Captain Marvel star Brie Larson jumped at the opportunity to bash a critic of her and Netflix’s Unicorn Store trailer; engaging in what many are describing as targeted harassment.
So excited to share the trailer for Unicorn Store, @brielarson‘s directorial debut and an absolutely charming, heartfelt, exploration of the things that drive us and the creativity that adulthood often tries to extinguish. pic.twitter.com/1nLqX8DJ3r
— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 22, 2019
Netflix recently posted the trailer to Unicorn Store on Twitter on March 22nd and was for the most part well-received. However, a number of people were critical of the trailer and one of those was Twitter user Joe Gil.
Gil wasn’t really harsh in his criticism describing his reaction to the trailer as “bleh” before offering some advice to Netflix and Larson.
Lol this looks like bleh. Take notes from Jonah Hill, who was mentored by Martin Scorsese, and took years before he made his directorial debut out of respect for the artistry of film and the position of director. This seems like she’s just riding Captain Marvel’s wave. 🤨
— Joe Gil (@TheJoeGil) March 22, 2019
Netflix’s Netflix Film Twitter handle, who had originally poster the trailer, would respond to Joe with a list of Brie Larson’s credentials.
Brie Larson has:
58 acting credits
53 award noms
2 writing credits
2 short film directing credits
1 composing credit
1 producing credit
1 Oscar
1 feature directing credit
Been working since 1998
Worked with Apatow, Baumbach, Wright, Boden, Fleck, Abrahamson, and more.— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 22, 2019
Larson who directs Unicorn Store as well as stars in the film would also jump on the bandwagon.
NETFLEX https://t.co/FsGSFzpoRO
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) March 28, 2019
A few notable Twitter users took note of Netflix and Larson claiming they participated in targeted harassment against Joe.
Adam Trahan pointed out how a multi-billion dollar company went after a user simply for criticizing their product. And indicated that Joe had to lock his account. His account is still locked.
Multi-billion dollar media conglomerate @netflix dunks on twitter user with 358 followers and sends 55k psychos his way so hard he has to lock his account for the sin of saying Brie Larson’s directorial debut looks “meh.” SLAYYY QWEEEEN
NOT targeted harassment 🤔 https://t.co/V1AoE0GNbF
— Adam Trahan (@AdamTrahan) March 29, 2019
Others also decried the actions of Larson and Netflix as “harassment.”
Don’t you EVER tell me that harassment for going against the establishment doesn’t exist.
What Larson did in being complicit is twice as disgusting as what Netflix did for initiating it. Whoever made that tweet on the Netflix corporate account should be fired,end of.— 《Not Smug》 (@NotSmug_) March 29, 2019
It’s despicable. I can’t believe Netflix is a part of this. Also, all of the pile on harassers. Sick.
— Daily Jen (@MeridithG1015) March 29, 2019
The current timeline where a multi billion dollar corporate entity dunks on a random Twitter person for having an opinion (a faulty one) & hordes of twitter denizens go & bully his ass? Meh, I think there’s some better timelines out there.
— Thomas Emilio (@temilioco) March 29, 2019
Twitter doesn’t have a clear definition of targeted harassment, but they do have a definition for abusive behavior: “You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else’s voice.”
Twitter openly admitted they suspended a number of accounts including Milo Yiannopolous after engaging Ghostbusters actress and Saturday Night Live performer Leslie Jones back in 2016.
A Twitter spokesperson noted in a statement at the time:
“This type of abusive behavior is not permitted on Twitter, and we’ve taken action on many of the accounts reported to us by both Leslie and others.”
They would add:
“We rely on people to report this type of behavior to us but we are continuing to invest heavily in improving our tools and enforcement systems to prevent this kind of abuse. We realize we still have a lot of work in front of us before Twitter is where it should be on how we handle these issues.”
Twitter’s lawyer Vijaya Gadde explained why Milo Yiannopoulos was banned during an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.
Gadde specifically pointed out that he tweeted out two doctored tweets with fake quotes from Leslie Jones that they deemed incitement of harassment of Leslie Jones. She would go on to state, “We found him to be engaging in coordinate behavior and inciting people to attack Leslie Jones.”
Rogan would point out it all started from Milo critiquing the Ghostbusters film.
What do you think? Did Brie Larson and Netflix participate in targeted of harassment against Joe Gil? Did Joe Gil deserve what happened to him? Should Larson and Netflix expect the same Twitter ban treatment that Milo Yiannopoulos got? Let me know your thoughts!