Following his declarations that testosterone is “a toxin you have to slowly work out of your system” and that depictions of pregnant women voluntarily engaging in non-essential combat was the next step in “female empowerment“, James Cameron has gone for a neoliberalism hat trick by revealing that he cut roughly ten minutes of footage from Avatar: The Way of Water because he did not want to “fetishize the gun”.
RELATED: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Review – Mo’ Na’vi Mo’ Problems
The eccentric director revealed his newfound aversion to firearms during a recent post-Avatar: The Way of Water premiere interview with Esquire Middle East.
Reflecting on his library of work, particularly the first two Terminator entries and his 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies, Cameron told the outlet’s William Mullally, “I look back on some films that I’ve made, and I don’t know if I would want to make that film now.”
“I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of Terminator movies 30+ years ago, in our current world,” added the director. “What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.”
“I’m happy to be living in New Zealand where they just banned all assault rifles two weeks after that horrific mosque shooting a couple of years ago,” Cameron opined, referring to the horrific Christchurch mosque shootings which occurred in 2019.
The director then admitted that, in light of his unease, he had “actually cut about 10 minutes of [Avatar: The Way of Water] targeting gunplay action” because he ” wanted to get rid of some of the ugliness, to find a balance between light and dark.”
“You have to have conflict, of course,” said Cameron. “Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every action filmmaker, and I’m known as an action filmmaker.”
Notably, Cameron is not the only Hollywood bigwig in recent months to offer their opinions on the sadly hot topic of gun ownership in America.
Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger told attendees at the Sandy Hook Promise Benefit event that taking steps to prevent gun violence, specifically mass shootings, by enacting stricter gun control “should be among our highest priorities” for Americans.
“As a grandfather, as a father, as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, I believe there is no greater or more important task than ensuring the safety and well-being of our children,” he told the crowd, which included fellow speakers and prominent Democrats former President Barack Obama and Matthew McConaughey.
“Those of us who are in positions to affect change, whether it’s by influencing laws of shaping culture or supporting organizations on the frontlines, I think we have an extra responsibility,” Iger concluded.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters.
