Are we being unfair to Chris Pratt?
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- For several years now Chris Pratt has been dubbed "The Worst Chris" in Hollywood. It seems to have been accepted by so many but... why? And is it a fair assessment?
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*PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING:*
1) I feel that it's worth noting that I myself am not religious, was not raised in any religion (wasn't even raised to be atheist), and do not have anything I feel I could label as "religious trauma." So anyone whose distaste for Pratt is rooted in how religion (especially Evangelical Christian religion) has directly harmed them, I absolutely will not argue that you're wrong to do so. I'm not about to invalidate anyone's religious trauma or how they are moving forward with their lives from that.
2) Lots of people directed me to his social accounts (mainly Instagram) and who Pratt follows. In hindsight I should have gone into this if only because it is clearly something that is cited as a cause of people's dislike of him, however what I found upon looking into it does nothing to alter my point in the last leg of the video. As to what I did find, here we go: Pratt follows a number of conservative politicians and influencers such as Ben Sasse, The Babylon Bee, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Fox Business, and Bret Baier. However, most noting this appear to be ignoring that he also follows a number of democrats such as Gavin Newsom, Eric Garcetti, and of course a massive number of liberal movie and tv stars (not all of whom he's worked with). I won't say his social media follows mean nothing, but he follows more accounts related to golf than right wing politics, and at most it gives some *possible* insight into his mindset only, which again leaves my closing points intact.
3) Some have brought up Pratt's brother (who appears to be more outwardly right wing), and as someone with close relatives I *deeply* disagree with on political matters, I'm loath to condemn someone based only on such association. Others may feel different.
Vera❤
Oh you are wise and wonderful! Thank you x
I appreciate you saying this, because even the clarifications he made sound exactly like Evangelical Christianese that's designed to lower your defenses without changing anything substantial. Namely:
1) Many many many anti-queer churches will say they "don't hate gay people" or are welcome here," when what they mean is, "But we expect them to repent of their gayness once they're here, or they're not in good standing with the church."
2) Even that, "Religion is oppressive as f*ck," quote sounds a lot like, "True Christianity isn't a religion because religion is about man trying to reach God. We have a relationship with Jesus."
And neither of those really helps me.
something you missed in this video which has been covered by other channels the Kavenacle being one i recommend is who he follows on social media a host of far right conservative politicians and Prager U. also that his brother is apart (potentially the founder) of a far right pro police group that Chris Pratt has openly supported by wearing their merch
While I do agree I believe it's wrong to make assumptions about Pratt.
The Kavernacle did a video on Pratt that also addressed Pratt’s support for his brother who is involved in the 3 Precenters, including Pratt wearing the clothing with their logo on it.
Just looked them up. Yikes!
As much as I love and will forever defend Chris Evans out of all the Chris’s, it’s so weird to see Chris Pratt go from a beloved and highly respected actor of the 2010s to a weirdly controversial and hated actor for being religious, which I personally don’t care about how religious he is, and also being hated for some proof less BS like being a Trump supporter, I also find it funny how Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber don’t get hate from attending the same church as Pratt. Alex Russo is safe and alright to attend that church, but Star-Lord gets hated and despised by the internet for attending that same church she attends.
(I’m not saying that we should hate Selena Gomez, I’m just pointing out how weird it is to see Selena’s not getting hated on for attending the same church as Chris Pratt).
I think it’s weird Pratt got the hate what Zachary Levi is the one who has made boarder line faith based propaganda movies not even artsy Paul Schrader crisis of faith movies
okay then screw them all for going to that church ☺️
Thank you for this take, I think it's very fair to all sides of this topic. From what I can tell, the man is probably your typical "centrist" guy who has some conservative inclinations, but also has a live and let live attitude in general. As a result he probably tolerates some bigotry among those in his circle that we wouldn't like, but he's not himself much of a threat to us. And since he's never actually said or done (as far as I can tell) anything to hurt the LGBT community, or advocated against us, I do think that the internet's hatred of him has been unfair.
Tolerating bigotry is the opposite of a centrist
@@Ruthy101 In order for white guys to be friends with other white guys they will always have to tolerate some bigotry and misogyny.
The cynic in me says that he could be anti-queer, but doesn't act on it because it would be bad for his career. And I can live with that. If he keeps it hidden than it's not infecting other people. Of course, he could also support queer causes but not want to alienate his conservative fans.
@@philopharynx7910 if he was I can’t see Dave Bautista openly supporting him
@@c17sam90 I can see it if he's quiet about it. People are different around different people. You act differently around your parents than you do out with old buddies. I don't knowm I just listed this as a possibility. I expect that he's largely neutral to LGBT people.
Thanks for the video, really refreshing and enjoyable. I will say I think there is another aspect which isn't to do with Chris Pratt himself. You noted that there's been quite a full throated defence of him from people he works with- that being largely in response to the "one Chris must go" twitter poll where Chris Pratt started trending because everyone picked him. I remember seeing people online annoyed by his colleagues defending him over something as trivial as that, because it was seen in contrast with a perceived silence from those colleagues over the misogyny directed towards Scarlett Johansson and (especially) Brie Larson, which was far more serious. I think there was this anger over Pratt being perceived as protected by Marvel, whereas Scarlett and Brie were hung out to dry.
Exactly this! I saw him as a bit boring for sure and always thought the other Chrises had way more charisma and talent, but though I did despise his character in gotg (otherwise a totally bizarre and fun movie, just not his character), Pratt himself never really bothered me until that meme about "least favourite Chris" got around and he got defended by high ranking Hollywood players. He suddenly exemplified that if you are a white dude with connections, you have privilege and support beyond anyone and anything and even silly jokes pointing out he was not quite as hot and talented as three other people named Chris was taken more seriously than actual freaking threats to life and safety. And he has all that defence and privilege depite, like mentioned in this bit, being the one trick pony, just clearly extremely average, both in looks and talent.
(And I am not saying average to be mean, it's just... like kinda obvious, like objectively. They make jokes comparing him to Hemsworth, they are aware, it may even be why some got so defensive.)
Yes, this has a lot to do with it I think! It was absolutely infuriating to watch them all act as if saying, "hey this guy seems kinda sus" was the worst thing any actor had ever been exposed to, while Brie was getting absolutely ripped to shreds for her body language and called every name under the sun.
To be honest though, I don't see why he gets so much more hate than Jeremy Renner, who is actively worse in every conceivable way.
I am a Quaker, a member of a far LEFT church that's been around since the mid sixteen hundreds and has an active lobbying group called FCNL. Quakers as a faith have also been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I get that we somehow don't get very much attention or acknowledgement, but we're an organized part of the religious left.
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is a married gay British Quaker with a kid who has in my opinion brought a lot more awareness to what Quakers are in the best possible way. It isn't really something we really hear about much in Europe otherwise. We even managed to get infested with Mormons somehow, even though the few ones I have met were way more chill than the American ones.
Wow that's super interesting! I'm from Europe i know nothing about Quakers whatsoever which is really a shame since i teach religious education. Off to do some research!
@@bacul165 We pop up everywhere! We're even one of the reasons people stopped using thou, thee, thy, and thine!
@@nymphrodellsalavin Impressive ;)
Have a good evening!
That was the first thing that I thought of when Vera said “religious left“. I am not a Quaker (or a believer), but when someone defends something bad from the past by saying “well that’s just how it was back then, nobody thought there was anything wrong with that“, it usually turns out that Quakers were publicly saying “this os not ok” at the time. Often with social consequences, and sometimes with an actual risk to their physical safety.
