(No politics!!) how impacted will Guardians in Epcot be now?

[Brocktoon]

And Gunn's good friend Michael Rooker has just quit twitter over this. One of his final quotes:

"Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it"

 

[jknezek]

And Gunn's good friend Michael Rooker has just quit twitter over this. One of his final quotes:

"Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it"

Just about everyone right now with a public persona should quit Twitter and delete the accounts. As should anyone hunting for a job. It's just one of things no one needs and really only brings complications. As someone who helps with hiring decisions, we regularly find reasons not to interview otherwise possibly qualified candidates because of Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It's amazing what people post and even leave up there, even given the ability to use privacy settings to limit what the public can see.

I understand that celebrities can build followings and people can use it to stay in touch, but you have to be smart about it. Too many people aren't, so it's a lot easier to just not be involved. I have very little interest in people like Gunn and Roseanne who get tripped up by Twitter. They choose to post these things, they can suffer the consequences, whether they have changed or not.

Be smarter.

 

[Planogirl]

His tweets were always public, though. None of this was hidden for the past 5-10 years. It only became an issue when an alt-right conspiracy theorist (who has tweeted far worse things than Gunn) decided to take him down for being anti-Trump.

If he was still tweeting stuff like this today I wouldn't have any issue with him being fired. He has demonstrably changed since then, though, and apologized for his past behavior. I think the rapid firing was overkill here.

That conspiracy theorist doesn't work for Disney though.

I think that you make good points. Do we ever forgive people? It appears that we dont. I hate seeing something like this being thrown into the same pile as when people were actually attacked and harassed .

 

[CHEMISTSP]

I am truly saddened over this whole James Gunn situation. He brought wonderful filming artistry to Disney, meshing dialogue, misfit characters, strange environments and timeless music - creating my favorite super-hero film of all-time with Guardians of the Galaxy. How tragic that Gunn's greatest film is themed about overcoming your failings as a person and redemption.

That said, after reading the tweets, I can completely understand Disney cutting their professional relationship with Gunn. A company that is so anchored in children and family values cannot be perceived as defending this in any way and has to have a zero-tolerance policy regarding pedophilia. I am not prude or easily offend-able, but he crossed my line in the sand with his horrible tweets and I find NO comedic value in them what-so-ever. Is there a statute of limitations on tweets like this? I truly do not know. Will James Gunn get his redemption? As a society, I think we are punitive and do not allow redemption enough, so I am skeptical.

I do not think what has happened will effect any Disney attraction associated with Guardians. I hope Disney is able to find a suitable replacement (possibly Takia Waititi from Thor Ragnorak?) for Guardians Vol. 3 and does not shy away from taking chances on non-mainstream directors in the future.

 

[mshanson3121]

I know people point to the fact he wasn't a kid when he did this - but while I am sure most people do a lot of growing up in their teens and twenties, whose to say you can't also "grow up" in your 40s as well?

and again, I have no issue with Disney firing him - what he did was reprehensible - but I think there is a larger story and discussion around can people ever make up for things done in their past that were in bad taste/offensive/wrong?

This brings to mind the story of Amazing Grace.

Yes people, even adults in their 30s, 40s, 80s... can change. Anyone can change, and at any age. I certainly am not the same person today that I was at 22 or 23. My sense of humor certainly isn't the same either.


As to can people make up for past wrongs, that is a tough one, and very subjective.

 

[EveDallas]

One of my team's star pitchers got into hot water (and almost suspended) for tweets he made AS A TEENAGER.

This digging up the past witch hunt stuff has got to stop. EVERYONE makes stupid, comments that would offend someone at some time in their life, on purpose, inadvertently, as a joke, or just from naivety.

I don't understand a society so quick to punish people for past mistakes.

That being said -- will Gunn's firing affect the ride at Epcot?

MOST people don't care or even know who a director is for any given movie, so it won' affect the box office of Guardians 3, not would it even come close to "tarnishing" an attraction based on that IP.

People are going to go to SWGE despite the Last Jedi being "underwhelming" in a lot of ways.

This guy was a GROWN ADULT when he did this. If he was dumb enough to think things don't live forever on the net, too bad.

 

[rteetz]

This guy was a GROWN ADULT when he did this. If he was dumb enough to think things don't live forever on the net, too bad.

I think the bigger question is if it’s a big deal now why wasn’t it a big deal back when they hired him in the first place? These tweets happened years and years ago. Yet after 2 successful movies it’s now a problem?

 

[EveDallas]

I think the bigger question is if it’s a big deal now why wasn’t it a big deal back when they hired him in the first place? These tweets happened years and years ago. Yet after 2 successful movies it’s now a problem?

It's a big deal now because it's public knowledge. No way can Disney spin keeping this guy after that happened.

 

[rteetz]

It's a big deal now because it's public knowledge. No way can Disney spin keeping this guy after that happened.

But it was public knowledge before. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t know about this before it was brought back to light in the last few weeks. Thats my issue with this. If it’s an issue now why wasn’t it an issue a few years ago?

 

[jknezek]

But it was public knowledge before. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t know about this before it was brought back to light in the last few weeks. Thats my issue with this. If it’s an issue now why wasn’t it an issue a few years ago?

Because the public didn't make it a big deal a few years ago. Now anything inappropriate is a push button issue, especially on social media. Much more so than it was then. Disney isn't doing this because they want to, I'm sure they'd much rather have Gunn directing GotG3, they are doing this because their hand is forced.

 

[tlmadden73]

It's a big deal now because it's public knowledge. No way can Disney spin keeping this guy after that happened.

