NPO #15: Bill Murray and Cancel Culture

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Ticketmaster

The Anime Spotlight on Gridman and Dynazenon will have to wait because, like the title says, I have some New Piece Offerings that I'd like to get out of my head. I was going to do this all in one, big article, which would be great for the little ad revenue I'm getting (all-time, less than two dollars), but I decided to split it up into three smaller articles to give the individual subjects the attention they deserve, and to improve impression analytics. So like and comment down below if this engages you, and get ready for some tough subject matter (and some polarizing opinions on my part).

In my D23 reaction piece, I speculated on the identity of Bill Murray's character in 2023's Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. As it turns out, the MCU went totally obscure yet again (as they had before with Guardians of the Galaxy and the recently aired Werewolf by Night special) in choosing a rarely used Hulk villain named Krylar, who had previously been portrayed in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Gabriel Hogan. Not much information is available about the character outside of often-debunked clickbait "news" sites like ComicBookRant (CBR) and Sportskeeda, so I'm going to be "who the hell is Krylar?" right along with the rest of you. But the character isn't the important issue anymore, in light of a recently unearthed interview with Murray and Quick Change co-star Geena Davis on The Arsenio Hall Show--which Davis recounted in her new memoir, Dying Of Politeness--and recent allegations of Murray's sexually aggressive behavior on the set of Aziz Ansari's film adaptation of Being Mortal). While production on Being Mortal has been halted in light of these allegations, the Ant-Man sequel is finished and set to release in theaters next year, kicking off Phase Five. It's entirely possible that it could be delayed to edit out Murray's character, but as the film is finished and no such news has been made public, it's more likely that we have another Armie Hammer, Death On the Nile (or Ezra Miller, Flashpoint) situation on our hands.

When thinking about cancel culture, my mind often goes to the 2002 Spider-Man trailer and associated scene that were pulled in response to 9/11. It's a cool scene, and the trailer sticks in my memory to this day. But I can also understand that there are numerous people who would have received it as a trigger for traumatic memories that they would rather not relive every time they watch a movie. Movies are meant to be a form of escapism, after all. Yes, there are movies that explore the human condition (such as the above mentioned Being Mortal), existential crises, relationships, and personal hardships. They're the movies that typically get recognized at annual events hosted by famous people who make jokes that get their heads smacked around sideways. But they're also movies that most people don't watch because the subject matter is too real and "why am I watching this when I could be out in the world, living it like I always do? When is something going to happen? Why doesn't this movie that took up two and a half hours of my actual life have an ending? Or a point?"

I think my point, such as I arrived at it through stream of consciousness, is that entertaining films seem to get a pass for the money they make (or would cost), while "real" films get held back by famous people thinking they can get away with being instinct-driven animals, even when the cameras are rolling. Unfortunately, they are right more often than not. And, like I said in this post with regard to racial tensions, there is no obvious, feasibly correct way to implement accountability measures.

By the time anyone "notices" #metoo behavior, they're too desensitized, confused, avoidant, and financially invested in the content they're creating to do anything about it without putting a dent in their unstable income and putting hundreds upon thousands of cast and crew members out of work, all because one person thought it was okay (and because they're still getting a paycheck after navigating their behavior beyond the point of no return, they still think it's okay) to grope another, or slap someone on live television, or throw furniture at random strangers in public, or dangle a baby out a window, or compare pedophilia to chocolate bars, or scream racial slurs in a comedy club, or coerce women into quid pro quo sexual favors, or engage in pedophilia, or tweet something racist, or make insane, unfounded claims about national tragedies, or co-found a rape cult named after a heartburn pill. These people should be held accountable for the things they do. But they should also not do them in the first place because they are wrong, and they impact more people than their baser needs for depravity will allow them to realize.

Cancel culture isn't just a movement to root out the skeletons in Hollywood's closet; it's what can happen when that movement succeeds. In other words, be sensitive to improper conduct and report it when you see it because ignorance can only make it worse; don't let things get to the point where Cancel Culture cancels culture.

Ticketmaster,

Out.