James Gunn got his start writing for Troma, the Hell’s Kitchen, N.Y., schlocksploitation outfit that proudly released films like The Toxic Avenger, Surf Nazis Must Die and Tromeo and Juliet. They were gross and offensive and sweet and the only way those movies got any attention was if they blasted through a bland marketplace with transgression.
It was punk. It was about shock and volume. As was Gunn. Clearly, looking back at the tweets that surfaced over the past week — “jokes” he made as far as 10 years ago about topics like rape and pedophilia — the writer-director was feeling things and saying things that embraced that sense of transgression. As Gunn tweeted, after the Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director was fired by Disney on July 19, “Many people who have followed my career know, when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.”
In firing James Gunn, Disney hurts all of Hollywood
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this could hurt Disney and all its subsidiaries. there is a certain amount of trust between artist and producer, and we saw this recently with Dan Harmon and Rick n Morty. Adult Swim both validated initial concerns that what he made was offensive, but also acknowledging that this is OLDHAT and that Dan deleted his video LONG before someone caught wind of it.
With that, they acknowledged the offensive statements made, but UNDERSTOOD that this sort of stuff happens in entertainment and art and that the artist understood that too. The most successful pieces come from tip-toeing the line between safe and offensive.
I can see some directors shying away from the studio for the time being, both of out of paranoia and spite. Bad move Mouse.
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Disney doesn’t give a shit about this, they had nothing to lose. Many directors would kill to had Gunn’s spot. Marvel/Disney can hire unkowns, make them famous and still make millions.
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