Should James Gunn’s Return To Guardians 3 Open The Door To Second Chances?

July 2018.

Mid-summer, and just as the Guardians gang were gearing up to hop back into the cockpit for another round of hilarious space theatrics (providing they all return from “the snap”, of course), Disney dropped a bomb: director James Gunn has been fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3 over admittedly disgusting tweets he typed into the interwebs almost a decade ago.

Wow.

Fans of the franchise were in shambles. Longtime fans of James Gunn – like myself – were dumbfounded. I fancy myself a fairly well-read industry veteran, and even I had little to no idea that the beloved writer and director, whose career I had followed since the Troma days, had taken part in these horrific word exchanges.

And make no mistake, as a person roughly the same age Gunn was at the time, horrific is the proper term. “Jokes” centered around pedophilia, rape, and other inappropriate topics had better stick the landing in uproarious fashion or the term simply will not apply. As someone who grew up with love and reverence for George Carlin and Chris Rock, it takes a lot to make me uncomfortable and squirm in my seat, but once I read these past stabs at “comedy”, I was disgusted. Nothing about what he wrote then did I find particularly humorous in retrospect. Not one iota, not even in a “shocking” humor context. If these were jokes, I don’t comprehend comedy anymore. Furthermore, I couldn’t fathom writing them when I was 20 and vomited nonsense on an hourly basis, let alone as a 40 year-old writer of family-based fare like Scooby-Doo. It didn’t cause me to part ways as a fan, but it definitely perked up my Spidey senses.

As Disney owns Marvel, another family-focused business, it came as no surprise that they decided to terminate their association with James Gunn. Earlier that year, they had parted ways with an even bigger performer after Roseanne lashed out at Valerie Jarrett with her typical disdain for political correctness or common sense. Disney was setting examples, and regardless of why these tweets were being brought to their attention, no one personality is more important than business.

At least that’s what we were led to believe. Now, Disney has announced they are reversing course. Months after terminating him (and during that time, Gunn signed on to write and direct the still-planned Suicide Squad 2), Disney has reversed their stance and will now proceed with incorporating James Gunn back into the director’s chair.

While I still have reservations about what Gunn tweeted, I also believe in second chances. Granted, these should only exist under certain circumstances (the Weinstein’s and R. Kelly’s of the world should remain ghosted), but as Gunn’s transgressions were mere words, shouldn’t that fall under these guidelines? Though we have become a society where poorly chosen or even harshly pointed words are immediate grounds for a loss of position, should we not also allow these people to make amends and evolve as human beings?

By doing this, Disney seems to be emphatically saying “Yes.” But are they truly? Or is this strictly a business move, as Marvel was forced with a possibility of the most director-centric of their franchises crashing-and-burning in the wrong hands? Would this modified stance still apply – in this dangerously heated political climate – if Gunn were a right-winger instead of a Trump basher? Does this mean Kevin Hart can now be forgiven for the risqué humor that prompted his Oscars exit? Should Disney reinstate Roseanne Barr, the creator and soul behind ABC’s juggernaut self-titled hit, if she takes full responsibility and apologizes for her tweeting mistakes?

These are all fair questions, though I would guess where your answers lay might also align with your personal and political beliefs. Many will stand fast and passionately defend this statement as inequitable, but if you truly look at it objectively: James Gunn and Roseanne both tweeted some pretty shitty things. One was years earlier, sure, but he was also a grown-ass man at the time he tweeted them, so let’s use common sense here. Both actions deal with words on a screen, no actions. Neither personality acted inappropriately, they only dealt in offensive language or phrasing. Gunn claims he was joking, as did Roseanne (though admittingly very poorly), yet neither of their tweets come across as particularly amusing to pretty much anyone.

So if Disney can open the door to a return for James Gunn, shouldn’t this also open the door to second chances for anyone to atone for any issue where actions have not been committed? If a perpetrator of word slingin’ spends time on their inner self, should they not have an opportunity to rightfully apologize and move forward? Don’t the Roseanne’s and Kevin Hart’s of the world deserve forgiveness if they can stay on the straight and narrow? Because if your words do indeed doom you for life, wouldn’t James Gunn still fall under this code?

These are legitimate questions, prompted by conversations popping up all over the internet lately. It’s become a veritable cesspool of banned celebrities whose sole crime is the inability to utilize common sense when confronted with a keyboard. As soon as this standard applies to the music industry, we’re all going to be stuck listening to nothing but classical tuba instrumentals.

Perhaps this is a bold new world, one where no one says an offensive syllable and we each are allowed to live a stress-free existence, blissfully unaware that dickish people say mean things. Even better, maybe this leads to more open communication, where we can discuss our shortcomings and instead of being labeled or banned, we continue to evolve as a society. Or perhaps we are more likely to experience a watered-down reality, one where free thought is so suppressed we revert back to the olden days of “no one say anything” and just bury it all deep down in your psyche. Because that always ends well.

Wherever we are, one thing is certain: to move forward, we have to embrace the power of forgiveness again. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before someone else we love or admire gets Gunned.

 

 

“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.

Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all.” – James Gunn