The Hunt director Craig Zobel has defended his film after Universal pulled the plug on its release following several mass shootings in the space of a few days.
The film was criticised by the right-wing press and President Trump as racist but Zobel insisted that the politics of the film have been misrepresented and that the ambition was to poke at both sides of the aisle equally.
If I believed this film could incite violence, I wouldnt have made it, he said.
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The film, starring GLOWs Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank, came from Jason Blums Blumhouse Productions and follows a dozen individuals who wake up in a clearing and realise they are being stalked for sport.
In a statement to Variety Zobel said: Our ambition was to poke at both sides of the aisle equally.
We seek to entertain and unify, not enrage and divide. It is up to the viewers to decide what their takeaway will be.
I wanted to make a fun, action thriller that satirized this moment in our culture — where we jump to assume we know someones beliefs because of which “team” we think theyre on… and then start shouting at them.
This rush to judgment is one of the most relevant problems of our time.
On 9 August, just days after the deaths of 31 Americans in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio in separate shootings, President Donald Trump slammed Liberal Hollywood for the film and suggested that those who worked in Hollywood try to blame others after creating violence themselves.
Critics claim Mr Trumps own words have contributed to a combustible climate that has spawned death and other violence.
Mr Trumps motorcade passed El Paso protesters holding Racist Go Home signs, and he spent part of his flight between Ohio and Texas airing his grievances on Twitter, berating Democratic legislators, Beto ORourke and the press.
The El Paso shooter had published a white nationalist, anti-immigrant manifesto in the hours before his actions.
Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate! tweeted Trump.
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They like to call themselves “Elite,” but they are not Elite. In fact, it is often the people that they so strongly oppose that are actually the Elite. The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos.
They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our Country.
The film has not screened but an early script seen by the trade magazine allegedly depicted working-class conservatives as the heroes who were kidnapped and hunted by liberal elites.
A spokesperson for The Hunt said of the rumours of negative audience feedRead More – Source
