Guardians Of The Galaxy Director In Hot Water Over Superhero Sex Poll
It should be no shock to anyone that the director behind the movie Slither and the TV series PG Porn has a sexually charged sense of humor. But what is shocking is that Disney hired James Gunn to direct the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel without thinking that this provocateur wouldn’t ruffle any feathers for the Mouse House (not to mix metaphors).
Back in 2011, Gunn conducted a poll on his website regarding ”The 50 Superheroes You Most Want to Have Sex With.” Fans of Gunn probably wouldn’t be surprised at the content, but some of the wordage and imagery used in Gunn’s commentary could offend some. With Gunn in the spotlight thanks to his Guardians gig, the ladies at The Mary Sue – a “guide to girl geek culture” — have drawn attention to Gunn’s apparent attitude towards female and gay superheroes.
The piece takes offense at Gunn’s use of “slut-shaming” the female superheroes, as well as his use of anti-gay language in reference to the male ones. This whole situation is reminiscent of comments made by director Brett Ratner a year ago when he was set to produce the Academy Awards ceremony for ABC. He was fired for using the word “fags” in reference to rehearsal. Here’s a small piece of what James Gunn said on his website in 2011:
“for those men that love rude bitches, (Emma Frost) the white queen is the way”
(on Natasha Romanoff) “considering she’s fucked half the guys in the marvel universe, that’s quite a feat”
(on Elektra) “she’ll give you a nice, ninja-trained blow job”
(on Black Canary) “i used to think she was the hottest chick in the dcu, but then i remembered that she fucks green arrow”
(on Dazzler) “a friggin’ great vagina”
(on Kitty Pryde) “i want to anally do her”
(on choice of art for Jade) “i picked the one with the big tits”
(on Batwoman) “i’m hoping for a dc-marvel crossover so that tony stark can turn her; she could also have sex with nightwing and still be a lesbian”
calls Tigra “easy” for no discernible reason, along with calling Stephanie Brown that because she’s a single mother
says that he’ll blow a load onto Jessica Drew’s face so he doesn’t have to look at her.
Obviously, James Gunn has every right to say any and all of this, but there may be some consequences for voicing these opinions, especially when he finds himself working for the Mouse. This likely wouldn’t be a story if Gunn wasn’t representing the Disney and Marvel brand of family-friendly entertainment, and the idea that their employees should reflect this sort of squeaky-clean sensibility. That said, this poll was conducted over a year ago, long before Gunn signed on for Guardians of the Galaxy.
Is what James Gunn said offensive? Yes. Is it tasteless and juvenile? Yes. Should Gunn apologize? Maybe. Should he be fired? As a director, James Gunn is certainly competent enough to helm Guardians of the Galaxy, but if Disney doesn’t want this sort of attention associated with their brand, they certainly might.
I recommend reading the piece on TheMarySue.com and the poll results on James Gunn’s website (although the original post was taken down yesterday, it’s still on Google Cache), and then make up your own mind.