I don’t know what goes down on the inside, and no group or individual is perfect, or but that long a history of standing up for the right thing is something I admire.
I believed the other parts that wasn't covered here, because they weren't queer related issues, that seems to cause the shift were
1. Anna Faris' remark on her divorce in an episode of her podcast. Her remark was vague and mostly about herself. But the gossip rags made conjecture about that nonetheless. I don't recall she made any other clarification and then it's no longer news of the week.
2. Pratt's made a happy birthday statement to his current wife, which include the phrase that she gave him a healthy child. That's a different kind of issue that I am not equip to discuss. This was the latest one that I recalled. And I feel some people scrutinized this too much as this came after 4-5 "missteps" in PR that Pratt seems to have made.
PS: In his response to Elliott calling him out he included that the church supported and accepting him during his divorce. Personally, that was a weird thing to include when asked whether his church was homophobic or not.
He later made another post about his wife that came across like he was objectifying her. It just felt gross.
Hi I know this comment is super old but I think I may know a possible answer to your PS. In my mind, bringing up that his church supported him during his divorce can be seen as somewhat related to homophobic callouts within the Christian community. Many conservative churches are against divorce, regardless of the reason behind it. These same churches are also against gay marriage no matter what. In the Christian community, acceptance of the church can be perceived as a more 'liberal' idea.
Obviously I don't know this for sure, but if I had to guess, I would say Chris brought up his divorce as reasoning evidence that his church isn't conservative and therefore homophobic. However, he probably didn't realize that those dots wouldn't be connected, considering they have no connection if you're using an outsider's perspective.
I don't know how well I explained that but that's my two cents on the matter.
I'm glad you made this. In Chris's defense about the church thing, if I were a celebrity I wouldn't necessarily want to make it public knowledge what church I attended. The way Elliott called him out--which seemed to turn the grumblings from the award show into outrage--is completely bizarre to me given that he DIDN'T go to that church. I wonder what that was all about?
Thanks for this explanation. When this first started circulating, I thought “worst Chris” referred to people’s feelings on his acting. But then increasingly heard remarks about “controversies” and how he was a garbage human being, but never heard what he actually did. I think there’s so much hatred out in the world right now that we need to be so very careful before casually adding to it. Unless he’s out there adding fuel to the fire, let this man be. If we’re truly trying to hold someone to account, then it needs to be for something hateful they have done or said, not for beliefs we think they hold in their heart.
I didn't realize he didn't actually attend the homophobic church. Nevertheless, I can't help but have a bad taste in my mouth about him. I grew up as an evangelical Christian (which I am very much not anymore), and when I see someone turn something nonreligious into a chance to proselytize, it feels like a red flag. Especially the way he went about it felt akin to my experience of people within that very harmful side of Christianity.
What that actually means is that im less likely to bother with his films or I'll enter with lower expectations, perhaps unfairly but I don't think so. Whether hese worth the effort I can't say, but it's also not something I have much control over.
He attends ZOE church run by Chad Veach who is homophobic…
Poor Chris O'Dowd. He never manages to become a Chris.
Or Chris O'Donnell
I think it's easy for those of us with religiously inflicted trauma to make assumptions about people who are religious, particularly when they're from the religions that inflicted that trauma.
And the LGBTQ+ community has a LOT of religiously inflicted trauma.
I come down on the line of “I will not defend or invest my money into anyone with a religion”. I just can’t, my trauma is too real still.
@@intouchdm Does this extend to all religions? There are plenty of religions that do not have anything in their doctrine that can be considered homophobic. It sounds unfairly prejudiced to judge all religions in this way. The Dharmic Religions for example (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism) have next to no mentions of homosexuality, and actually within the three Vedic texts (which are central in Hinduism), they mention and celebrate people of the "third gender" and have had explicitly trans characters written into their mythology for thousands of years. Not all religions are cut from the same cloth. It's mainly the Abrahamic religions that explicitly mention homosexuality in their texts (Christianity, Islam, and Judaish).
Pratt is the best of the Chrises. He’s the most talented, the funniest and the most versatile
@@KrazyJoesConcessionStand pretty sure Evans is the most versatile Chris. He can play Pratt character style immature douchebags (unlovable and lovable) inside and outside comedy, he can play creepy/scary roles, he can play wholesome straight laced do-gooders, etc. Watching his roles feels like watching different people, and not variations of the same character. Pine is probably second, and I genuinely have no idea where Hemsworth is on this list. I haven't seen him in much outside of the role of Thor, unlike Evans, Pratt, and Pine, I think. I probably have only seen him in Ghostbusters and that Men in Black movie.
@@KrazyJoesConcessionStand I think most talented goes between either Chris Evans or Chris Pine, both are Oscar caliber dramatic actors, and they can do comedy and action. I've yet to see a good Chris Pratt dramatic performance. Not so say he doesn't have it in him, he just hasn't shown that yet.
Your insights were fantastic and it's nice to hear somebody approach this from a well rounded pov. I think people who have the strongest reactions to CP are probably those who have had religious trauma in the past. Coming to terms with my own and recognizing the church for what it is has taken a lot of support and the entirety of my twenties. I can only imagine trying to figure that out while having the whole world casting judgment on me.
It was an excellent point about President Trump and saying the quiet part out loud, and wonderfully contrasted with our older mentality of "if they aren't hurting you, they don't have to like you." That cognitive dissonance is going to keep me up at night, thank you.
I love your vids and watch every council episode and most break room episodes
I do think the whole “worst Chris” thing is a bit much. I mean, regardless of one’s personal feelings on the man, Chris Columbus? Way worse
If I recall, the “Best/Worst Chris” thing was a Twitter poll for fun, and some people on both sides of the fence about him radicalized it. For me personally, he’s kinda cringey…some of his Instagram posts, like the one where he’s bragging about his wife worshipping him while he does the bare minimum, are just weird (and that’s not even getting into mentioning the “healthy daughter” part, which some viewed as a snub to Anna Faris and his son). And yeah, his type of acting and the characters he plays just aren’t for me. All the other Chrises are just more interesting by comparison (and Chris Pine especially after how iconic he was doing press for Don’t Worry Darling).
Yeah it started as a fun Twitter poll, Chris Pratt lost, and then half the Avengers cast banded around him to say he was actually the best Chris and that they didn't stand for bullying, to which the Internet complained that the Avengers cast hadn't done the same for the likes of Brie Larson.
So rather than call out the Avengers cast for defending Pratt over a silly joke rather than defending Larson over sexism and abuse, the Internet just sort of doubled down on calling Pratt "the worst Chris".
Yeah the whole "healthy daughter" thing really soured him for me. Not that I was a big fan of his in the first place.
Exactly. My feelings about Pratt on the religion issue are pretty much aligned with what @Council of Geeks said: from what I've been able to gather, there's no real evidence of him ever doing anything that would actively harm LGBTQIA people, so I never really held any negative feelings towards him regarding religion. The "healthy daughter" post, however, made me cringe hard at just how insensitive it came off towards Anna and Jack and how he seemed to admit that his current wife invested more into their marriage than he did. When he was called out on that, I really wished he had made an effort to own up to how tone-deaf the post sounded, and the fact that he didn't really soured me on him.
