Taika Waititi Under Fire After Controversial Tweet About Recent Disaster
Taika Waititi is facing some criticism for a tweet he sent out that appeared to be a joke about a recent, devastating natural disaster
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Everyone enjoys a good pun now and then, right? Especially ones that are truly witty. But Taika Waititi’s recent tweet proves that no matter how solid your sense of humor is, your timing needs to be right as well. Recently, the Thor: Love and Thunder director became a hot subject of public ire when he took to Twitter to reshare a devastating picture of the Kentucky tornado that destroyed Mayfield and resulted in many deaths just days ago. His mistake? He coupled it with a joke, which many are bashing for being insensitive and in poor taste.
Podcaster Rex Chapman shared a heartbreaking picture of the situation in Mayfield where an entire movie theater screen was destroyed by the tornado, thus framing the destruction outside as if it was showing a movie and not the bleak reality. Soon, Taika Waititi re-posted the image but with a joke about how the broken screen wall of the theater and its unique framing of the outside world reminds him of the cinematic concept of “breaking the 4th wall.” Check out the post below:
While Taika Waititi attempted to use his humor to comment on the picture in a literal sense, many on Twitter were disappointed by his lack of tact. Some defended that his tweet was just “situational humor” and doesn’t really make the filmmaker “pro-tornado.” Some even shared the original post by the photographer in Mayfield who clicked the picture in question and highlighted his statement about how “absolutely heartbreaking” the situation has been in the city. There are also people who felt Waititi’s caption is not a joke as he is being “being scarily, dead serious” and how it is “clearly a solemn comment on how reality is pushing through.”
The reactions to Taiki Waititi’s tweet have been rather mixed and only the director can clarify whether he meant it as a joke or a serious assessment. For now, Waititi is pretty busy with the long list of his current and upcoming projects. Earlier this year, he wrapped up the filming of Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder starring Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder. He also attached to direct an untitled project Fox Searchlight. It will be a cinematic adaptation of 2015’s Next Goal Wins, which told the true story of Dutch coach Thomas Rongen who strived to turn the losing American Samoa soccer team into winners.
Taika Waititi has also been roped in to direct a live-action adaptation of the famous Japanese animated cyberpunk action film, Akira. The renowned director also has a live Star Wars film, which he will both helm and co-write. The next projects on his list are two animated series for Netflix based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory novels and the Showtime limited series The Auteur. He will also be writing and directing a film based on the comic book character Flash Gordon for 20th Century Studios. On the acting front, after reprising his role as Korg in the upcoming Thor 4, Waititi’s next role will be as a pirate, Blackbeard, in the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death, which he will also be executive producing.