Disney could spin this by saying ... "we understand he made some comments years ago that are offensive, we've talked with him about it and based on his current character, we forgive his mistakes of the past and are glad we are part of his journey into a different person than he was a decade ago. We encourage him to continue his creative process with our company.

Instead they cave to public pressure and politics. "Eeek! Someone said something offensive! Fire him because social media went in an uproar! (for 1-2 days .. and then forgets about it and moves on to the next great offense)".

My point is .. "Hate the sin and forgive the sinner" .. especially if this is many years in the past.

 

[rteetz]

Because the public didn't make it a big deal a few years ago. Now anything inappropriate is a push button issue, especially on social media. Much more so than it was then. Disney isn't doing this because they want to, I'm sure they'd much rather have Gunn directing GotG3, they are doing this because their hand is forced.

I agree, just don't really understand the societal change in just a few years that it wasn't a big deal then but is now. I also want to know how people have all this time to dig around in celebrities old tweets and find bad things they said.

 

[rowrbazzle]

But it was public knowledge before. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t know about this before it was brought back to light in the last few weeks. Thats my issue with this. If it’s an issue now why wasn’t it an issue a few years ago?

Because the public didn't make it a big deal a few years ago. Now anything inappropriate is a push button issue, especially on social media. Much more so than it was then. Disney isn't doing this because they want to, I'm sure they'd much rather have Gunn directing GotG3, they are doing this because their hand is forced.

Yup. Disney is responding to the reaction rather than the action.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Here’s something on the topic that I was hoping for, not the coaster but I asked for the parks:
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/...l-3-1202881161/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
It’s pain wanting his voice removed from the next incarnation of world of color thinking Disney shouldn’t be hypocritical to fire James Gunn but yet have him who’s made edgy jokes and James Woods

Spoiler

who is what Gunn is being accused of

 

[MPD]

Knowing what I know about Gunn now, I think Disney made a huge error in hiring him in the first place. And once these tweets were highlighted I don't think they had any choice but to fire him. In my opinion, they were light-years beyond merely "offensive".

 

[Roxyfire]

But it was public knowledge before. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t know about this before it was brought back to light in the last few weeks. Thats my issue with this. If it’s an issue now why wasn’t it an issue a few years ago?

There is an answer for it, and it seems political in nature. Same thing is now happening to other celebrities and comedians (Anthony Jezelnik for one) across twitter. This isn't the place to get into it but a few pointed google searches might lead you to a better understanding.

 

[rteetz]

There is an answer for it, and it seems political in nature. Same thing is now happening to other celebrities and comedians (Anthony Jezelnik for one) across twitter. This isn't the place to get into it but a few pointed google searches might lead you to a better understanding.

Oh I get it especially the political part. I just don't understand why all of the sudden people see things differently. I can understand a change of view from something that happened 20+ years ago but whatever I guess.

 

[Roxyfire]

Oh I get it especially the political part. I just don't understand why all of the sudden people see things differently. I can understand a change of view from something that happened 20+ years ago but whatever I guess.

Well TWDC is pretty reactionary if anything else, they brought on Roseanne Barr to revive her show knowing she was a bit of a wild card. Then there's the Lasseter stuff that they clearly knew about but didn't do anything really until it became necessary. I think they know full well that things could blow up in their faces knowing that they can just fire the individuals when necessary. And if they never have to, then it still works out for both Disney and the artist. But lately it's just been such a slugfest as to who can get the other side riled up more.

As far as Gunn goes, obviously they knew about the jokes and tweets and didn't think it was a thing. But this stuff puts them in a very bad position because if they stand behind the guy and say "We believe he's changed" then you get "Whatabout......." and are basically defending someone saying highly inappropriate things. If they fire him, they do get to wash their hands of it, sort of, but it also plays into the hands of those stoking the social outrage. Also it makes them look foolish for not checking these things out more carefully. I don't envy their position, in this case no matter what they did it looked bad.

 

[EveDallas]

But it was public knowledge before. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t know about this before it was brought back to light in the last few weeks. Thats my issue with this. If it’s an issue now why wasn’t it an issue a few years ago?

I'm sure Disney did know. And they were probably ok with it until it got leaked. Now they have to act shocked and appalled or admit to knowing about it. We all know that's not going to happen.

 

[BrianL]

This situation is very complicated. I do believe that Gunn was making jokes, the kind meant to provoke outrage, especially considering that that the time he was directing pretty tacky movies for Troma (which is what they're known for). Now, those kind of movies are not my cup of tea, and I read some of the tweets and they were not really what I think is funny. However, I don't necessarily mind that kind of dark humor in the vein of something like Family Guy, which makes jokes about those same questionable topics all the time, just in a more farcical way. I agree that Disney was not in a winning situation, and while the motives behind all of this are certainly debatable, I can't really fault Disney for wanting to jump as far away as they could as fast as they could. The fact is that it doesn't matter if the tweets were meant as jokes or not, they are what they are, and they're out there, and they're very visible now. So, there it is.

Now, that leads to an interesting situation regarding Family Guy and other series prodiced by Fox, which Disney is soon to own. How does that work with Disney's image? Again, I don't mind Family Guy (in fact I rather enjoy it), but when there is outcry of "You should never make jokes about 'X'," then when does public opinion turn against that, and any number of things after that? I'm really not sure where it goes, but it feels fraught with problems. It's tough to be a company like Disney who wants to be all things to all people. They are perhaps the most image-concious brand on the planet. When a polarizing issue like this comes along (and there is a lot of support that goes along with that outrage), they are really in a no-win predicament.

I do not think it will really effect the franchise all that much. Marvel is bigger than any one person at this point, and they have a house style that will continue with or without a specific director. I guess we'll see.