James Gunn is back. Let's all learn a lesson from this --- from Seanorama

James Gunn is back with Disney/Marvel.

Wow.

I never would have predicted this would have happened. To be honest, things like this don’t happen in our day and age. James Gunn said some reprehensible things back in the day. It was meant to be shocking and controversial. And it fell flat.

I have known many people--- in fact, most people I know--- that have said something controversial or offensive in their lifetime. In fact, if someone hasn’t said something controversial or offensive at some point in their life, I don’t trust them. Wisdom comes with age. It is not inherited.

The truth of the matter is, we don’t end up fully formed out of the egg. Regardless of how well we are raised, or sometimes because of how well we are raised, we all say something asinine or stupid, something that gets someone’s dander up, something that deeply offends somebody else.

We all begin ignorant. Every one of us. No exceptions. It is through life we learn to be better people. It’s inherent in the word itself: better. Better is about the journey, not the destination. We all learn from making mistakes. The best lessons are learned from mistakes. We are not perfect, and we never will be.

If we step wrong, and are ignorant to how someone feels, and we say something that hurts them, it is from that lesson that we learn to be better. Apology humbles us. In fact, we are far more likely to try harder to be better because we have failed, or hurt someone, because we now understand what we have done.

The character assassination attempt of James Gunn was meant to destroy him. But it also destroyed all those around him: the family he built, the people he employed, the people he gave careers too. There were a lot of people that owe a lot to Gunn, that still work because of Gunn, because he believed in them. It was also defamation of the company he worked for, strong-arming them to fire James Gunn to save face. Character assassination may target one, but it always hurts everyone around him.

James Gunn apologized. He never denied what he said. He tried to be a better person. He tried to learn from what he did. And it shows in the outpouring of support for him. It shows in the care he put into his cast, his crew and his association with the studio. The story he told in Guardians of the Galaxy was of a bunch of jerks who learn to be better. That, we may all be freaks, but we can be better than who we were, to who we can become. It is a journey towards redemption.

We all must apologize for what we say when it hurts someone. We can be better. We can be empathetic. We can--- care.

And to those that attempted to character assassinate James Gunn, what happens to them? Should we take the high road, or should we force them to apologize for what they did? Was what they did, done with malicious intent? Should they be forgiven? Well, let’s see if they apologize. I am still waiting for that headline. Let’s hope they find the exit to the road to redemption.