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Let’s do the news upfront. Universal Studios has decided to cancel the release of their film The Hunt. The recent mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH have caused the studio concern considering the content of the film. The story of the film revolves around an elite hunting club of stereotypical globalist leftist elites hunting 12 stereotypical conservatives, or “deplorables” as they’re called.
It should go without saying, but I feel it needs to be said before I delve into some of the politics, that the actions of these two monsters should be equally condemned, studied, and sought to be prevented from happening again. We will not discuss the methods of prevention, but we will discuss some of the politics and media reactions.
There is a lot of debate about the political motivations of the shooters. The El Paso shooter seemed to be an eco-terrorist with leftist beliefs mixed with white supremacy. The media has focused on his racist tendencies while ignoring some of his more left-leaning ideas or the fact he states that his views on immigration predate Trump. The Dayton shooter, on the other hand, was a self-described leftist with Satanic beliefs. His motivations are less clear considering his victims included his own sister and the location seems to have had no social or political significance.
Both sides of the political spectrum are filled with hypocrites, but one side does dominate news and entertainment media. That allows them to guide the narrative. That is seen in the news coverage of the recent tragedies and which facts about the shooters they discuss or ignore. This inherent bias and hypocrisy has both sides constantly calling for things to be canceled or people to be fired.
So what was Universal’s fear? Were they afraid they could upset a right-leaning person who would take revenge? Were they afraid of a boycott generated by the calls from right-leaning pundits? Or did they seriously feel the timing was insensitive? We may never know the specifics, but I do know that cancel-culture is a bad thing. The constant threat of boycotts and demands for firings and cancellations by people who are displeased with a company, its products, or a person’s comments hinders free speech and expression. It keeps artists from expressing themselves out of fear they’ll never get work again. I believe people should have the right to protest and boycott, but I think it’s better if you just don’t consume what you don’t like.
This film should have been released, and if a group wanted a rebuttal film where the roles were switched so be it. The answer to speech you disagree with has always been, and will always be, more speech. The biggest positive from this movie’s situation is that it is self-censorship and nothing dictated by any level of government.
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