Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Disstevefan1]

Doesn't this then completely goes against the whole "free speech" argument that so many like to have? If they have to "watch what they say" then isn't that tantamount to restricting their right to free speech, something that many claim happens to many by the media? Or is it only good for some in this country, ie fine only if I like what you have to say.

Its a slippery slope, one that I don't think many want to go down.

There is free speech and there is how to communicate in the business environment that may not agree with your personal view.

Yes, all are free to say what they want and when a nobody, who represents no one, says whatever, no one cares.

Folks who have the spotlight on them must be careful; they should want to say what's best for their career.

Now this interview was in Rome and it could be he was trying to do the right thing for Business and de-emphasize America for the foreign audience, as a movie called "Captain America" may not be folks in Europe first choice in movies.

 

[Disney Irish]

There is free speech and there is how to communicate in the business environment that may not agree with your personal view.

Yes, all are free to say what they want and when a nobody, who represents no one, says whatever, no one cares.

Folks who have the spotlight on them must be careful; they should want to say what's best for their career.

The problem is the actual ideals of this country is build around "free speech", however its not really free if people have to "watch what they say". You have to be willing to accept that others may say things that go against what you believe in, and that is their right. No one should prevent another from saying something provided its not against any rules or laws. For example you have the right to say "fire", you don't have the right to yell it in a crowded movie theater as a joke. Or posting something on X that go against a companies policy, you have the right to do it, you don't have the right to keep your job because of it.

Also people have been saying things that aren't best for their careers for a long time. And in some, or even many cases they aren't even affected by it. So its not just a uniform thing across the board. Again it comes down to just accepting that sometimes people will say things that will go against what you believe in, doesn't make it any less their right to say it.

Now this interview was in Rome and it could be he was trying to do the right thing for Business and de-emphasize America for the foreign audience, as a movie called "Captain America" may not be folks in Europe first choice in movies.

And this is the problem, when quotes are taken out of context it can be made to look like the person said anything. So in the end, everyone is damned if they do and damned if they don't. This is why, as I mentioned just a bit ago, you can have all the PR training in the world, if people are going to take things out of context then it doesn't really matter.

 

[DKampy]

I didn't "scan" the internet. I opened twitter and there was a bunch of conversation, then I came here to this Disney message board (to see if people were talking about it) and it was the first thread on the "new posts" page. People are obviously discussing it.

I never said you personally

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Does anyone remember the time Superman renounced his American citizenship and some people were outraged about that as well? Despite the fact that Superman was born on a completely different planet?

Captain America is obviously American but people do get overly worked up over comic book characters.

The people who think comics shouldn't have a point of view are going to lose it when the X-Men come back. Unless Disney completely neuters what that whole franchise is about.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Another circus created online by the algorithmic rage machine, to ensure user engagement, and ramp up profits, at the expense of a real human (Mackie).

When will people stop giving into the noise and mess we are in? Just go and enjoy movies, or avoid the ones you aren’t interested in.

It’s not that serious, ever. Social media’s job these days is to make it out like the stakes are higher than ever. They aren’t.

This is on us, the public, to make the change, and not let these platforms guide us into a frenzy.

 

[erasure fan1]

The answer as I see it is not for actors to be reined in or censured (unless their statements cross a line, as Zegler's post-election outburst did), but for the public to keep things in perspective.

It's not about censuring, it's more about giving the right tools. At my job I received training on how to address the media, clients... I never thought, Im being reined in or being censored. I work for them. Now this type of stuff is of a more personal nature obviously. But that doesn't mean there isn't room to improve.

The question is did he actually “screw up” and fumble his words or was his quote taken out of context. Someone can say the most well thought out statement in the world but if it’s taken out of context it can be made to look like they said something atrocious.

Well I'm not the only one who thought it was not stated as well as it could. But remember, I never said he did anything wrong. Just the wording was not great. It's easy to take something like that and skew it out of context. So if you can minimize what the bad actors have to work with, why wouldn't you?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I always thought of Captain America as being a symbol of an ideal America. What it should be. In which case, it makes sense he might go against American government if it goes against American ideals.

The problem is, nowadays, many people don't agree on what the core American ideals should be or how they are to be implemented.

Taking the actor out of it, a black man taking on the mantle of Captain America would absolutely have some feelings about it.

They already addressed this in the Falcon TV series, so it's not a new concept.

He's supposed to represent the American ideal, but there are plenty of examples of America not being ideal for people of colour.

To expect the character to be a pro-American cheerleader with no nuance is not realistic.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Remember when you’d go to a grocery store, and walk by the tabloid magazines and see the headlines and go “oh, more garbage” and ignore them?

That’s what we need to do. This is all tabloid nonsense, taken way too seriously. Get back to basics folks.

 

[Disney Irish]

It's not about censuring, it's more about giving the right tools. At my job I received training on how to address the media, clients... I never thought, Im being reined in or being censored. I work for them. Now this type of stuff is of a more personal nature obviously. But that doesn't mean there isn't room to improve.

