It seems to be that time of the year again, the time when the internet votes for and/or ranks the best “Chris”. This yearly vote includes the Chris’ of Hollywood: Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pine and Chris Pratt.
For many years, social media has run this “Which Chris is the worst” and “Which Chris has to go” debate and usually, fans have their way with the poll. After all, the only separation between the four is their acting repertoires (they’re all tall, blond, handsome and 3/4 have acted in the MCU). This year, E! News got the ball rolling by asking which Chris was the best. Unfortunately, fans were quick to single out Pratt as “being the worst”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGjKvYOHZIl/
And this year, it seems like celebrities have had enough of the comparisons. After Chris Pratt was voted “the worst Chris”, Pratt’s wife Katherine Schwarzenegger commented on the post by E! News, stating:
“Is this really what we need? There’s so much going on in the world and people are struggling in so many ways. Being mean is so yesterday. There’s enough room to love all these guys. Love is what we all need not meanness and bullying. Let’s try that.”
His Marvel counterparts were also quick to defend the Star-Lord. Robert Downy Jr. dedicated a whole Instagram post to Pratt, writing in his caption:
“What a world… The “sinless” are casting stones at my #brother, Chris Pratt… A real #Christian who lives by #principle, has never demonstrated anything but #positivity and #gratitude… AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value. If you take issue with Chris,,, I’ve got a novel idea. Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of #character, work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness… @prattprattpratt I #gotyerbackbackback.”
Meanwhile, the ‘Hulk’ actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted:
And while the support is called for – who are we to ‘rank’ or ‘rate’ people? – many Twitter users are unhappy with the fact that celebrities are only choosing now to speak up in support of their castmate and friend. After all, this is not the first time a fellow MCU alum has faced backlash and hate. Previously, Brie Larson (accused “ruining Captain Marvel by ‘being too feminist’), Tessa Thompson (faced backlash for being cast as ‘Valkyrie’, a character who appeared in the original comics as blonde and white), Anthony Mackie and Zendaya were bullied by racist, sexist trolls and fans alike on social media.
Where was this energy when people attacked Tessa Thompson for being casted as valkyrie, where was this energy when Zendaya was attacked for being casted as MJ, where was this energy when Brie Larson was being attacked for speaking up on the lack of diversity in the industry. https://t.co/CZaAQtkPEc
— valkyrie’s pr manager (@valcaroI) October 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/kctarasgf/status/1318786192477880321
zendaya and brie larson seeing all the marvel actors who were silent about the racism and misogyny they faced rush to defend chris pratt because the internet said he wasn't that hot pic.twitter.com/BasUrsItkH
— 💟 (@lailasbakwaas) October 21, 2020
I was actually shocked to see MCU’s biggest cast crawl out from their caves only to defend Chris Pratt. I’m also shocked because i don’t remember seeing them doing the same thing for Brie Larson when the hate that was going towards her was much more bigger and worse…
— Jay (@BlackJesterO) October 21, 2020
31-year-old Larson, who nabbed the role of one of the MCU’s most powerful characters (‘Captain Marvel’), was on the receiving end of a barrage of flack after she pointed out that the Marvel Studios were moving too slow when it came to diversity within the MCU. In an interview with The Big Ticket podcast in 2019, she said
“I don’t understand how you could think that a certain type of person isn’t allowed to be a superhero. So to me it’s like, we gotta move faster. But I’m always wanting to move faster with this stuff.”
The trolling she’d received following the release of ‘Captain Marvel’ in 2019 was so bad that Youtube had to change their search algorithm for her name so that when users searched for her name, they’d see reputable news sources rather than the mountain of hateful content aimed at her. At the time, the only Larson’s Marvel counterparts Don Cheadle (‘James Rhodes’) and the late Chadwick Boseman (‘Black Panther’) had publicly supported her.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEdRs2wDXFD/
Meanwhile, Tessa Thompson – ‘Valkrie’ in the ‘Thor’ franchise – received a lot of hate for saying she didn’t want to work with “a bunch of white people” and a “bunch of men” in a call for diversity. In an interview with The Independent in 2018, she said:
“I want to see work that really looks like the world in which we live. There are lots of people of colour, look around. It’s also really exciting not just what we put on screen, but also to work on productions that are inclusive. I want to show up on set and have it look like the world I walk around in every day, which is full of women, and people of colour, and folk with disabilities. I want to make content that feels like that both on camera and off it,”
Similarly, Anthony Mackie (‘Falcon’) faced backlash after both asking for more diversity in the MCU and for being chosen as the next ‘Captain America’.
*Cover image credits: Brie Larson on Instagram for Stylist Magazine Chris Pratt on Instagram for Vanity Fair
Post comments (0)