@@iamceilingcatOG His latest happy birthday post to Jack does seem to be in response, in the sense that he makes a point about how much he loves him seemingly to show people he wasn't snubbing him.
Ya, I’ve just never been a fan and I don’t think he’s funny. The movies I like that he’s part of are all animated so I can dissociate him from them to a degree. The other stuff just feels like validation that I maybe sensed something off about him, I guess?
This was a fabulous look! The hair, the jewelry, the makeup, the SPECTACULAR dress/shirt? 👌
Looks amazing!
There was also a mild ableism incident that didn't really help him either. His son he had with ex wife Anna Faris had some developmental issues due to pregnancy complications. they have never been specifically stated but it is just implied that his son with Anna has issues in reaching certain childhood milestones than other children because he was born 9 week premature. When Chris posted the announcement of the birth of his daughter with current wife Katherine Schwarzenegger he said in the caption the word "healthy". People knowing the issues his son had felt this was stating that he was bragging that Katherine birthed a better child and that he was kind of shitting on Anna for having a difficult pregnancy with complications and stuff. I dunno what specifically it was but I think the specific use of the word "healthy" felt ableist in the moment because of the developmental issues his son has implying that he feels his son is not a healthy child. That was a whole thing for a while. Like I don't think he meant it to be ableist I think it was just him not thinking about the impact of certain words and stuff and context so I think it's more stupidity than ableism. I think it's more of a case of him not realising that stating that your new born child is "healthy" after your previous child was born with complications after a difficult pregnancy is kind of douchey. I think he's just an idiot rather than an actually harmful person who does bad things. I think he's just a bit of a dumbass.
This was one I thought of too! as was said in the video..... we dont know how the guy is in real life. but based on his body of work and how it lacks range......I would ascribe one of my mums favorite words to him 'Gormless' ....... as though he posts and speaks without editing or considering the splash zone. Saying 'God is real' was most likely him just sharing his belief and thinking nothing of it......Not addressing it once it started a brush fire...thats on him! also Gormless in posting 'a healthy Baby' in the excitement of the moment -again not thinking! I dunno I like his work in GOTG and will continue to enjoy it -I pride myself on being able to separate performance from performer- am I a huge Fan? nope! will I ever be? nope! But of all the toxic 'celebrities' out there who live on their soapboxes....I dont think he registers.
I don't think any human alive would survive that level of scrutiny
@@ajbartley3432 yeah. He's an idiot but he's fundamentally harmless. And yeah I'm not his biggest fan in general. He's not really my vibe but like i wouldn't wish bad things on him. He's just an average actor who is a bitnstupid and doesn't think.before he speaks.
I think he was happy the baby was alive, since when was saying one good word a bad thing. Grow up ffs
@@dowogenesthedog7186 people liked him when he was married to Anna Faris and they felt a lot for them when they were going through what they did with their son. They feel he married for power and status when he married Katherine cus of who her father is and I dunno like i said it was a whole thing for a time. I mean if I was Anna and having to raise a child with developmental issues as a single mother and say my ex husband with his shiny new wife showing off his new daughter with that wife and bragging at how healthy and beautiful that child is in comparison to a son with developmental issues I would feel put out.
I have very genuinely mixed feelings regarding Chris Pratt. I really was a big fan of his during Parks and Recreation. So when the issues began around his faith and church started, it did send up some huge red flags for me. You see, like many LGBTQ people, I was raised as an Evangelical Christian and that has been a source of a great deal of pain and even estrangement from some family and friends. But as you have noted what Pratt says and does is far more important than what I may assume. I wish it were possible to have a one on one conversation with him just to understand where he is coming from and hopefully so he could understand where so many LGBTQ people are coming from. And, I will say that James Gunn's endorsement of him is the one thing that makes me willing to give Pratt the benefit of the doubt.
I have to admit this is the first time I’m thinking about him, but I grew up in a deeply conservative church as well where homosexuality was unambiguously condemned. It wasn’t until I was an adult that any of these views were challenged when I actually met people from this community. And I had to really battle against all that had been drummed into me from before I could even speak. Obviously, I don’t know this man or what’s in his heart, but I would hope he gets a chance to work through whatever hatefulness MIGHT have been ingrained into his faith without the entirety of the Internet hating him.
May I ask why James Gunn's endorsement somehow makes things better?
I do very much appreciate your point of judging someone on their actions, not their thoughts.
My knee-jerk reaction to someone being so openly religious and church-going ís to assume that they are probably conservative and/or right-wing.
But even if that was the case, so what, as long as their actions don't harm us... Valid point.
By design, most religions are conservative. Because they don't change with the times.
If you believe the same thing someone a thousand years ago did, you don't incorporate new information that's come to light since then (science, new philosophy about morals, even just realising slavery is bad) you're obviously conservative.
New religions/new churches can be liberal, left-leaning, even open-minded, but every day they last they get more and more conservative just because they don't change
Excellently worded. Polarisation and generalisation based on unsupported assumptions; I guess it's possible that the claims about Chris Pratt are true, but to me, this whole thing feels like a case of people scrambling for evidence to support their theory rather than considering the facts and drawing a conclusion from that.
Really good video. You summed up nicely what I've been thinking.
I was raised in a baptist town. I left the church as a teenager. I have a strong dislike for Christianity. However, I have many people in my life who I love and care for who are Christian. And the often see things very differently to me. Had some awkward and/or difficult conversations, especially with those in older generations. But they are ultimately supportive myself and I of them. Despite our differences. As things have come up about Chris Pratt over the years I have looked at what was going on, and like you, not found anything concrete that he has done wrong, many overblown headlines, and what read to me as misunderstandings and people talking past each other. Like you raised, he does a lot of good, and is not attacking or actively seeking to make the lives of others worse. I have an ever growing list of people I am cutting out of my life, religious and not, because their actions are harmful to me and others. But I'm not going to judge people for what a tabloid headline says they might think. I guess, like you, that isn't worth my energy.
I think a lot of people resent him, too, because a lot of people came to his defense, a lot of actors and highup people, contrasting what happened with the actress for Rose from star wars or brie larson. Like I remember basically no one came to speak out for them, but everyone defended him.
Which I wholeheartedly agree is messed up and a problem... but I can't think of that as being his actual fault. It's the fault of everybody who didn't say anything about Larson (so basically everybody except Don Cheadle) yet jumped to his defense. It's a condemnation of the overall culture of Hollywood.
The problem was when Larson first got a lot of hate no one in marvel who was actively working and on social media bar Samuel L Jackson had actually worked with her so they didn’t know her as person or socially. If you look when they all defended Pratt they all defended him as a friend first co worker second. If your not friends with someone or you barley know them is it your responsibility to defend them because it will just look weird and like your being told to. Also we don’t know if people asked them not to etc. Samuel L Jackson by doing that film she directed basically defended her through working with her.
I've never understood why anyone thinks Brie Larson is treated unfairly. If someone said they didn't want to hear any black women's opinion on a movie, wouldn't that be racist and sexist?
So how was it not ageist, racist and sexist when she said she didn't want to hear any old white man's opinion on Captain Marvel? Seems to me there *shouldn't* be anyone defending Brie Larson and I don't get why anyone thinks there should be.
This video reminds me of something I've been told about the Italian musical scene back in the 60s and 70s.
