Social media plays an increasingly important part in the lives of millions of people around the world, but one of the single worst things to ever come out of the technology age has to be cancel culture. If somebody decides they don’t like an actor, director, TV show or movie, then all it takes is one post or tweet for thousands of people to jump on the bandwagon, whether there’s any merit to the accusations or not.
The latest target of the Twitter mob is Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, who has already been subjected to online vitriol recently after a poorly-worded post to promote his Pixar movie Onward. The newest attack on the actor appears to be based on nothing more than the fact that he’s openly Christian and conservative, and wasn’t one of the many Marvel Cinematic Universe stars who took part in a virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
Of course, a lot of the franchise’s other major names were absent from the lineup, too, but Pratt’s personal views saw him become a target, and he was swiftly trending online after being labeled a white supremacist and a homophobe. Quite how those dots were connected is up for debate, but several of the actor’s co-stars have now been forced to publicly defend him.
Robert Downey Jr., who was also missing from the fundraiser but didn’t find himself becoming the target of cancel culture, called out the people taking issue with Chris Pratt‘s absence, while Mark Ruffalo and James Gunn waded into the argument, too.
You all, @prattprattpratt is as solid a man there is. I know him personally, and instead of casting aspersions, look at how he lives his life. He is just not overtly political as a rule. This is a distraction. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, friends. We are so close now.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1318665313454489601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1318665313454489601%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3%2Ccontainerclick_1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedirect.com%2Farticle%2Fmarvel-robert-downey-jr-mark-ruffalo-avengers-chris-pratt-cancel-support
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1318674399977828352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1318674399977828352%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3%2Ccontainerclick_0&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedirect.com%2Farticle%2Fmarvel-robert-downey-jr-mark-ruffalo-avengers-chris-pratt-cancel-support
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1318678778130751488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1318678778130751488%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3%2Ccontainerclick_1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedirect.com%2Farticle%2Fmarvel-robert-downey-jr-mark-ruffalo-avengers-chris-pratt-cancel-support
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige once called modern internet culture a hell pit, and based on how one of his biggest stars is being treated, the MCU’s ensemble of actors might be inclined to agree now.
