As Twitchy reported a week ago, Universal pulled advertising for the upcoming movie “The Hunt,” in which wealthy elites pay to hunt down “deplorables.” Now the movie’s release has been pulled altogether, and not because of conservative backlash but out of sensitivity to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
A week ago, Variety columnist Claudia Eller wrote about how President Trump had pointed the finger at violent films and video games while not pushing for stricter gun control. This week, she’s suggesting the motion picture do some soul-searching and consider toning down the violence in movies.
Why It's time for Hollywood to reconsider the amount of violence on screen (Column) https://t.co/8rzxDnLCYs
— Variety (@Variety) August 20, 2019
She does so, though, suggesting that what’s really to blame is Trump’s white supremacist rhetoric and refusal to do anything about assault weapons:
As I said in last week’s editor’s letter, I totally disagree with the president’s contention that violent movies and video games are motivating these shootings. How about pushing for stricter gun laws that would prevent just anyone from walking into a Walmart and purchasing a weapon for mass destruction?
Many in Hollywood have bashed Trump (rightfully so, in my opinion) for inciting violence and white nationalism with his choice of words and the hideous rhetoric he utters on Twitter and in interviews on the White House lawn. In no way am I advocating censorship, but given the heightened times in which we live, with unrelenting headlines about unthinkable acts, I think films like “The Hunt” raise a question for Hollywood: Should the industry look inward to examine the use of excessive, fiction-based screen violence?
Should it? We guess the answer is yes … the column just sort of trails off.
This is a bad piece. At 370 words, it barely scratches the idea of the surface. Your "point exactly" is that two anecdotal co-workers were queasy about "John Wick" and, of all all things, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"? If you're digging in to the topic, dig in. You waved.
— Troy Brownfield (@TroyBrownfield) August 20, 2019
Also, the fact that violence made someone queasy means what exactly? All I take from that is a need for certain people to take more time in deciding what movies to go to.
There's a weird subsection of America that doesn't want people enjoying things that they don't get to.
— Justin Peniston (@HunterBlackComx) August 20, 2019
What an empty column, void of point or purpose.
— EsBurroughs (@EsBurroughs) August 20, 2019
Just a few decades late….
— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) August 20, 2019
— John Stoehr's Editorial Board (@johnastoehr) August 20, 2019
this is absolute nonsense.
— Flavia F. (@misss_ff) August 20, 2019
This article is written like a 100 level undergrad essay that got a C-. How did this article pass a review to be published?
— Tony Alonzo (@Tony_Alonzo) August 20, 2019
No. No, they shouldn't. The market will decide.
— Mr. Skraps (@Sickroy6) August 20, 2019
This should’ve never been published.
— Hanajun (@hanajun) August 20, 2019
“Nah” pic.twitter.com/Dk6QsOG1aF
— T.Zondi (@EzeeT) August 20, 2019
Shorter version of this hack article: pic.twitter.com/XOYi4HXY9p
— Antonio Belisle (@AntonioBelisle) August 20, 2019
This is a hilarious read…
— -Kryss Anderson (@KryssAnderson) August 20, 2019
They should really come up with some kind of rating system so that bad parent can be held accountable… Oh wait
— Funny Cgullz (@CgullzNS) August 20, 2019
If only we had a ratings system that warned movie goers that the movie they are about to see may not be for children and it also may depict scenes of intense violence and sex. Too bad such a system doesn't exist.
— Arizona Joe (@Mr_Arizona2424) August 20, 2019
Of all the incredibly violent movies that have been made over the last 50 years, 'The Hunt' made them question this?
— Anthon Leigh (@ErnaldZane) August 20, 2019
This is poor journalism. Do better!!
— Terry Taylor (@terrytheloon) August 20, 2019
I don't even know where to begin with this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/kQhSbIqj0Z
— Joe Meyers (@ThatJoeMeyers) August 20, 2019
For a second I thought we might have evolved past this argument.
— Two Gunned Saint (@twogunnedsaint) August 20, 2019
Why it's time for Variety to reconsider articles like that
— Yago (@YagoRochaAlvz) August 20, 2019
This article is not even a complete thought. Is there even an attempt at a point here?
— Brandon Byrne (@ByrneInTheUSA) August 20, 2019
Did the rest of the column get deleted or someth … OH. Oh this is *it*.
— Feral Boss Hog (@kobie173) August 20, 2019
This article is incomplete and also
— Stu Arbury (@Sarbury) August 20, 2019
is the second half of this column missing?
— Sylvain Tron (@sylvaintron) August 20, 2019
Did someone forget to write the second half of the article and they published it anyway?
— Nicolas The Cage (@rdpinder) August 20, 2019
Did I miss something? Is there more to the article after "My point exactly"? I'm missing the point here. You and 2 other people were uneasy re-watching two movies with violence in them. And?
— Marvin Scott (@gameovermarv) August 20, 2019
OK, in case you’re wondering, here’s the “conclusion”:
When discussing this hot-button issue with two of our web editors, they pointed out that the horror/thriller trope of characters being hunted down has long been a staple of the big screen, and a huge cash cow (witness Blum’s “The Purge,” for one). Yet, they each admitted feeling queasy while watching gratuitous violence in the latest “John Wick” sequel and re-watching “Captain America: Winter Soldier.”
My point exactly.
Why? You’ve told me for years that it has no effect on real world events.
— Mark Groubert (@lordbuckly) August 20, 2019
— Jesse Berberich | Disreputable Cinema (@JesseBerberich) August 20, 2019
Why it's time to unfollow @Variety
— Emiliano Chirchiano (@emichir) August 20, 2019
Hollywood is supposedly peace loving & anti-gun yet it keeps making money off of violent movies. #Hypocrisy
— Jo Ann M. (@JoAnn0924) August 20, 2019
This is garbage. The only thing it accomplished was contradicting yourself. Coming from the co-editor in chief, you should know it's not worth posting.
— Kevin Jones (@Kevolution1800) August 20, 2019
This is one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
— Marco P. (@MarcoPiazzo) August 20, 2019
We’re still trying to remember the gratuitous violence in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
Related:
Sensitive: Movie studio pulls ads for film in which elites hunt down and kill red-state deplorables https://t.co/cH0b9T3F7c
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 8, 2019
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