The Church of Prattology

The past few days have had several events that’ve given me mixed reactions. For one, Disney released a teaser of Raya and the Last Dragon, which was exciting. Then there were a couple of US House Reps live-streaming games to secure votes, which is cool, but I think people might also be normalizing these politicians too much. And then there was Chris Pratt’s coworkers defending him from accusations of homophobia and bigotry. Let’s talk about that. 

Pratt’s become a superstar while under The MCU umbrella. How could he not? He’s charming, charismatic and funny. And he radiates a likability that keeps him in the public eye. I enjoyed his turns as Star Lord, Emmet, Owen and Barley, and I’ll probably enjoy many more of his roles. There’s no denying it, Chris Pratt’s talented!

Which is why some of his personal views are upsetting. To be clear, my issue isn’t that he’s conservative. Contrary to popular wisdom, there are many conservatives in Hollywood, even in acting. Besides, acting technically overrides personal politics. I also can’t control what someone believes, nor should I try.

My concern stems from how open Pratt’s been with his views. It began when Ellen Page came out as a lesbian and went on to criticize a homophobic church in The US. Pratt, a member of that church, went on the defensive, stating that while he didn’t condemn its stance, he was more than willing to accept Page anyway. Even if Pratt wasn’t direct, his claim was still homophobic. It was also a bad attempt at damage control. 

This was already bad enough as is, not gonna lie. Yet despite receiving flak in the years since because of his tendency to passive-aggressively quote Bible verses on Twitter, Pratt’s general politics remained low-key for a while. It’s only in recent weeks that everything got out of hand again. Aside from an ill-timed swipe at voting in The US, especially with gerrymandering and voter suppression being real issues, Pratt was also a no-show at a Biden fundraiser. This got him into hot water again online.

And now, as if that wasn’t distressing enough, Pratt’s co-workers, namely Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, have also taken heat for coming to his defence. Ignoring personal issues with Ruffalo having broken ranks before and not now, it feels like a selective defence given criticism against Brie Larson, Zendaya and the likes in the past. Why were they silent about the criticism directed at these women? Why the double-standard?

Think about it: a few years ago Brie Larson stated that diversity was lacking in Hollywood. Irrespective of her phrasing, she received plenty of backlash from the comic and film nerd community. Despite support from the talent at DC, the only Marvel cast member of note to defend her was Don Cheadle. So now that Chris Pratt’s being criticized for valid reasons, like homophobia, why are his cast-mates suddenly rushing to his defence? 

This is why I don’t “stan” people, especially celebrities: not only are they human and prone to disappointment, but they routinely form cliques that make it hard to sympathize with them. They also shield their own way too frequently. This is yet another example of that. Besides, stanning people is creepy.

I’m not sure why people are surprised that Ruffalo and RDJ are defending Pratt, though. I’m sure they mean well, but it was inevitable. That’s why we should keep an arm’s length distance and revere Brie Larson instead. Or, rather, revere her until she also goofs and ruins her reputation. I didn’t make the rules, I simply follow them!

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I think another update about my collab is in order, this one with more explanation of why it’s taking so long:

Initially, I had someone lined up for September. But then this person had to cancel on me, so it got pushed to October. Since then, for reasons I won’t divulge, I’ve cycled through two more candidates and almost gave up. It was only then that the first person got back to me again. But that meant pushing the collab to mid-November. What can you do, right? 

I don’t begrudge anyone involved for this. They have lives too, so these situations happen. However, time away from the collab means that I can work on other projects. And one of those is on a new game that I purchased for my Switch. I won’t give it away, but I’m enjoying it a lot. Maybe not as much as most people, but still a lot.

And my other projects? For starters, I’m now the proud owner of a boxset I’ve wanted for some time, so I might discuss that in the near-future too. I also have some Disney ideas on my mind, assuming I get around to them, like one on Soul. Outside of that, though? I’ll play it by ear, since my collab kept getting pushed back. Basically, if I think of anything, I’ll write about it. I owe my fans that much.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Sorry for another update shortly after the last, and I’ll see you next time!