My thoughts on the James Gunn scandal, which now extends beyond just him.

James Gunn. Mingle Media TV.

As you may know James Gunn, director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, has been fired by Disney after tweets surfaced where Gunn joked about child abuse and pedophilia. From what I understand 4chan's /pol/ and /tv/ uncovered the tweets and sent them to right wing pundit and e-celeb Mike Cernovich. Once those tweets reached a wider audience, Disney ended up firing Gunn.

This is a huge deal since Gunn was directing the Guardian of the Galaxy films which have basically printed money for Disney. With Marvel being the flagship of Disney right now and their Star Wars property floundering, it's almost insane for them to put Gunn out to pasture. It just goes to show how serious the allegations are being taken. 

Gunn, it appears is just the beginning. Right now comedians Sarah Silverman and Michael Ian Black are being attacked for similar statements on social media. Dan Harmon, one of the creators of Adult Swim's hit cartoon Rick and Morty has also been exposed after a video skit was rediscovered where he simulated sexually attacking a baby. Due to the rules of my blog host I won't be linking to any of this but sources should be easy to find if you google them. None of these people have faced any consequences so far but the night is still young. 

What do I think about this? I have conflicted feelings. One the one hand, the civil libertarian in my doesn't want people getting fired for jokes, even jokes in absolutely terrible taste. Even what Dan Harmon did should be protected speech despite how utterly disgusting it was. I do think it would be hypocritical of me to defend Rosanne for what she tweeted and then not defend these people as well. I don't like call out culture or internet shamming mobs getting people fired. It's a disturbing trend and not one I want to continue. 

On the other hand, this not the hill I want to die on. I didn't really find any of what these people said to be funny at all. Dan Harmon's "skit" was especially disgusting to the point where I couldn't watch it and I say that as a person that isn't disgusted by much. Sure they may have a right to say what they want but that doesn't mean we have to put up with it. 

The fact that these people are all knee deep in Hollywood is probably a big part of it. A joke is funny because you know it isn't true. I'm not entirely sure that these Hollywood types are actually joking. Though I don't buy all the conspiracy theories about elite pedo rings I do think that there probably is an undercurrent of child abuse in Hollywood and saying so isn't controversial. Indeed, I would be shocked if there weren't a large number of child abusers working in Hollywood right now. 

After all, we just went through #MeToo where a bunch of Hollywood celebrities came out about sexual abuse. Some of those people, most notably Kevin Spacey, were accused of hurting children. It would not be any surprise at all if we found out that Gunn, Silverman, Black and/or Harmon actually are pedophiles. At this point a celebrity joking about this kind of thing elicits the same kind of red flags that a Catholic priest joking about it would. 

Still, it's pretty clear that the people going after these celebs are not doing so in good faith. After all, this witch hunt began on 4chan, which is one of the last places on the internet that should ever be moralizing. This is way more about taking down liberals than taking down pedophiles, even if they are one and the same. 

That being said, witch hunts aren't so bad when there are actual witches running around. I think Hollywood is a big enough of a cesspool that these people probably should face an investigation. Perhaps not a legal one, not yet at least, but if normal people want to dig into their internet history that it is probably justified. I am guessing, when it comes to Hollywood, they will find the witches they are looking for. 

I do have to say that I am feeling more than a little schadenfreude about this. These people are exclusively liberal and many of them have been knee deep into the culture wars. Indeed, some of them were involved in doing similar things to conservatives that are happening to them now. They participating in some of the same internet shaming tactics that they are falling to now. To see them hoisted by their own petard is satisfying despite the underlying danger of this becoming the new norm. 

Though I would prefer a world where people were only fired for actual crimes and not hounded on social media, I do have to say that I knew this was going to happen. I have long said that social shaming is a demon, once called up, will turn on its masters. It obviously began before this but now it is going after Hollywood itself...