At the time, it was pretty common for leading artist to lean left, but some popular singers didn't follow that trend, with their songs being mostly focused on apolitical topics, such as romance - hence the suspicion they may have been right wingers or even f..., despite no specific hint in that direction.
Anyways, I agree with your closing remarks, Vera - marginalized groups and their allies have much bigger fish to fry than someone that, so far, has done nothing substantial to harm them and their rights, regardless of their beliefs.
It’s also worth making the distinction between “religious” and “Christian”
There are indeed megachurches here in Canada (wasn't able to respond to someone in the chat during the premiere who said we don't have megachurches, so thought I'd put it here).
Great level-headed bit, Vera 👌
You have no idea how much I appreciate you being real with people and saying "not everybody is going to like and accept us".
I would say I agree with you. Judge someone not on what they may think, but on what they do. And thank you for doing all this research.
I always felt that with some of Chris Pratts comments we were at like 2 orange flags at the most. Which when the likes of Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, James Corden, apologies for that one as a Brit I feel very sorry we let him unto the world, have so many and different actual red flags why the hate on Chris
I think you are spot-on about people assuming religious = Christian = Evangelical Christian with right-wing politics because of the realities of U.S. politics and the horrific merger of fundamentalist Christianity and the GOP.
I found Pratt's "healthy child" remark a lot more alienating than anything about his religion, but while I'm queer, I was raised more or less Episcopalian and don't have queer-associated religious trauma.
as a Christian and a Theologian I am deep sorry for everyone who has faced, dealt with or anyway effected by Religious trauma. It is very real and very painful, and I am deeply sorry that those claiming the faith I do believe in has been so monstrous and antithetical to what the faith is about, has harmed anyone. I believe in your stories and I can only offer that there are those trying to fix this. I am truly sorry to each and everyone of you.
That's nice to say, but actions count more. What are you doing to keep this from happening in the future? Also, if harming people is antithetical to what your faith is about then why is history filled with people using Christianity as an excuse to oppress others? When people started asking, "If God hears our prayers, why do we need the Church?" the Church persecuted them. What's changed? Why does anyone need any Church?
@@Alverant well I am trying get the message by my very limited way boosting voices like Dr. Rev. William Barber. I have a tiny podcast explaining why the evangelicals are misinterpreting what is in the Bible especially about LGBTQ+ . I try when I have money support many different voices in not just the LGBTQ+ community but People of color as well. I also agree with you that Bible has been used for it lifetime to justify horrible acts of violence and oppression and the church as the monolith it is today shouldn’t be. Jesus was to break the chains of religion not forge new ones. Faith was always supposed to be personal and not governed by just a few. Is my faith without it faults, no. There’s a supposed quote from Gandhi that goes “I like your Jesus person but I am not sure of it followers.” Humans fuck up and pull higher things to it’s level sadly that cause many they claim it’s faith to just simply listen to someone that claims Authority to tell others how to think. When in truth Jesus taught the faithful to question and be critical of anyone claiming the faith. Finally I live by the story told in Matthew 25:31-46. “As you did it to one of least of my brothers you did it to me”
It's pretty telling that most of the people who are that awful are usually extremely ignorant about their own religion, including its historic context. "There's no hate like Christian love" is a saying because so many Christians are whackadoodles who would even crucify their own Christ for being such a "communist" (nope) dark-skinned semite hippie.
@@Alverant Would you say that to anyone who had their family do the very exact same thing to them?
It's a group of people. They seek to do things because they have power. Humans are horrible beings and when given a chance, they'll abuse. A church is no different than any other group of humans.
Yet if I tell you my biological father hurt and stalked me for years, someone like you will feed me the BS that I MUST forgive them because they're my family. And it's disgusting. But the church is fair game because you've got enough books on it. I don't consider myself religious anymore but I find the way people shrug off these things but dig their heels in for another very strange.
Shut up. The only apology anyone wants is from someone who hurt them. An organization disappearing overnight doesn't do anything and doesn't take the pain away. And honestly, NOTHING gets the nightmares to stop. Nothing makes it better. We all look for a way to heal. And you going after someone who didn't hurt anyone? You're just a piece of shit. You really are.
I was listening to Anna Farris's podcast while she was married to Pratt and sometime after and for her part she never took him to task about anything. When they were together he'd show up sometimes and sit down on the show sometimes. There was never the impression either of them were all that religious. It seems to be something that has become more a part of his personality since meeting Katherine Schwarzenegger.
In the past, your breakdowns have been very nuanced, transparent, and, I feel, fair. This was no exception to that. As much as we would like everyone to think and feel the "right way," we don't live in that world, and actions are really what matter. I thank you for making that point about coping with the human race we actually have and directing our efforts where they will be most effective.
@@BradLad56 What do you mean?
I'm always sus of any religious organization that doesn't readily have statements of belief or organizational documents. I shouldn't have to dig into an org's constitution to figure out their "All are welcome" mission statment is a bait and switch
I really appreciate the nuance you've brought. I've been guilty of piling on dislike for him without doing any research. I think remembering that actions far more than internal beliefs are what we should be looking at is a good reminder.
I do really appreciate your nuanced take on this as someone who is a very left leaning Christian. My faith doesn't keep me from my beliefs and other than the older conservative people in my family I find plenty of left leaning people in church. I do live in Canada where we tend to be more left in general but if I got a dollar for every time I was in a Bible Study when someone was like "just to make sure we're on the same page about being queer" and the relief after I nod. Not to say it still doesn't happen but one does not equal the other.
There's actually a really cool group my friend in New York runs that's called Kaleidescope that's a safe place for queer people of faith and they go to pride with signs saying "I'm sorry Christians didn't stand with you"
I think Chris Pratt mostly suffers from foot-in-mouth disease. He'd probably benefit from hiring a PR team (or getting a new one if he already has one).
Very interesting Video-Essay 🤔💙
I would mostly agree with the final stretch of the video, as in one has to be prepared to find some compromise between building a better world for LGBTQIA+ folks and accepting the fact that not everyone will feel the same way you do...
I just wanted to add that silence is not always better than vocal hate (this doesn't just apply for homophobia, but also racism, sexism ec.). Sometimes societal silence about certain topics can be a lot more harmful than a small minority of vocal hatred. Now this is not me trying to undermine the importance of standing up against blank hatred, I think especially people in the public eye have a responsibility not to oppress minorities, and a small group of radical activists can definitely inflict great damage, however, as I have mentioned, silence is not always better.
Anyway, just thought I should mention that, I love this format you have of slightly longer videos, where you take the time to delve deeper into these topics, one can really see the effort you put into them 😁👍
I'm queer, I'm religious and leftist, so the kind of biased judgemental prejudice with the lack of any substantive evidence behind it that this entire situation seems to stem from really upsets me. Pratt has always beem my favorite because he seems like the most easy going and fun loving. But then again I was always very 'meh' about the whole 'hot Chris' hype. EVen without being ace blonde white athletic is such a f*cking boring type I am genuinely puzzled people are still into it. I wish a broader population would finally start employing the two brain cells neessary for critical thinking instead of basing all their opinions on prejudice. (I'm sorry for the word vomit, I'm just really, upset v_v)
One thing I will say that doesn't aide Pratt is he has kind of an Amy Schumer / Jim Carrey -like presence in movies, and by that I mean I've noticed people tend to love him or hate him.
While watching Onward one of my friends said "ughh... I hope this movie doesn't overdo it with the Chris Pratt." That adds fuel to the fire.
