>Good guy director gets fired after far-right pundit digs up past he repeatedly apologized for
>Tumblr thinks this is okay
New rule, starting now. Anyone making a snarky comment about this gets unfollowed because that’s gross
>28 year old my little pony fan thinks I value their opinion on someone getting fired for making rape jokes
hahahahaha here I was, legit hoping this discourse wouldn’t show up on my blog but, there it is. wow.
#1) The person who dragged up the pedophilia jokes about James Gunn is none other than far-right blogger Mike Cernowich. You know, the guy behind fucking #PIZZAGATE.
#2) James Gunn already apologized for previous behavior. Like, several years ago. In 2012. Before #MeToo. Before ANY of this. And his behavior since then proves a marked change.
#3) In fact, James Gunn’s behavior changed so radically that he became the target of Mike Cernovich. Because Gunn’s been pretty outspoken about our current president. Which didn’t sit well with President Pizzagate, not one bit.
#4) So Mike Cernovich finding and released all the old tweets during SDCC was NOT a coincidence. This was targeted to Disney, to see if Mike can wank himself over forcing the biggest major conglomerate to make a marketing decision in order to get ONE GUY rightfully furious about Trump out of the business.
#5) Look, I think James Gunn’s tweets are pretty damn horrible. But to put it on the same level as someone like Harvey Weinstein is disingenuous.
#6) We’re not winning any wars with the mentality of “problematic people are forever doomed for having once done problematic things, even if they’ve changed.” And like stated above, James Gunn is NOT another Weinstein. I’ve said homophobic things in the past, and I’m A LESBIAN for fuck’s sake!!
#7) Dave Bautista isn’t the only one who’s on James Gunn’s side in this. The entire GOTG cast is on his side.
#8) In the end this isn’t just about GOTG. This isn’t about Disney. This isn’t about James Gunn’s career (he’ll bounce back). This is about Right-winger trolls weaponizing accountability. And it’s fucking gross.
This isn’t about Disney. This isn’t about James Gunn’s career (he’ll bounce back). This is about Right-winger trolls weaponizing accountability. And it’s fucking gross.
#6) We’re not winning any wars with the mentality of “problematic people are forever doomed for having once done problematic things, even if they’ve changed.”
just in case you don’t understand why this is, if you never let up on people’s mistakes or allow them to change, then many won’t see any reason to. years ago, a Youtuber i used to follow made a comment about one of these controversies (i don’t even remember which one at this point), and even though they are relatively inclined to side with social justice goals when presented in isolation, like many, the term “social justice” makes them recoil violently, and this sort of thing is a big part of why. they once said “the absolute worst thing you can do in this sort of situation is apologize, because the SJWs won’t accept it. they’ll see it as a sign of weakness, and harass you even more.” (paraphrasing because it’s been years and i couldn’t even begin to find the original source, but the sentiment is accurate.) and that is a dangerous thing to have happen, because it means that moderate and undecided people are likely to view social justice movements as being just as monstrous and oppressive as the structures we’re trying to fight against. it plays into the idea that we’re just as intolerant as the “other side”.
this is actually part of what allows the far right to fracture us so much, because even if people agree with all the sentiments, goals, and ideals of social justice movements when presented in isolation, they’re still unlikely to openly align with them, and water down both their words and actions in order to not seem like “those people”, which strangles us.
if someone apologizes for something, accept it. of course, keep an eye on them to make sure they follow through with it, because ultimately, actions are what is important, but NEVER just dismiss an apology out of hand until the person who made it shows that they didn’t mean it. and even then, if they apologize again, accept it again. by all means, point out that they broke it the first time, but this is kind of the inverse of the Paradox of Tolerance. if we never let people make up for their mistakes – either in theory or in practice – not only have we permanently lost anyone who makes mistakes, but we’ve lost anyone who’s afraid they might make mistakes. and social justice cannot survive without getting as many people to believe in it as possible.
The-Lounge 