{"id":19352,"date":"2022-05-03T10:01:14","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T14:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=19352"},"modified":"2022-11-08T17:13:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T22:13:17","slug":"guardian-of-the-galaxy-director-defends-chris-pratt-amid-calls-to-cancel-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2022\/05\/guardian-of-the-galaxy-director-defends-chris-pratt-amid-calls-to-cancel-him.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Guardian of the Galaxy&#8217; Director Defends Chris Pratt Amid Calls to Cancel Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_19217\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19217\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2022\/04\/Pratt.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19217\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2022\/04\/Pratt.png\" alt=\"chris pratt\" width=\"768\" height=\"504\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19217\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>James Gunn, the director of the first two \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d movies, is firing back at critics trying to cancel Marvel Cinematic Universe star Chris Pratt, seemingly due simply to his Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d Gunn asked a Twitter user calling on the MCU, owned by The Walt Disney Company, to replace Pratt in the film franchise. \u201cBecause of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him, that\u2019s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord, but if he ever were, we would all be going with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that\u2019s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James Gunn (@JamesGunn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesGunn\/status\/1518621994429784065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The on-again, off-again criticism of Pratt has returned amid the release of the trailer for the upcoming MCU film \u201cThor: Love and Thunder.\u201d In the one-and-a-half-minute trailer, there is a moment when Star-Lord, played by Pratt, gives his team a pep talk, encouraging them to \u201clook into the eyes of the people that you love\u201d whenever they feel they have lost their way. After the comment, Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, stares intensely into Star-Lord\u2019s eyes. The clip prompted many on social media to remember Star-Lord, whose character name is Peter Quill, was depicted as bisexual in a 2020 installment of the \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d comic book.<\/p>\n<p>Despite facing intense condemnation based on assumptions made over the years, Pratt has never once addressed his views on sexuality or politics. He has stated he is Christian and attends church. Much of the criticism stems from 2019 when \u201cJuno\u201d star Ellen Page, who now identifies as a transgender male and goes by Elliot, criticized Pratt for attending Zoe Church in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>The church\u2019s lead pastor, Chad Veach, teaches a biblical view of sexuality. As a result, Page panned Pratt for attending worship services at a church she described as \u201cinfamously anti-LGBTQ.\u201d At the time, Pratt said: \u201cI go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While some call on Pratt to be replaced with \u201cAquaman\u201d star Patrick Wilson, some are confused about the push to sideline Pratt. They note that he has not publicly done or said anything that could indeed be seen as cancel-worthy. \u201cWait, why?\u201d one Twitter user\u00a0replied\u00a0to the tweet calling for Pratt\u2019s replacement. \u201cI\u2019m so lost. Everyone loved him a few years ago, then you guys found out he went to church, and that\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pratt is not the only MCU star to draw leftist ire. In late January, \u201cAnt-Man and the Wasp\u201d actor Evangeline Lilly faced backlash from progressives when she asserted people should not be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. She even attended an anti-mandate rally in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will \u2026 under any threat whatsoever,\u201d Lilly wrote in an Instagram post alongside photos from the protest. \u201cThis is not the way.\u201d The former \u201cLost\u201d star, who was raised Christian, said such tactics are \u201cnot safe\u201d and \u201cnot healthy.\u201d \u201cThis is not love,\u201d wrote Lilly. \u201cI understand the world is in fear, but I don\u2019t believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Gunn, the director of the first two \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d movies, is firing back at critics trying to cancel Marvel Cinematic Universe star Chris Pratt, seemingly due simply to his Christian faith. \u201cFor what?\u201d Gunn asked a Twitter user calling on the MCU, owned by The Walt Disney Company, to replace Pratt in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":19217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3383,3],"tags":[2670,3382],"class_list":["post-19352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-celebrity","category-movies","tag-chris-pratt","tag-guardians-of-the-galaxy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Guardian of the Galaxy&#039; Director Defends Chris Pratt Amid Calls to Cancel Him<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Gunn, the director of the first two \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d movies, is firing back at critics trying to cancel MCU star Chris Pratt.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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