Pratt isn't a member of the Hillsong Church (which was the assumption for years?) so people should be very careful about declaring this person has this belief unless they've heard it stated, specifically. By and large Pratt seems mostly a class act and pretty apolitical. I think social media has been very unfair to him: "the worst of the chrises" how? Do we know what Chris Pine believes? Or Hemsworth? Evans is the outspoken liberal of the four. I'd say all four are comparable actors.
And people should be much more careful about what they "think they know" about someone's beliefs: Pratt's involvement with Hillsong reeks of Pizzagate. He denies ever attending that church, nor are their any viable reports he did. He says he goes to the Zoe Church in Los Angeles.
Finally, I'll add, for questioning the accusations against Pratt when this whole Hillsong thing started, someone accused me of "defending ch!ld m0lesters." Wow.
I had no idea the Hillsong things was just a misunderstanding. Thanks for diving into things like that
The Taylor swift thing is her team kept telling her don’t be like the Dixie chicks because of what they said politics wise so keep out of it. She thought she had to as she just a pop singer but she couldn’t let it slide anymore and spoke more about it. It’s in her documentary.
This was also around the same time Taylor was getting cancelled over the Kimye debacle. She's spoken at length about how hurt she was by that and how scared she was of another controversy. She was getting so much hate that she actually thought endorsing Hillary would hurt her chances of getting elected. Just goes to show that there's a lot more to her decision not to speak out earlier than just her own political views.
I don't know the guy so I can't speak for his personal beliefs. For the most part he seems like a decent guy. He's not causing upset on twitter like Gina Carano. As you pointed out his charity donations seem decent enough.
I know you don't want this to be the celebrity drama channel and honestly I don't like celebrity drama either. But when something does kick off I'm always glad to see your level-headed take on the situation.
Unrelated but your makeup is GORGEOUS in this video!
Wait...Did you just make a “This Is Cancel Culture Gone Mad” video?
I don't think so. Though this is probably as close as I'll ever get to that.
I'm part of the catholic church. In my country that can mean anything in the political spectrum from far left to far right, usually with those (non-priests) who are active in their communities (as opposed to just go to church on sundays) leaning to the left. For myself it means i got to know awesome people like the "Nuns for human rights" who campaign for the rights of the poor, women and LGBTQI+ people, inside the church and in general.
I believe right wing christianity is a contradiction in itself. Like, these people seem to imagine a completly different Jesus from the one i read about in my bible.
I think the most damning case against Pratt is his brother's connection to the Three Percenters, a far right militant group that's connected to the Jan 6 capitol attack, and his support of that brother.
There was also the time he seemed to imply he preferred his newborn "healthy" child over his previous one, who had developmental issues, but that seemed more like bad wording than intentional ableism.
That, and the religious ties, are the only reasons I can think of for people to HATE him.
Beyond that it seems like a collection of multiple reasons to mildly dislike the guy that have coalesced together into people going way too hard into hating him.
1) Breaking up with his partner of many years upset people, but that's a personal issue between them
2) The fact that all it took was an internet poll about Worst Chrises to make his costars defend him, yet the horrific misogyny and threats experienced by Brie Larson didn't warrant that
3) Him being given the role of Mario making people who support VAs angry
The correlation between Christianity and the right in America is so bizarre to me as a Christian, since the vast, vast majority of Christians I know here in New Zealand lie somewhere between far-left and centre-right politically, and I can't really think of any that I personally know who lie right of that. Situation seems radically different in America and it's very hard for me to understand.
The pro-life movement. Prior to the pro-life movement Christians sects were all over the map politcally including a very deep mistrust Catholics on the right. As the decades ticked by the Christian Right were the most effective at opposing at what they viewed as murder, add in the lgbt rights movement which pushed more socially conservative but fiscally liberal Christians over to the right, you end up with an ever increasing monolithic political view of Christianity in America.
Chris Pratt is definitely guilty of passive misogyny, his father's day post basically said that most children have too much of a feminine influence on them and that we need more dads. Where there is misogyny there is homophobia, but i do agree that as long as he isnt using his platform to actively hurt marginalized ppl things should be ok.
In regard to 22:10, you can actually see that Pratt follows certain conservative politicians and also Ben Shapiro on Instagram. So that was a red flag to me. But I agree with you that he doesn’t need to be “cancelled” until he actually does something. That being said, he’s still my least favorite Chris lol
Same
The problem is people assume all Christians hate LGBTQIA+. Unfortunately some do, but not everyone, in fact there are loads of queer Christians. Chris is perfectly able to share his faith and shouldn't have been sent down for it because of the connotations that some people go to which he has never spoke out about
Great video! I would also mention that when people talk about Chris Pratt, they also do note some like…questionable? attire he chose to wear (was it a 3%er hat or something?), his brother, and the people he follows on social media
Honestly, I don’t like…really care? Generally speaking, I don’t cape for actors. I’ve heard too many private first hand stories. However, I do think a lot of it was a sort of…course correction on how hard people were going for him a few years ago, as well as annoyance at what started as a simple joke bringing all of his costars out of the woodwork in a way they hadn’t come out for say, Brie Larson. Also, while I don’t appreciate picking apart people you don’t know just to tear them down, what I CAN sort of dig is pointing this stuff out as a reminder that these people are not your friends and are in fact just Some Guy, and that was most of what I, personally, saw.
Surprised his hunting animals for sport stuff wasn't mentioned at all.
Probably because he generally hunts to eat so if you’re saying that’s bad then you have to say general meat eating is bad
I'd never realised just how baseless these claims were. I had felt a lil unsure on him as I had heard _so_ many people pointing to him as being a right-wing homophobe or sumn, but whilst I didn't look into it quite as much as you did, I'd looked into it and did find an alarmingly low amount of evidence considering the absolute nature of the claims people make
I’ve honestly been feeling a little betrayed by who I consider my people going at things with bad faith. I expect us to be compassionate and critical thinkers and picking and choosing people to take down like Chris Pratt over Selena gomez for their church membership just doesn’t gel with how I feel like we should be.
There was also the issue that he had an account on Parler, a social network dedicated to right-leaning/right-wing audiences. And of course, that website was basically a hub for some very nasty material, and so social media made assumptions that Chris Pratt was somehow a Neo-Fascist or a supporter, but he never posted anything on there, so there's another case of people chasing smoke and not finding a fire.
*Feeding the Algorithm*
But in serious, thank you. I'd known there were issues and that the "recent" stuff had been about religion, but nothing directly from him.
I also appreciate that at the end you pointed out he might not know how to defend himself. Because whenever I think about being in the public eye, and being called out for something. Even in just my imagination it feels like any attempts to clarify or correct would just make it worse.
His quotes you used in the video weren't very evocative so I can see that he might not know what to say.
I agree. I love this video and Vera made a point that sometimes silence can cause some to create a negative/controversial narrative about your beliefs. But then being outspoken about your stance can also cause problems if you're a public figure wanting to avoid being "cancelled". You are damned if you do and damned if you don't unfortunately.
Ok, I'm looking forward to the video, but WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HAIR?? And where do I get one?
You stated your opinion beautifully and I was impressed with your research. You're right. Chris Pratt has not been vocal in hating, laughing at or endorsing others to disrespect and be hurtful to others whether he agrees with what they say/do. I think there are some who believe they are the 'Christian Police'. The only place that exists is in their minds. There is nothing wrong with 'Live and let live'. No one needs to hate on people to prove they're Believers or group members or whatever. Anyway...nicely done Vera!
