With the release of Kick-Ass 2 only a week away, it was bound to happen that members of the cast would respond to Jim Carrey’s very public denouncement of the film in June. Chloe Moretz has finally broken the cast silence on the topic in a pretty straightforward fashion.
Moretz told the UK broadsheet The Sun that she doesn’t think that violent films have a correlation in real-life violence. Here’s what she said:
It’s a movie. If you are going to believe and be affected by an action film, you shouldn’t go to see Pocahontas because you are going to think you are a Disney princess. If you are that easily swayed, you might see The Silence of the Lambs and think you are a serial killer. It’s a movie and it’s fake, and I’ve known that since I was a kid … I don’t want to run around trying to kill people and cuss (in real life). If anything, these movies teach you what not to do.
That’s a strong statement, particularly that last bit about movies like Kick-Ass 2 teaching you what not to do. While I take slight issue with being that bold, the rest of what Moretz has to say rings true.
Moretz’s comments are largely in response to Jim Carrey’s withdrawal of support from Kick-Ass 2 when he grew uncomfortable with the level of violence in the film. He tweeted that he apologized to the others involved, but he could not in good conscience continue to participate in it. A passionate advocate of gun-control, Carrey cited the violence at Sandy Hook as the reason for his withdrawal.
While I understand Carrey’s discomfort, Moretz’s response is equally valid. Violent films don’t necessarily inspire violence, and there’s certainly no evidence that the shooter at Sandy Hook saw Taxi Driver and decided to murder a lot of people because of Travis Bickle. To draw parallels between media violence and real life violence might be tempting, but it’s still an overly simplistic response. What’s more, the violence in the original Kick-Ass was interesting because it often showed the repercussions.
Admittedly, Carrey did not try to claim that the violence of Kick-Ass 2 was going to inspire others to commit violence. He’s definitely implying a correlation, though. Moretz’s response points out the fallacy of such an argument.
At the end of the day, this controversy can only be good for Kick-Ass 2. The first film found itself in the middle of a debate concerning the use of the ‘c’ word by Moretz’s character, and that resulted in the film doing so well that it got a sequel.
Kick-Ass 2 hits theatres August 16.
Let us know what you think about Carrey’s comments and Moretz’s response in the comments section below.
