The Four Color Media Monitor

Marvel's movie division, if any part of their business, has just suffered a serious blow as it turns out James Gunn, the writer/director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, posted obscene jokes on Twitter, and now he's been fired from their services for it:

James Gunn has been removed as director of the Guardians Of The Galaxy series after a batch of old social media dispatches were unearthed that touched on areas like pedophilia and rape. In the latest shocking #metoo development in the entertainment industry, Gunn was severed from the Marvel Comics Universe after a slew of social media posts he wrote before getting Guardians of the Galaxy surfaced. According to Fox News, they were posted because Gunn is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and the effort was to knock him down a few pegs.

...There were others that made satirical comments about the 9/11 attack, AIDS and the Holocaust. Yet another described a monkey masturbating on a young child, and his commentary that it made him “extremely happy.” These missives were not funny and entirely disturbing, given a preoccupation with fetishing underage boys. That left him a sitting duck for his retroactive social media commentary.

Disney responded quickly and decisively: “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, Walt Disney Studios chairman, in a statement just released.

Yikes...this man is the product of the worst education in savagery possible to find. But given what kind of climate was fostered for many years in the entertainment medium, that's why this is just no surprise he could've gotten away with it until now. It should also be noted Gunn hypocritically attacked Roseanne Barr for making racist cracks, but apparently, he thinks if he's the one writing the obscenities, it's okay. What a creep Gunn is.

One of the worst things about this scandal is that Gunn tragically has his share of apologists, his brother included. Which leads to the following question:

What do you make of Sean Gunn’s comments? Will you “continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies?”

Let's be clear: if Disney and the Marvel film division cave and allow this horrific man back, then at this point, they'll have tainted their reputations so badly it won't make much difference if this is a case of simply verbal - not physical - obscenities; the audience is bound to grow uneasy, and it could jeopardize future box office receipts. Why, even those stars and cast members defending Gunn could taint their screen images, even with costumes and makeup/special effects on, if they keep doing it. If it weren't for that, it'd probably be easier to separate art from Gunn, since he's behind the camera, but the cast members apologizing for his mindset who don't want him to voluntarily relinquish writing and directing duties now risk tainting the 2 films so far with their worthless defenses. Already, they're jeopardizing the chances the 3rd planned film could have at the box office, leading to a chance of declining receipts and the likelihood future Marvel films could tank, reversing their fortunes pretty quickly.

Forbes has more commentary to offer about the new scandal, and towards the end says:

Gunn, unfortunately, had to be fired; Disney would be risking too much to keep the man on the payroll. But without him, what does the future of Marvel’s space operas look like? [...]

Probably as dim as their comics sales, but hey, considering they only care about the movie prospects, maybe this is the chickens coming home to roost for their ignorance. After all, they've been sending out telling signs that sooner or later, fortunes could be reversed, depending on where they go next. They sure don't seem to know how to market "Captain" Marvel, which should really have been about Mar-Vell of the Kree for starters, then Ms. Marvel next. I guess they just don't want to look for a wellspring in the Cold War metaphors Marvel's Captain first seen in 1967 was built on. Maybe they should've tried out a Scarlet Witch or a She-Hulk movie first.

Labels: marvel comics, misogyny and racism, politics, violence