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

[Xelor]

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

Since when did one's acknowledging another's license to take one's own course qualify as dismissive?

 

[Xelor]

the director of slither and guardians of the galaxy.

ty...

 

[Xelor]

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. Social Media is 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.

Red:
Exactly. You said it far better than I.

 

[Mr Person]

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 time 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."

I'd also rather suspect that part of being "all grown up" is being able to judge the intent of the speaker based on what they were saying, who they were saying it to, how that person normally behaves, etc.

Caution cuts both ways. So yes, context iseverything.

 

[Xelor]

I'd also rather suspect that part of being "all grown up" is being able to judge the intent of the speaker based on what they were saying, who they were saying it to, how that person normally behaves, etc.

Caution cuts both ways. So yes, context iseverything.

Well, yes, if a writer provides enough content for one to judge context, yes, one can accurately enough suss their denotative and connotative meaning when the writer is dictionally ambiguous. At no age, however, can one reliably read a stranger's mind, regardless of what s/he pens.

Remember, Gunn got dinged for something he wrote, not something he said. When speaking, there are many cues that simply do not exist in writing.

 

[Rickeroo]

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

Well, that was unexpected.[/FONT][/COLOR]

I think the MSM has it in for social media - virtually every story is about an "offensive" post that gets someone in trouble.

 

[Roadvirus]

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.

People went ape**** over a several year old audio clip from Trump.

But that is nothing compared to this disgusting stuff. Gunn is joking about child rape. That's gross. Hell...it's beyond "gross". It's downright horrific. Hundreds of kids are victimized and permanently mentally scarred from it and this clod thinks that kind of **** is funny?

 

[Roadvirus]

I'm glad this creep was exposed.

In fact, i think his entire personal life should be investigated. Why? Because i have a nasty feeling.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

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 am in my 40s and still make tasteless jokes. No subject is off limits when making jokes, IMO. Now, what DOES matter is knowing your audience. Jokes I make with my best buds are not jokes I would make with strangers, because my buds and I know what is actually in each other’s hearts. Strangers don’t. So yeah, posting such jokes online for the world to see shows poor judgement, but it isn’t something worth destroying a person’s career over.

All I expect from a director is that he makes a good movie. I refuse to go down the path of using morality tests for every person I purchase goods and services from, unless morality is important to those goods and services, such as with teachers or cops.

 

[Fiddytree]

After the last one, this could be good for the series.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

 

[Hawkeye10]

Well, I am in my 40s and still make tasteless jokes. No subject is off limits when making jokes, IMO. Now, what DOES matter is knowing your audience. Jokes I make with my best buds are not jokes I would make with strangers, because my buds and I know what is actually in each other’s hearts. Strangers don’t. So yeah, posting such jokes online for the world to see shows poor judgement, but it isn’t something worth destroying a person’s career over.

All I expect from a director is that he makes a good movie. I refuse to go down the path of using morality tests for every person I purchase goods and services from, unless morality is important to those goods and services, such as with teachers or cops.

Especially arty creative people....how stupid is that to demand from them the same level of purity as the clergy!

You and me though are going to die off before the bus gets to UTOPIA prob...hardly anyone cares what we think.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

Especially arty creative people....how stupid is that to demand from them the same level of purity as the clergy!

You and me though are going to die off before the bus gets to UTOPIA prob...hardly anyone cares what we think.

Yep. I WANT artists pushing the envelope. Have I been offended by things entertainers have said before? Absolutely. But so what? Nothing bad happens when I get offended. I honestly don’t understand what the big deal is with being offended. Here is an “offensive” comedian explaining it better than I:



I have laughed at rape jokes, dead baby jokes, holocaust jokes, you name it. Now, it takes a talented comedian to make me laugh at such jokes, and James Gunn is not such a comedian, but I HAVE laughed at such jokes.

Life is absurd and the worst parts of life are the most absurd. Humor is healing. Laughter is cathartic. Don’t walk on egg shells around me. Throw your best at me. Worst case scenario is I will be offended. Best case scenario is I will laugh so hard I cry from joy. I’ll gladly accept daily doses of the former in exchange for the occasional dose of the latter.

 

[chuckiechan]

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.

He should ask for a refund for all the money he made them.

 

[Hawkeye10]

Yep. I WANT artists pushing the envelope. Have I been offended by things entertainers have said before? Absolutely. But so what? Nothing bad happens when I get offended. I honestly don’t understand what the big deal is with being offended. Here is an “offensive” comedian explaining it better than I:



I have laughed at rape jokes, dead baby jokes, holocaust jokes, you name it. Now, it takes a talented comedian to make me laugh at such jokes, and James Gunn is not such a comedian, but I HAVE laughed at such jokes.

Life is absurd and the worst parts of life are the most absurd. Humor is healing. Laughter is cathartic. Don’t walk on egg shells around me. Throw your best at me. Worst case scenario is I will be offended. Best case scenario is I will laugh so hard I cry from joy. I’ll gladly accept daily doses of the former in exchange for the occasional dose of the latter.

Amen Brother.

