In the wake of three deadly mass shootings over the past two weekends, a major motion picture studio has paused promotion of a film set for release next month. 'The Hunt,' which is being marketed as a dark satire, depicts wealthy elites hunting down and killing rural and red state 'deplorables' for sport. For the time being, trailers like this have been taken out of circulation:
Here's one excerpt of dialogue that's been making the rounds:
Character 1: "Did anyone see what our ratf***er-in-chief just did?"
Character 2: "At least The Hunt's coming up. Nothing better than going out to the Manor and slaughtering a dozen deplorables."
On Fox News earlier, I said that Universal was obviously correct to pause their promotion of this film, given the national current climate and the horrific nature of recent news cycles. Most people probably don't have much of an appetite at the moment for watching ads for ultra-violent movies depicting one group of Americans using another group of Americans as literal prey in a deadly game. That said, I also stated my opposition to any effort to cancel the film's release altogether. Satire and art can be offensive and dark; it shouldn't be censored. Also, for those taking understandable umbrage at the The Hunt's premise, I'd just point out that it seems pretty likely that the 'deplorables' are actually the protagonists, and the bloodthirsty leftist elites are the bad guys. At the end of this segment, I also floated a creative note to the movie's producers:
WATCH: @BillHemmer and @guypbenson discussed "The Hunt," which is billed as a satire about wealthy vacationers who hunt down "deplorables" for sport #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/0lKAC1mtzR
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) August 8, 2019
In that @AmericaNewsroom segment, I offered a note to the producers of ‘The Hunt.’ For a ripped-from-the-headlines dramatic twist, they could write in a new character: A Congressman who furnishes the man-hunting elites with lists of ‘deplorables’ to kidnap for their deadly game.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 8, 2019
That's an unsubtle reference to Rep. Joaquin Castro, of course, whose harassment hit list stirred enormous controversy this week. As you may have seen earlier, Castro ended up 'naming and shaming' at least six Trump donors who have also donated to either his or his brother's campaigns, and those folks are understandably upset about it. Smooth move, bro:
NEW: Six of the Trump donors Joaquin Castro singled out and accused of "fueling a campaign of hate" also donated to either him or his twin brother Julián over the years.
— Emily Larsen (@emilyelarsen) August 7, 2019
We spoke to five of them, and they are not pleased. w/ @SaysSimonson: https://t.co/EOZIHOZaOI
And just in case there was any doubt about Castro's hacktastic hypocrisy, he was an "incitement" demagogue on the Ilhan Omar front -- because of course he was:
President Trump is maliciously targeting and endangering the personal safety of @IlhanMN, a Muslim Congresswoman, who dared to point out that too often the entire Muslim community is defined by the worst acts of a few.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) April 13, 2019
How might Congressman Castro have reacted if Trump had published a list of her donors, including their places of business? He admits that the point of his own hit list was to bully people into 'thinking twice' before donating to a politicians peddling "hate." Omar is an anti-Semite. Does he believe her donors are similarly fair game? As I noted yesterday, we all know how such a tactic would be received and covered if Trump were the aggressor.