James Gunn Suggests Star Wars Fans Go to Therapy
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is getting into the Star Wars debate joining the likes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and author Chuck Wendig by insulting fans and even suggesting some of them go to therapy.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Gunn posted an article from the New York Daily News detailing that actor Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogies considered suicide after a media backlash.
20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival. Would this be a good story for my solo show? Lemme know. pic.twitter.com/NvVnImoJ7N
— Ahmed BEst (@ahmedbest) July 3, 2018
Gunn chimed in simply Tweeting, “People need to chill out.”
People need to chill out. https://t.co/2gdc3VakzC
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 4, 2018
However, Gunn quickly derails and begins lambasting fans who blame the writing of Jar Jar Binks. His Tweet doesn’t even make sense as he tells people who are saying the writing is bad to “critique it. Don’t like it.” That’s pretty much what they were doing. However, Gunn seems to interpret, “Yeah, it wasn’t the actor’s fault! It was the writer’s” as “spewing hate and bile at individuals just doing their best to tell a story.”
Then in what has now become a trope among creators who work under the Disney brand, he told people not to watch the film.
He goes from telling people to critique the film to not watching it at all. I’m not sure how someone can critique a film without watching, but I guess it made sense in Gunn’s head.
People responding to this post saying, “Yeah, it wasn’t the actor’s fault! It was the writer’s!” are missing the point. Critique it. Don’t like it. But spewing hate and bile at individuals just doing their best to tell a story, even if the story sucks, is lame. Don’t watch it!
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 4, 2018
But Gunn wouldn’t be done there. He makes an extremely similar argument to Chuck Wendig who said that he as a creator does not create products. Gunn channels this logic by stating Star Wars “doesn’t belong to you.” I guess he forgot that you can actually purchase the products and DVDs and merchandise and own it.
He then insults Star Wars fans who have been critiquing Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story by implying they have emotional problems and they should go to therapy.
Star Wars (or any movie) may be important to you, but it doesn’t belong to you. If your self-esteem depends on how good you think the current Star Wars is, or your childhood is ruined because you don’t like something in a movie, GO TO THERAPY.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 4, 2018
Given the context of the ongoing debate within the Star Wars community, Gunn seems to be painting people who disagree with his opinion as emotionally unstable. It appears he wants to use this label in order to silence the critics. I don’t think that’s a winning strategy as the box office numbers for Solo: A Star Wars Story have delivered a massive bomb to Disney.
I’m not sure James Gunn should be trying to silence critics and telling people not to watch movies. It might end up back firing when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes to theaters.
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