And add in the we need to keep our wits about us, we need to keep our ears eyes and minds open....and the conversation flowing and at the best quality we can manage.

These mother****ers we have running things now act like morons most of the time.

Which means that they are probably actually crooks.

 

[Xelor]

Well, I am in my 40s and still make tasteless jokes. No subject is off limits when making jokes, IMO. Now, what DOES matter is knowing your audience. Jokes I make with my best buds are not jokes I would make with strangers, because my buds and I know what is actually in each other’s hearts. Strangers don’t. So yeah, posting such jokes online for the world to see shows poor judgement, but it isn’t something worth destroying a person’s career over.

All I expect from a director is that he makes a good movie. I refuse to go down the path of using morality tests for every person I purchase goods and services from, unless morality is important to those goods and services, such as with teachers or cops.

Red:
...And that's a difference that makes all the difference in the world.

Blue:
I doubt the guy's career is ruined. I'm sure Gunn will be involved with other projects, just not GOTG ones, and perhaps not with Disney. To wit, when I looked to see who he is, I found he's part of the Starsky & Hutch "reboot." That project is done by Sony, which, AFAIK, has not given him the "heave ho."

 

[Harshaw]

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

Well, that was unexpected.[/FONT][/COLOR]

Another lynch mob, and another instance of caving to that lynch mob.

It's really stupid of Disney to shoot one of its most successful and lauded movie franchises not in the foot, but right in the face. In many ways, James Gunn IS the Guardians.

 

[year2late]

Can we all agree that people constantly posting crap for all the world to see and being THAT socially connected is not a good thing?

 

[Hawkeye10]

Another lynch mob, and another instance of caving to that lynch mob.

It's really stupid of Disney to shoot one of its most successful and lauded movie franchises not in the foot, but right in the face. In many ways, James Gunn IS the Guardians.

"Be Boring" are not the proper instructions to hand to creative.

But notice how nobody cares, the #METOO Gods must be fed.



EDIT: I assume that we all know that the sacrifice is expected to practically always be men.

 

[Zyphlin]

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 definitely agree. It's been at a ridiculous spot for quite some time and I've maintained for a while that a social media account that isn't MASSIVELY curated belonging to anyone in the public eye is just idiotic.

That said, as much as this pains me being a fan of his work with GOTG and as much as I dislike these kind of situations, I have a harder time having significant sympathy for Gunn falling victim to this kind of atmosphere as in various ways I believe he's been a active and willing proponent for fostering this kind of atmosphere. Doesn't make it any less unfortunate however, nor does it make it any less stupid imho for Disney to part ways with him. But this is the world we now live in.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

I definitely agree. It's been at a ridiculous spot for quite some time and I've maintained for a while that a social media account that isn't MASSIVELY curated belonging to anyone in the public eye is just idiotic.

That said, as much as this pains me being a fan of his work with GOTG and as much as I dislike these kind of situations, I have a harder time having significant sympathy for Gunn falling victim to this kind of atmosphere as in various ways I believe he's been a active and willing proponent for fostering this kind of atmosphere. Doesn't make it any less unfortunate however, nor does it make it any less stupid imho for Disney to part ways with him. But this is the world we now live in.

Well, to be fair, my anger over such things has more to do with depriving us of their work rhater than me feeling sympathy for a self-inflicted blow to their career. I tend not to feel too sorry for the money woes of the super wealthy.

 

[Hawkeye10]

Well, to be fair, my anger over such things has more to do with depriving us of their work rhater than me feeling sympathy for a self-inflicted blow to their career. I tend not to feel too sorry for the money woes of the super wealthy.

When they are getting rung up for relatively small stuff like here a language violation that they did a decade or more ago, when standards were not that same as they are now, I suggest that your sense of justice might properly be offended.

 

[Mason66]

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.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for them as they are not smart enough to not tweet, or otherwise make permanent, every stupid thought they have in their heads.

 

[Mason66]

This is the second situation like this.

First it was Roseanne immediately fired from her show by Disney and now this guy.

It seems there might be something more under the surface here. Disney wanted to get rid of Roseanne in the worst way. Maybe this guy is the same.

Cutting ties with somebody over something so stupid shows there might be a bigger issue underneath.

I wonder if the guy had a contract with Disney and will this cause Disney to lose a bunch of money if he sues.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

This is the second situation like this.

First it was Roseanne immediately fired from her show by Disney and now this guy.

It seems there might be something more under the surface here. Disney wanted to get rid of Roseanne in the worst way. Maybe this guy is the same.

Cutting ties with somebody over something so stupid shows there might be a bigger issue underneath.

I wonder if the guy had a contract with Disney and will this cause Disney to lose a bunch of money if he sues.

Yeah, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that was the case. In fact, I think it is more likely than not.

 

[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.

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."

Sorry, but firing someone for tweets that weren't a problem 10 years ago is what it means to take PC culture to an idiotic extreme.



Too many people spend too much time looking for things to be offended by. Worse, they're usually getting offended vicariously.

These were tweets, not some secret about his past he hid from his employer. If they weren't grounds for termination 10 years ago, they're definitely not legitimate grounds now.