The internet’s fixation on canceling Chris Pratt has once again resurfaced. The 42-year-old star of the Guardian’s of the Galaxy, Marvel, Jurassic Park, Lego, and the Parks and Recreation franchises was recently cast as Mario in Nintendo’s new untitled Super Mario Bros. movie and Sony’s Garfield reboot. With Twitter citing dozens of other actors who would be better suited for his new roles, including Danny Devito as Mario (I could see it!), the internet is left with a few resounding questions. Why is Chris Pratt everywhere? And why does that make us so mad?
The classic comparison between Hollywood’s four beloved Chrises, Chris Pine Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Pratt, was posed in a 2020 tweet by Amy Berg. She captioned the photos of the four with “one has to go” and the majority ruled that Chris Pratt was the least desirable. Many cited Pratt’s affiliation with an evangelical church, the Hillsong Church, whose founder was accused of being “anti-gay” in 2019 by Elliot Page. In response to the accusations, Chris Pratt responded by claiming the Hillsong Church “opens its doors to absolutely everyone.”
Pratt is an a-political celebrity. As the figurehead of such major movie franchises, his inability to denounce his church or take a stance on major social issues is something many roll their eyes at. Perhaps there’s something all too average about him that makes it unbelievable he could be cast in roles so nostalgic and dear to our hearts.
While Pratt is like any other celebrity, wealthy and open to the public eye for criticism, we should consider why exactly the internet has such a magnetic attraction to hating him. Does Pratt deserve to be consistently targeted because he hasn’t denied allegations of his conservative leanings? Are we growing to only respect celebrities who take definitive stances on social issues?
Either way, I could get behind Danny Devito being recast as Mario.
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