Jim Carrey has caused a stir by pulling out of his promotional appearances for ‘Kick-ass 2’, claiming that the film’s violence is too disturbing in the wake of the ‘Sandy Hook’ tragedy. The actor says that he completed work on the film before it had happened and now doesn’t believe he can show his support for the violent film. He tweeted:
“I did Kickass (sic) a month b4 (before) Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to others involve (sic) with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.”
Mark Millar, who penned the Kickass comic books and is a producer on the films, says he doesn’t understand why Carrey has opted out now, especially since his own character is anti-violence. He doesn’t know why Jim waited until he was supposed to promote the film to speak on his true feelings, especially as he already knew how violent the film was when he signed up for it:
“I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin… Ironically, Jim’s character in Kick-Ass 2 is a born-again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place. Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life.”
Who is buying Jim’s seemingly sincere excuse and who thinks this might be a promotional stunt or just a way for him to ditch all of his promotional appearances?