Another excellent, thought-provoking video.
I hate rumours and assumptions about people. No, that's not quite true.
I _loathe_ rumours and assumptions about people. My marriage was destroyed by that, as people slowly poisoned my (now ex) wife's mind about my parents.
Having seen your video, it occurs to me that these anti-Chris sentiments are based on people who don't so much read between the lines but who will read a blank sheet of paper and complain about all the spelling mistakes they believe you would have written.
Lack of a stance against a something is NOT the same as being pro the something.
"I've never seen you speak out against the destruction of the panda's habitat, therefore you must be for it! I cancel thee, panda murderer!"
It's an utterly ridiculous argument, and yet it is a key fuel for those who want to spread hatred.
I believe you are right, Vera: judge their actions and their words, and don't judge them if they say or do nothing.
Before watching the video my attitude towards him is I dislike him, don't hate him. Him being in everything is more of a nuisance/inconvenience than something that actually makes me mad. Can we say for certain he is homophobic? No but do I think he is the worst Chris? Absolutely. Don't think he should be cancelled or anything. Personally I did my own research and saw he was following Preger U and Ben Shapiro at the time left a bad taste on my mouth since then.
Edit: After watching the video I stand with what I said and I definitely agree that he is not worth the investment of trying to cancel him as he is not actively hurting the community.
Worth Noting Chris Pratt's Brother is a member of the 3 Percenters and he hasn't openly condemned that, otherwise you've made good points in this vid
Not all of us who are religious are right-leaning jerks. And yes, you can be both queer and Christian. I had to do a lot of souls searching before I switched sides, and part of that was discovering my asexuality.
I will say this about Pratt and I’m speaking as someone who left the USA when I see Pratt onscreen I honestly see “America” or at least someone who represents a large part of “America”. I see a someone who may not be the best educated, loves their guns, loves American Christianity which is completely different from European Christianity, white and loves their family a lot. What I do find interesting though is there is an interview he did with Jennifer Lawrence (someone who I feel represents a very similar demographic but at the same time different. That demographic being white American not the most educated but privileged centrist) and she is laughing about how she knocked over scarred rocks to the Hawaiian people by rubbing her ass on them as a scratching post and she then refers to them as stupid. Everyone is laughing but Pratt who doesn’t look amused or like he even finds it funny. And if someone who is as religious as he is can tolerate someone else’s religious views and respect them I do find that interesting in regards to some of the complaints that random people have thrown at him. Also in terms of his supposedly anti gay views Dave Bautista has shown a lot of support for that community because of his mother and I can’t see him being as friendly with Pratt as he seems to be if Pratt was ever openly anti gay.
That all being said and I’ve thought this for years Pratt is the white Will Smith he’s a ok actor with a big personality and due to how he and his team manage his image we won’t ever know fully what he thinks or believes.
Here is my own conjecture with little evident, Pratt said was working and partying in Hawai'i when he was around... 19 y/o I think? Maybe he learn some locals religious believes then.
@@Blue_Lunacy that’s what I’m saying Pratt as a Christian had respect for another culture and Lawrence who was told not to touch the stones did so anyway so she had no respect
@@c17sam90 That's also kinda fit with the Men's Health interview featured in the video. That he wasn't willing to call out churches. When, seriously, some of those mega churches should be called out. But it wasn't his responsibility to do so. Or is it?
As of now, for me, he seems to be neutral force in this matter.
@@c17sam90 Pratt strikes me as someone who is genuinely religious. As in, there's no ulterior motives at all. He's the real deal, and do note I did not say "fundamentalist" or "extremist". In my experience the genuinely religious, regardless of their opinions on the truth of other faiths, at the very least respect them and afford them the same courtesies they would want their own faith shown. While they may not believe a word of that person's beliefs to be true they are very well aware that to those people their beliefs are just as sincerely held as your own.
They don't feel the need to tear down someone elses' faith to make their own seem better. They are well aware that if someone were to do that to them that their own belief would be strengthened, and they'd likely close themselves off from whoever was doing it. Even if your religion is a proseltyzing one(like Christianity), you have no doubts that someone just needs to be exposed to it in their own time in order to give up their "false" beliefs. There's no need for making enemies or for negativity.
Just my observations, anyway.
@@RaptorJesus again this is what I find kind of interesting how some with faith gets almost hate for it but someone who show’s actual disrespect to other people’s faith isn’t controversial for doing so.
Now I'm doing this whole deep dive because I didn't see the June article about Pratt and Hillsong. It still is so weird that he didn't correct anyone until now?
It certainly didn't help that he waited that long to correct it, but since all evidence I could found pointed to it being true that he never went there I don't think it was any kind of "covering his ass" move. It's why I allowed myself a small amount of speculation on that at the end (which I usually try to avoid).
@@CouncilofGeeks totally, it makes me wonder if his pastor at ZOE has been making his separation from Hillsong more clear, since there have been articles with Chris being interviewed where they say he attends Hillsong... I think a little speculation on the side of maybe hoping the best about someone isn't ever a bad idea
The reason I went to, regarding him for not correcting it sooner, is because he's happy and even proud to say he's religious but doesn't want to draw any specific attention to his church of choice. Not in a bad way, more that he wants to keep that part private. Although, going with his Hillsong attachment being a lie (as it appears to be), to me it would've made to clear that up sooner rather than later. Or maybe he and his team thought it would all blow over quickly because it wasn't true. As you say, the articles say he was part of Hillsong, not Chris himself. Or maybe he was a member, became aware of the anti-LGBT+ stuff and left. Just a thought but who knows?
I've never really hated Chris Pratt much, to me, he's just...there. I know to a lot of people he's a representation of what's wrong with celebrity voice actors, but even that's not on him, really.
There have been a few incidents people talk about when they condemn Chris Pratt. One is the dog that "Chris" was fined $5000 dollars for after being found on the streets starving was Anna's and SHE was the one facing a $5000 fine. She knew upfront that their was a fine for re-homing the dog without contacting the shelter she adopted Pete (the dog) from first. My opinion, that's an Anna issue but it's popular to hate on Chris instead.
People can have different political views without being labeled "troubling" or "toxic". I don't agree with everything Republicans think but I don't agree with everything Democrats think either. To hate someone because of the family they married into is just kinda insane to me.
People say they're glad their child is healthy when they're born all the time. There is nothing wrong with that. Just because someone is happy their child is healthy and won't have to face the struggles of a child with issues does not mean that person/parent is bashing their child that does have problems. That argument is ridiculous to me. Parents should want their best for their children.
As for hunting... I dont know enough of Chris' views about it to comment. But I will say, people hunt. People eat the meat. If it's strictly big game hunting (hunting for sport), no I don't agree with that. But hunting in general doesn't make someone a bad person.
And before I get blasted, yeah, I'm a gay male. I have never heard anything Chris Pratt has done or said that I have found offensive or troubling.
It's ok for someone to live God, go to church. If it gives them peace and they aren't hurting anyone, more power to them. The people that complain about the church he goes to doesn't like homosexuals are just being petty because it's popular to hate on him. In my experience NO church likes gay people. Doesn't mean that every church goer hates gay people. And it doesn't mean I don't believe in God. I don't believe God would create a whole group of people with the sole purpose of going to hell. So if you believe in God and believe He created man, and that He is never wrong, then God creating gay people was not "wrong". I'm not overly religious so that's all I really have to say on that subject.
