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They can’t help themselves.
No matter the stakes, the budget or the expectations, stars must flex their progressive bona fides during press interviews. Even when said project is the biggest of their professional careers.
We just watched Rachel Zegler take down a beloved Disney IP with her dismissive and cruel comments. “Snow White” crashed and burned at the box office earlier this year.
Is it “Superman’s” turn?
First, star David Corenswet buried the character’s all-American tagline during an interview, yet another example of Hollywood rejecting Superman’s heartland roots. The star, speaking to “CBS This Morning,” reconfigured the iconic phrase, “truth, justice and the American way” while discussing the project.
Reacting to criticism of the recently released scene where Lois (Rachel Brosnahan) interviews Superman through Clark, Corenswet said, “And so that scene, I think, is the crux of that character that we see. And the reality is that when he doesn’t have to be Superman, when he doesn’t have to be this calm, reassuring presence to the public, when he doesn’t have to symbolize safety and security and truth and justice and all those good things [emphasis added], he still feels those values.”
Hollywood has been at war with that phrase for some time, including the disappointing 2006 reboot “Superman Returns.”
Now, writer/director James Gunn is making his anticipated reboot a treatise on immigration. His comments come as polling shows Americans support President Donald Trump’s tough stance against illegal immigration.
The smart move would be to avoid politics entirely during a film’s press push. What could be easier?
The less wise move? Don’t pick the “wrong” side of an issue when your film is just days away from release – July 11.
Gunn ignored both positions in a new interview with The Times of London.
“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn says. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.” I ask if he has considered how differently the film might play in say, blue state New York — aka Metropolis — and Kansas, where Kent grew up? “Yes, it plays differently,” Gunn admits. “But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them.”
Gunn also downplayed Superman’s all-American roots.
“He is a hero for the world.”
Gunn is no stranger to controversy. His inappropriate jokes got him temporarily removed from directing “Guardians of the Galaxy 3.” He previously compared President Donald Trump to Hitler and Vladimir Putin, adding he doesn’t care if his opinions cost him at the box office.
Now, at the worst possible moment, he injects hard-Left politics into the film’s multi-million dollar marketing campaign. The entire DC Comics reboot is riding on the film, and Gunn would rather push his political opinions than consider the consequences.
If “Superman” underperforms this weekend, he might change his mind about his comments impacting the box office.
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