Well I'm not the only one who thought it was not stated as well as it could. But remember, I never said he did anything wrong. Just the wording was not great. It's easy to take something like that and skew it out of context. So if you can minimize what the bad actors have to work with, why wouldn't you?

Is it that the wording isn't great, or is it that this is a snippet taken from a larger thought? This is why you can't just take this or any clip at face value. A well thought out well worded response can be chopped up to say anything. Again no amount of PR training can combat that.

Also I don't think you believe there is anything wrong with what is said, this is just discussion.

 

[Disney Irish]

Remember when you’d go to a grocery store, and walk by the tabloid magazines and see the headlines and go “oh, more garbage” and ignore them?

That’s what we need to do. This is all tabloid nonsense, taken way too seriously. Get back to basics folks.

I agree, unfortunately it was brought here so we end up discussing it. I think most in the general population ignore (or more precisely forget) it as soon as its posted.

We live in a 30 second clip world now, most just scroll on by.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I agree, unfortunately it was brought here so we end up discussing it. I think most in the general population ignore (or more precisely forget) it as soon as its posted.

We live in a 30 second clip world now, most just scroll on by.

I would normally agree, but we've seen too many examples of these stories being spread online, which results in trolling, hate comments, personal attacks, review bombing, etc. etc.

So it's now on us to try and quiet that noise.

 

[Disney Irish]

I would normally agree, but we've seen too many examples of these stories being spread online, which results in trolling, hate comments, personal attacks, review bombing, etc. etc.

So it's now on us to try and quiet that noise.

By "us" I assume you mean the global population, as we on this site aren't going to make a difference. Unfortunately that is a hard task to accomplish. We can't get 335M people in the US to agree on anything, let alone the 8B in the world. Basically its just a trend that has to fizzle itself out. As with anything, as soon as people tire of it it'll move on to the next thing. Unless of course you're still using your MySpace page.

 

[LittleBuford]

It's not about censuring, it's more about giving the right tools. At my job I received training on how to address the media, clients... I never thought, Im being reined in or being censored. I work for them. Now this type of stuff is of a more personal nature obviously. But that doesn't mean there isn't room to improve.

But this implies Mackie said or did something inadvisable. I don’t believe he did. The last thing I want Disney to be doing is wasting resources on “improving” the free speech of actors who are just speaking their mind, as is their right. Some will go too far, say something egregious, and face the consequences, which is fine by me. But if all we’re talking about are a few innocuous and inconsequential remarks about a fictional character, the onus should be on the audience to regulate their emotions rather than on the speaker to regulate what they say.

 

[Agent H]

Well I saw the interview made buzz feed I couldn’t find the url so I can’t link the article but the person who wrote it was totally with me on this topic

 

[erasure fan1]

Is it that the wording isn't great, or is it that this is a snippet taken from a larger thought? This is why you can't just take this or any clip at face value. A well thought out well worded response can be chopped up to say anything. Again no amount of PR training can combat that.

I'd say poorly worded. The article I saw it in had the transcript and the clip I saw was like 6min+. So I got what he was trying to say, he just didn't say it terribly well. If you take the first part of the statement and change a few words, there's no headline. So I think he could have made the same point, as others have pointed out, and not had an easy sound bite for the out to get Disney squad. And I do understand it's not a guarantee of anything. It just seems to me that Disney makes it fairly easy for this kind of situation to happen.

 

[Disney Irish]

Well I saw the interview made buzz feed I couldn’t find the url so I can’t link the article but the person who wrote it was totally with me on this topic

Here is the article you're referring to -

We Need To Talk About Anthony Mackie As "Captain America"

"I think you're misunderstanding what Mackie is saying."

www.buzzfeed.com

 

[Agent H]

Here is the article you're referring to -

We Need To Talk About Anthony Mackie As "Captain America"

"I think you're misunderstanding what Mackie is saying."

www.buzzfeed.com

Thanks how did you find the url?

 

[MagicMouseFan]

Here is the article you're referring to -

We Need To Talk About Anthony Mackie As "Captain America"

"I think you're misunderstanding what Mackie is saying."

www.buzzfeed.com

Now is buzzfeed a blog or is this journalism?

 

[Disney Irish]

I'd say poorly worded. The article I saw it in had the transcript and the clip I saw was like 6min+. So I got what he was trying to say, he just didn't say it terribly well. If you take the first part of the statement and change a few words, there's no headline. So I think he could have made the same point, as others have pointed out, and not had an easy sound bite for the out to get Disney squad. And I do understand it's not a guarantee of anything. It just seems to me that Disney makes it fairly easy for this kind of situation to happen.

I disagree, I think he said it perfectly when viewing the whole quote for the question asked, what the character means to him personally. The quote even expands to him taking about childhood and what being an actor means.

Taken out of context with just that ~10 second snippet completely changes the meaning. If a different question was asked, say "What does Captain America mean to America", then maybe I could agree it would be worded poorly. But in this context of the whole quote and being asked what the character means to him personally, I think its worded perfectly.

 

[Disney Irish]

Now is buzzfeed a blog or is this journalism?

Says right on top of the article -

"This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views."

But in general I would consider Buzzfeed as tabloid "journalism", heavy on the tabloid.