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Cernovich went after Patton Oswalt today too, but the great thing about it is that the tweets he pulled up were from a string of jokes Oswalt did in 2013 where he split up messages into two tweets so that they only looked offensive if you only saw the second one. I remember seeing them at the time and thinking they weren't very funny, but having them pulled up five years later like this makes them 10x more hilarious.

I feel like Black already mocked this kind of witchhunt fifteen years ago

domino harvey wrote: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:51 pm I feel like Black already mocked this kind of witchhunt fifteen years ago

Abe Lincoln would like you to believe he's not a baby eater…but he's never gone on record saying he isn't.

I'm discovering that Cernovich was amongst those who relayed Pizzagate. Shouldn't be surprised though.

I guess what's best here is how Oswalt tweet-splitting probably generated EXACTLY what he expected them to do : showing how somebody ill-advised but clearly stupid enough would cherry pick tweets and miss the larger context, making them say something they explicitly don't. It's funny in hindsight to read some comments under the AV Club article stating that this exercise felt "a little self indulgent and annoying" and generally not funny or edgy, but I'm not sure if they ended up serving their true intended purpose just now.

Dan Harmon deleted his Twitter, I guess he figured better safe than sorry?

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:02 pm Dan Harmon deleted his Twitter, I guess he figured better safe than sorry?

I'd say so. But his most recent tweets hadn't been all that positive about much of anything, including Twitter. I imagine Cernovich doing this was just the last straw.

Instead, I wish he could've deleted Twitter.

Cernovich is a deeply unpleasant human being and someone that precisely zero people should be listening to, but, ultimately, does it matter who the "whistleblower" was? All it takes is for anyone with a grudge who might have some kind of dirt on anybody to contact their employer, and they lose their job.

This is precisely why I've always opposed people like Roseanne being fired – because it's not just racists and homophobes who end up getting hung out to dry; it's absolutely anyone. And every time you applaud some right-wing celebrity biting the dust over some dumb tweet, you're just normalising the process.

Disney aren't just doing this because they're soulless bastards (though they are that and more); they're doing this because they're expected to. There has to be some serious (like, organised) pushback against that, and it needs to happen now – otherwise, get used to right-wing trolls, vindictive ex-boyfriends and muckrakers of all descriptions ending people's careers, and enjoy living in a hyper self-vigilant, second-guessing, censorial society.

Entire Guardians of the Galaxy cast issues an open letter requesting re-hiring of James Gunn. There are some rumors floating around that they may all pull out from the third film at their own peril if he is not reinstated a la the threats around Twin Peaks: The Return when Showtime was at odds with David Lynch

I think that letter is very, very carefully worded. Because I've read it three times now, and I don't think you can say it explicitly asks for Gunn to be re-hired (though I wouldn't be surprised if the above-mentioned rumours are true).

No, but Saldana's post that goes along with the letter, among what I assume to be others', does call for him to be re-hired.

If Disney only has to lose the respect of Mike Cernovich and his cohorts I really don't see how this is an issue. Weird Mike will no doubt move on to some other asinine plot within a month or so. Just a month or so ago he was taking shrooms and talking about A Trump "The Matrix" coming real (As in he thinks we're in a simulation.) so I'm not convinced we're dealing with Braniac here.

Give it a few months to blow over and then Disney will rehire him “after an internal investigation” or some bullshit. Or he’ll be hired to work on the movie as a “story consultant” with a new director. But there’s no way they can just reverse course after only a week.

mfunk9786 wrote: Mon Jul 30, 2018 9:58 pm No, but Saldana's post that goes along with the letter, among what I assume to be others', does call for him to be re-hired.

Yeah you're right, I just saw Saldana's tweet. Which makes the wording of the joint statement even weirder (or just more careful).

If the cast really does walk and cost Disney hundreds of millions in damage due to them having to abandon that entire wing of the Marvel Universe (not to mention whatever personal expenses their breaking the contract would incur), mad props to them. Regardless of how one feels about Gunn, it's admirable to see people making real and tangible stands for something or someone they believe in

If Gunn still has film industry support, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he went back to make more irreverent, smaller films like Slither and Super again.

^ Absolutely. That would be very heartening.

Joke’s on Bautista - the replacement script Disney wants to go ahead with is just two hours of “I AM GROOT” over and over again anyway.

He must be very naïve or loyal to a fault to keep poking the bear (or mouse) like this. Outside of the MCU franchise, Bautista has done only small parts and several DTV titles, and he's not going to improve his chances by telling people working for Disney is "pretty nauseating". I feel bad for him because he seems like a nice guy, but someone more experienced needs to pull him aside and let him know he's really only hurting his own film career.

Was that guy going to become a romantic comedy lead if he didn't go along with Disney here? He's probably the logical person to poke the bear in this case.

Everyone here knows that Disney makes business decisions not moral ones and as such I agree with mfunk. Poking the bear may indeed get results if it fudges up their plans. They'll sooner eat bullshit from Cernovich than they will miss out on billions.

I've seen similar posts to McCrutchy's elsewhere online and frankly don't understand that attitude at all. Bautista is clearly no dummy, he's capable of speaking for himself and I'm sure is more than aware of the potential damage to his career, but knows the stakes and persists nonetheless. His bravery and integrity in continuing to defend his friend against "cybernazis" is clearly something to be admired, not patronised.

As domino said at the start of the thread, the Guardians films (and the relevant scenes in Infinity War) are so clearly filled with Gunn's personality, even within the cookie-cutter Marvel framework, that directing the next film is a poisoned chalice. I'd actually be excited to see someone like Michael Schur take it on - Parks & Rec fans know he can get the best out of Chris Pratt! - but I wouldn't wish the inevitable shitstorm on him or whoever got the job.

But James, it's nothing to do with being patronizing, but rather realistic. The fact is that the matter has already been decided, and that Dave Bautista simply doesn't have enough clout to change the outcome. I do think Bautista's relative inexperience with the film industry makes it that much easier for Disney to not bother, but the same would go for most actors in Hollywood, including much or all of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, especially up against Disney. I think the only way this could work is if all of the cast decide to walk and do so together, and that hasn't happened yet and doesn't seem likely to happen in the future (although even if it did, there would be no guarantee that Disney would not have just shelved the project and recast it in a decade with new actors). I also admire Bautista's loyalty, but that doesn't mean he should keep fighting a battle that he has zero chance of winning, at least on his own. If Bautista walks, his role will be recast, simple as that, and at the end of the day, it's highly likely that none of his cast mates will join him, just as, to my knowledge, none of them have publicly voiced their support for him. And to be clear, I would have no concern for Bautista over his voicing support for Gunn, but where I would have done things differently is in criticizing Disney, because Bautista seems to be risking a lot for a little.

And let's also remember to be keep things in perspective, too. James Gunn was fired from one film, and for reasons that are pretty unfair, but James Gunn will also be relatively fine. I'm sure he already has a ton of money, and I'm sure that he will continue to make a ton of money from (and for) other studios, and perhaps even Disney again. Hell, as far as I know, Gunn is still credited on Avengers 4 and so will receive a piece of that giant pie. Either way, people know who he is, and many of those people feel he has been wronged, so while I'm sure he's devastated to not work on this particular film, I doubt very much this is the end of his career. In fact, I will be very interested to see if Gunn ever ends up repaying Bautista for sticking up for him like this.

I've always sensed that Hollywood is very much a "pick your battles" kind of place, and that's what I'm trying to impart, here. No one else seems to be picking this particular battle other than Bautista, and he is risking a bit much, in my opinion.