Just posted this in the Gunn thread, but since we're talking about it here I'll share it here too.
This is a tough topic for me. I trained as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and performed in programs geared towards educating and helping people who have been touched by these things in their life. So on one hand, I completely understand the zero tolerance level. And I even think it's not a bad thing.
On the other...I do think we need to evaluate how people have possibly changed. But I also understand how that can easily be made into a slippery slope that just defends people who have done bad things. Still...it does remind me of the phrase "Sometimes the woke need to remember to allow time for the waking." It wasn't until I went through over 40 hours of intensive training on the subject of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking, that I realized how as a young man, I never questioned cultural norms that perpetuate sexual violence at worst, and sexual power imbalances at best. I didn't know because I was a straight white dude and I didn't think enough about how maybe not everybody got the same equal deck of "life cards" I did. And I certainly made off color jokes as a teen/college kid just to be shocking.
The difference there being that I was a teenager/early 20 year old when I made jokes like that, and when I got educated, I stopped. Still, had I made those kinds of jokes on twitter, would it suck if I lost a job because of them ten years down the line? Yeah, it would. But I suppose I would probably be upfront about the fact that I did make mistakes when I was younger beforehand in that.
So...I'm not sure. I feel a bit bad for Gunn, but I also understand the zero tolerance policy. And at the end of the day I'd rather we be a bit too harsh than a bit too lenient.
However, the other issue I think we have to look at is who the person who called him out was. In some ways, I'm less concerned about a rich director not getting that Mouse money than I am that a studio was willing to listen to an alt-right troll who himself has said horrible things and is pretending outrage simply to attack someone with different views than himself. Not only that, but he brings up tweets that had been brought up publicly and Gunn had addressed publicly in the past, after he had filmed the first GOTG movie. And his firing is coming from a company that still employs Johnny Depp, someone who know has actually hurt others, not just said horrible things. So the clear double standard is frustrating, and also I think an indication that Disney is doing this less because of any sense of moral obligation and more because they want to avoid a potential controversy.
But again, I do think there need to be repercussions for your actions...while also not continuing to punish people if we believe they have done their due diligence to make up for their wrongs.
All of which is to say...I'm not sure what I feel about this. But I do think it's more complicated than some are treating it. And I'm more worried about the possible precedent this could set with Studios and how they handle directors in these franchises going forward.