But anyway, Chris Pratt is my favorite Chris.
You make some good points. But the truth is, I cannot think of any Pratt films or
projects I would be interested in seeing. It is often uncanny how I naturally am not interested in the content of many potentially problematic people. There have been a few (like Kevin Spacey) but usually I don't have to worry about boycotting certain people I don't like, like Kevin hart, for example, because I've never seen anything he's been in. So aside from a couple anti-Pratt things which I retweeted, my thinking he thinks X or is problematic doesn't hurt him. I'm not going to go on some big Twitter campaign to go after him unless he does something truly awful. I will say though: That show he did, The Terminal, supposedly checked all of the boxes for rightwing audiences, jingoistic, racial stereotypes etc. If he is concerned about how he is perceived, he may want to think about the message some of his projects send.
You may bring it up I haven’t finished the video yet, but I think there’s also something to how the guy is EVERYWHERE at the moment, most controversial atm of course being Mario. And people are looking for proper reasons to dislike him beyond just subconsciously being annoyed about his presence, especially as you brought up how he’s considered to not have much range
That probably doesn’t help but the “worst Chris” thing started before all that.
I can see why people go for him. He’s an easy target whereas the politicians that put in anti trans laws, going after them seems like useless because they always win
I've always felt Pratt is just kind of a basic mediocre straight White dude, nothing much more or less than that. If I were going to pick a worst Chris it would be Helmsworth for the Thor fatsuit stuff.
I haven't heard anything incredibly negative about Pratt. I just heard he was one sandwich away from fat.
He exposed himself on-set because he wasn't happy with the performance the actress opposite him was giving. I'm flashing back to the Barrowman discourse here. When will the world finally agree this isn't a nuanced discussion, it's public indecency and harassment plain and simple.
Also with parks and rec that was semi made ok by the crew because you have it all
Over the bonus features and everyone is laughing about it and they say we found out later he should have done this and that.
Great video!
Personally, I just find Pratt kind of smug and somewhat jerky in the movies. Like you said, he mainly seems to play the same sort of character. Honestly, Star Lord and Rocket are part of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of the Guardiansa movies. Not because they're bad characters; more like I don't like these SORT of characters that much. Them being jerks and pushing people away just gets old and annoying after a while.
Also, as an Aussie, I'm practically obligated to have Hemsworth as my favourite Chris. And he actually IS. He just has a fun sense of humour about him that makes him likeable. Second is Evans. He was GREAT as Steve Rogers and in Knives Out he was amazing. Pine is fine. He's in the middle for me.
Keep up the great videos :)
I think is unfair because he is not imposing he's religion on anyone, what about freedom of religion and speech? If you believe in that then you have to respect every people opinion and believe even though you are not agree or believe in them if you don't, then you don't believe in freedom of speech and religion.
You can't hate on someone who haven't done anything to you only because of your trauma. And Elliot was way out of line saying that if he don't know for sure what church he goes.
Mark Wahlberg is a super religious guy and no one is hating on him 🙄
I don’t know if I would go as far as to say “no one” is hating on Mark Wahlberg, as there is still a vocal minority who feel that that his own past of racial violence shouldn’t be forgotten. But the fact that Mark is *generally* more respected than Chris Pratt, by people who are from groups who largely weren’t impacted by his actions, so aren’t in the position to accept any apologies he has made, is interesting.
Apparently his brother is a former cop who well may have sympathy for the the beliefs of terrorist groups like the Three Percenters. Evidently that's enough for some who think ACAB to judge hims since he hasn't denounced his brother and actually seems to have a good relationship with him.
Really well explained video, you always put a lot of effort into breaking things down very carefully and looking at the evidence available to support a statement. The other thing which I think genuinely might have influenced the Chris Pratt hate or atleast certainly not helped it was when Star-Lord hit Thanos in infinity war. I remember so many people hating on Star-Lord at the time and some people still do, and some of those people can't seem to separate hate for Star-Lord with hate for Chris Pratt. I could be wrong of course but I did notice around a similar time to this that was when people were getting more vocal about not liking the guy.
There is a long tradition of a religious left (in the US, but also world wide), but as with most left wing groups, they struggle to organize as well as the right in the media driven discourse machine and so have an extremely hard time to get through. Which is not to say that religious organizations haven't been horrible.
I finally got around to watching this and it made me dig up a video I watched at the start of the year which I think was really eye-opening. Now my personal stance on Pratt as a person is... lukewarm? Don't care much for him, can't see why I should actively dislike him (and you've really done the work here to show that, yeah, that's kind of his entire deal!).
BUT! The video I saw is called "Why Chris Pratt was cast as Mario: He's a Government Asset" by Kyle Anderson, and that essay more or less avoids the Person of Pratt almost entirely and instead looks at what makes him (problematically) attractive to be cast in just about everything. And while he not be aware of how the industry and American Politics are utilizing him, this exact non-stance on everything he keeps up makes him just perfect for others' goals...!
So yeah. It looks like Pratt is a problem, just not for any reason he has a lot of control over (unless he starts refusing roles and... well... it IS his job!)...
I still think he's "The Worst Chris", but only because Hemsworth, Evans and Pine are such absolute joys to watch everytime and everywhere, and Pratt is just... ok.
The biggest problem in shaming or openly hating a celebrity because like religion or politics is that hating is oversimplified and extremely black and white thinking.
In my opinion it's also extremely selfish and toxic to vent out your own traumas online just because you see some religious community represented in a way that, sure as hell (ha, yeah it's a pun), doesn't harm anyone.
I have similar distaste towards comments about Elizabeth Moss for her being a Scientologist. What about her part in telling important stories like A Handmaid's Tale? What about Chris Pratt being a part of escapist entertainment in these tough times?
In general, I try to have the philosophy to never attribute malice what could easily be attributed to stupidity. I like to assume the best in people, and while I suppose that's probably idealistic, I don't know... If I hate everyone who I even marginally think *might* be a bigot, *might* be someone who doesn't want people on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum to exist, I don't know if there would be any room left for love.
And... immediately after writing this I realize it feels super preachy, but whatever, I guess.
I think this is a good take. Staunch atheists and some people who are victims of a specific church don’t always get that the variety of Christian beliefs is huge, especially with sexuality and gender stuff.
I suspect that Pratt was brought up as a “love the sinner,hate the sin” Christian. That would explain the not wanting to throw another church under the bus. Because that sentence means wildly different things to different people even with the same congregation, let alone denominations. So it’s hard to know how a church treats people if that statement is all they say publicly.
It can be anything from “we’re going to try to save you” heinous conversion therapy shit to a church that accepts LGBTQ+ church members and even clergy - but still defines marriage as rigidly cis man/woman only.
The difference being sometimes it’s coded hate, but other times the people who say this are just misguided and can be taught the error of that logic. In the same way many practicing Catholics get divorced and use birth control, a lot of people attend churches even when they no longer buy in to every single teaching or rule of that church.
Sorry if this doesn’t make sense, cat is aggressively blocking me from doing anything that isn’t petting her
I really like your take on this one, I'm inclined to disagree only in that you don't go far enough in your apathy.
