anticipated.

 

[Felis Leo]

I had to look-up who James Gunn is. One thing I observed is that James Gunn is today a 51 year-old who a decade ago was 41 years-old.

His remarks were they made at 14 or maybe even at 24 years old, would be thought merely a joke in poor taste and something borne of youthful imprudence. At 41 and in 2009, however, there is a legitimate expectation that an adult would have more empathy, prudence, and maturity than to joke about rape, which is not a joking matter. There is nothing funny about others' misfortune, most especially not one's having been violently abused, raped.

Some people perhaps ascribe to moral relativism. I do not. What is and is not within the realm of good character, what is morally/ethically right and wrong, has been the same for thousands of years. What changes over time is culture's approbation and forbearance of what's wrong, not what is wrong. 2009 is not, however, that different from 2018. It's safe to say that a 41 year-old in 2009 should have known better than to abstractly, blithely make merry about the occasion of rape.

And, no, there is no moral equivalence among all ribald remarks. While all of them are in poor taste, some are beyond the pale. By the time one's 41, one should know better than to say things that one would not care to later in life have others evaluate them against whatever then be the cultural mores. Frankly, if one is indeed a good Christian living a life of Christ, good Muslim living as Muhammed/Allah instructed, good Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, or even Zoroastrian, the notion of eschewing such insouciance toward others should be one in which one is well practiced.

Well, I would say that the most important lesson to draw from this is not to treat social media as though it is a gathering of your closest friends who know you and know your weird sense of humor and will not be offended by the crude jokes you make. Rather, Social Media should be treated as a tar pit which will preserve everything that is put into it for centuries and never let it go, and it will trap and drown you if you have the ill-sense to step into it thinking it is a nice, harmless pool into which you can casually take a swim.

 

[Xelor]

Take note: plenty of people accused of being "on the left" think PC goes too far rather often.



Actions matter far more than words. A lame joke in bad taste from whatever years ago shouldn't get you. What should get you is sexual assault, etc. If comedy bows to the over-the-top PC culture, we won't have funny things anymore. That may not happen. There's already blow-back. And it would be quite terrible if the overreaction to overly PC crap results in a dismissal of meaningful claims of sexual harassment.

But people do have a habit of not knowing when to quit and thereby shooting themselves in the foot.

Context is everything.

It's one thing when a comedian on stage employs polysemy, hyperbole, litotes and the like in the lexicon of literary devices and cross the rhetorical rubicon into the realm of risqué, ribald, racy and at times repugnant rubrics. It's wholly another when the same person does so outside such a setting.

Too often these days people presume "everyone" who may read their tweet, forum or Facebook post knows them well enough to know "s/he didn't really mean it 'that' way." The fact of the matter is that, no, strangers reading one's written remarks don't at all know one. It's really quite simple: say exactly what one means, neither more nor less, or keep mum.

By the time one is 40 years-old, one knows the nature of one's being; thus one has several options:

• say what one will and let everyone else know the reality of one's character and thoughts,
• choose one's words carefully enough to give away nothing about about true nature of one's character, thus retaining the benefit of the doubt, or
• say nothing, thus also retaining the benefit of the doubt.

Those three options exist for every thought one may express. There is no need for adults to be ambiguous or vague, and by 40, one should damn well know whether what one's proclamations and performances are, abstractly, in context and/or in total, ambiguous.

Sorry, but that's just part of what it means to be "all grown up."