Every week there’s something happening in the world of nerds. As summer is now with us, I’ll be focusing on roughly only four major bits of news each week. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend Comic-Con this year, but there’s always next year. Let’s get started!
I am not defending what James Gunn said in his Twitter posts a few years ago. What he said was pretty dark, there’s no denying that at all. However, what worries me, is the precedent that Disney gave this by firing him. We live in a world where people like you, me, almost everyone, share memes that are as edgy as Gunn was trying to be with his tweets. They may not be as dark as the jokes he made, but what about in 10 years? Or 20? As our society grows, so does what we find acceptable or not. I understand Gunn was an adult when he made those posts, but what about middle school, high school and college kids who publish similar things? Should they be fearful of people who are out to destroy their careers by finding dirt on them and resurfacing things they said years ago? Where do we draw the line where someone who has been charged with rape gets other fired for things that they’ve said rather than done? And let’s be clear about this, this isn’t the first time Mike Cernovich has gotten someone fired, with no repercussions on his own livelihood. Rian Johnson, for one, isn’t taking any chances as he’s deleted roughly 20,000 tweets, just in case. Is this what our future holds? I think Sarah Silverman said it best, however, in her tweet you can find down below. All this raises the question though: what about people that change. Can you say you were the same person that you were 10 years ago? What about five? two? If nothing else, the support that Gunn has had since this incident, should at the very least show who he is now. The actions of those defending him should speak loud and clear to his character, otherwise, why try to defend him at all?
.@SAConScene FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, Sunrise announces that co-production for a live-action Gundam movie is happening! #AX2018 @AnimeExpo pic.twitter.com/0r4Mb4kIxu
— Ang Cruz (@angdidthat) July 5, 2018
No official directive at all, and I don’t think I’ve ever tweeted anything that bad. But it’s nine years of stuff written largely off the cuff as ephemera, if trolls scrutinizing it for ammunition is the new normal, this seems like a “why not?” move.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) July 25, 2018
Anna Diop is set to portray Starfire in the upcoming DC television show, Titans, and some people are furious. Personally, am not ecstatic with the direction that Titans is taking, it’s a little off putting seeing boy scout step on people’s necks and saying things like “Fuck Batman.” And the costumes, to me, leave a lot to be desired. That being said, people are mad that Anna Diop is portraying Starfire instead of, well, someone white. And I think that’s ridiculous. Diop has had to turn off her comments on her Instagram, for example, because of all the racist and sexist comments she’s receiving, and that’s just unacceptable. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: never, and I mean never, is it okay to attack the person portraying the character. It’s not the actors and actresses fault that the character isn’t they way the fans wanted them to be (this doesn’t mean it’s okay to attack costume and prop designers either). But I think that the obvious should be said just in case: Starfire is an orange alien, it seriously shouldn’t matter who portrays the character, so long as they do a good job. Anyways, check out the trailer below and decide for yourself whether it warrants your time watching the series:
There were two trailers that really blew me away however. The first one being Shazam! where foster kid Billy Batson becomes an adult superhero by shouting the word, “shazam!” Billy, while in his adult form, is portrayed by Zachary Levi (Tangled) and honestly, I couldn’t picture anyone better for the role, especially after seeing the official trailer. In other news, Eleven is back at it again, only this time, her monsters are more of the scaley kind. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was honestly a movie I didn’t care for, until I saw the trailer. This time Godzilla will face off with other humongous monsters such as Mothra, Rodan, and of course, King Ghidorah. Check out the trailers for both of these movies down below:
That being said, if you or someone you care about, is struggling through depression, as hard as it is, try and reach out to someone you can confide in. Those that know someone who struggles through this, don’t just tell, show them you care.