I genuinely think diversity is important, I think it matters that there are people who exist in the world with a plurality of opinions and experiences, I think especially where it comes to story telling it makes everyone's experience better if there are new ideas or new perspectives shared. It is true for all stories that nothing truly comes from whole cloth, while some people might choose not to read a story with a particular line of thought or a particular depiction of people there are probably authors who they would read who have read those things or once removed more. While I have no affinity for the bible or Shakespeare those things do not fill me with joy I can see that their mere existence has influenced many stories that came after, the Iliad and the Odessy too have had a great impact on the writing of the western world.
But to remove voices of people because they hold views that you disagree with? Isn't that what fascists do? Sure scream and shout and be heard, fight for acceptance, but I don't think cancel culture does that, it's just vindictive. To take away someone's voice because of a belief that they've been taught by parents who hold those same beliefs... doesn't that sound like religious persecution? In the same light you can frame many of the minority struggles of our time in ways traditional conservatives should be able to agree with by putting them in the hot seat:
"Should the government have any say in who you're allowed to invite into your home?" -> No.
"Should the government be able to tell you who you are allowed to have sex with?" -> No
"so why should the government have any authority over anyone else's?" -> they shouldn't but the gays...
"You're okay with the principle that the government could tell you that you're not allowed to love your partner? That having sex with your husband/wife would get you put in jail? If they have that power what makes you think they have to stop at just 'the gays'?"
similarly, "who should be allowed to make decisions about your health and your body?" -> Me
"Who would you want making the health decisions about your body if you couldn't" -> My family with the help of my doctors
"Would you be okay if the government outlawed treatments that might save your health or your wallet?" -> Probably not
"So why should the government have any authority over anyone else's?" -> they shouldn't but pregnancy...
"You're okay with the principle that the government could force you to carry a parasite in your body if someone else puts it there? Fleas? Ticks? Tapeworms? Even if it might kill you? Even if it might not have been your choice? Even if it's cheap, easy and safe to get rid of it?"
I would like to live in a world where every person has equal rights, I actually look forward to living in a world where I'm seen to side with contemporary conservatives because my beliefs do not go far enough but I'm not certain it's necessary to practice the oppression of anyone in order to champion the rights for someone else. I might not feel comfortable supporting certain people and that information should be public knowledge so I can make that choice but I believe that the practice of encouraging a mob to silence any voice however well deserving that voice needs to be silenced sets a worrying precedent. Cancel culture is in my opinion beyond what should be considered civilized conduct but I'm not going to go out of my way to try to silence those who do not believe as I do.
Really appreciate this nuanced take, I agree with almost all your points. I'm surprised you didn't address the Instagram post he made about his (newest) wife, that's the most notable source of controversy I can think of. To be fair I'm not really sure what to make of it myself. Parts of it just read like jokes but some of the subtext is questionable, which I think really bolsters your point about assuming people's beliefs.
Colbert is always talking about his faith. It does help that he has had a public platform for a long time to make it clear exactly how he feels about how the right weaponizes that faith against others while also using it to make themselves seem like they're on the side of the angels so to speak. Since most celebrities are inherently private people at least regarding things like religion it's much easier to pull out the old jump to conclusions mat and assume things that may not necessarily be true.
Chris Pratt's so far the worst - just had a feeling about him ever since he got GoTG and things with his wife at the time.... then piled on with his rhetoric sometimes; I just dont like him as much as the other Chris(es)
Christianity when practiced properly is about making an internal changes to be a better self and letting our light shine on those around us. Anyone using their faith to judge or hate others (though yes it happens a LOT) is doing it wrong.
Chris Pratt is not responsible for other people’s triggers because of trauma that has nothing to do with him and I find the idea that anyone is required to proactively clarify aspects of his private life because bad actors in the public will make bad assumptions. That is on the bad actors.
*Note* I composed this around the 15 minute mark before hearing the conclusion of the video.
Thank you for this. I kept seeing all thiw vitriol directed hat him and it never sat right with me because I couldn‘t actuall find anything to justify it. Thank you for articulating all of this in such a nuanced and well thought out way. Personally I prefer to judge people by their actions and not what they may or may not belief. I‘m not a mind reader, nor, I wager, is anyone else.
starting the video and just really wanted to say that I loved your make up and look today.
Having come here straight after the Graham Norton video, I can actually understand and respect Pratt being silent. It's hard to say what's going on in his head but we live in a world where celebrity views are covered so heavily and often treated more as facts I can see why someone would not want to contribute to it. From a simply personal view I can totally get him not wanting to say which church he attends, fans start showing up at the church and it is at worst a safety issue at best detracts.
I think there is a deeper issue here that the queer community tends to assume anyone being silent is secretly plotting against us. I suspect often it comes from trauma more then anything else.
I love your dedication to exploring nuance. New sub!
There is definitely an organised religious left (for example unitarian and quaker christians, Jews, Buddhists) but they’re in the minority in large parts of the US political sphere. There are just a LOT of evangelical Christians.
I’m a queer Jewish climate activist in the UK and Christians and churches are absolutely key to hosting and supporting climate activist networks. Similarly there are quite a few progressive Jewish organisations.
Really appreciate the nuance.
I listened to the first half of this in my car so when I saw the video your makeup (especially the lipstick) jumped out at me, so I wanted to compliment it!
I’ve often wondered if people who have to publicly inject religious beliefs in regular daily life are essentially saying, “Hey, God, look at what I’m doing. Remember me when I’m being judged.”
I honestly find his pro-gun/police sentiments way more troubling. He decks himself out in far right iconography, his brother is very openly far right, posts a lot abt it, and chris has liked them. So yeah. I don't like him, and I don't believe he votes anything but republican. And as such his vote is harmful.
He said that he isn't political at all and that neither party represents him. He did give money to a Obama campaign before and is married to a Trump hater.
Something I would note about the monetary aspect is that many churches encourage a tithe of at least 10% of your income. I'm guessing there is no official record of that kind of thing so we can't say he definitely isn't giving money to a church that might use that money to promote harmful things. This is something that Jordan and Mckay bring up a lot when talking about Mormon celebrities because we know 10% of their money is going to support the Mormon church even if they aren't publicly saying or doing harmful things
Oh wow okay i just searched "does chris pratt tithe" and I found something that specifically connects these two issues. There's a quote from the pastor of Zoe Church which Chris Pratt apparently goes to saying that homosexuality is a sin but not a different sin than tithing 9% instead of 10%. So if Chris Pratt follows the teachings of this pastor I would say it's likely 10% of his money is going to this church.
It should also be noted that most churches don't keep all of the tithe money but give some of it to other organizations or funds run by the denomination
Edit: actually I think the article was worded confusingly. the quote is from the pastor of Hillsong
I admit, I think in this case it's an bit of an overblown of aspects of the person. As long as a person isn't actively going after LGBTQ+ (with donations to organizations and spread of hate) i am okay.
This being said, while I do not engage with church, i do believe in God while being queer. My family is also religious but they all actually got the correct part of Christianity which is loving others, so they were supportive and always embraced everyone i brought home. This is also why my relationship with God wasn't staled, since I got the example of what is truly important: accepting and giving love and try to be kind and loving to others.
I didn't care about his religious beliefs. But when he got married so shortly after getting divorced (and had new kid even shortly after) and it seemed like her not being able to have more kids because of her traumatic first birth, it made the other things seem more problematic than they had before. It framed his religious beliefs in that "the religion comes before the health and well-being of my family." Really surprised you didn't bring up his marriage to Anna Faris at all.