There Is No Good Reason To See The Flash
Seeing The Flash in theaters will financially support Ezra Miller, the movie's ending has already been spoiled, and it will be streaming on Max in a couple of months.
Back in February I posted an op-ed arguing for a boycott of The Flash, which opens nationwide on Friday. In spite of all the people who believe so-called “cancel culture” controls every aspect of our lives, Deadline reports that the film — whose lead actor has been accused by at least two separate families of grooming or attempting to groom their underage children — is projected to earn around $70 million in North America this weekend, and around $155 million overseas. So I’d like to make a handful of points in the hopes of keeping you from putting more money in Ezra Miller’s pocket.
1. Your Money Does Not Care About Your Feelings
One argument I keep hearing from those who have no issue with seeing The Flash in theaters is that they are not supporting Ezra Miller. They are going to see the movie to support Sasha Calle, Michael Keaton, director Andy Muschietti, and screenwriter Christina Hodson. They are going to support all the other cast and crew who contributed to the film.
That’s a wonderful sentiment, and it doesn’t even come close to mattering to anyone, anywhere, for any reason. You do not get to attach your intentions to your debit card when you buy your tickets for The Flash. All the money goes exactly where it would go otherwise, regardless of your opinion on Ezra Miller or anyone else.
So if you pay to see The Flash, you are supporting Ezra Miller. There is absolutely no way around it, and you don’t even really have a choice.
If Miller’s contract entitles them to a percentage of the profit, you are directly supporting them that way. You are giving them more money with which they can travel the globe, allegedly choke more women, break more women’s noses, and find more children to groom. Not to mention more money to help them defend against the people who bring them to court.
Even if Miller isn’t getting a percentage on the back end, your money is making sure that James Gunn, Peter Safran, and every other executive at DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery knows one indisputable thing about you and everyone else who pays to see The Flash: you have no problem paying to see a movie starring someone accused of being a sexual predator of children.
So why not hire Ezra Miller for The Flash 2?
2. If The Flash Is A Hit, Ezra Miller Will Be Back For The Flash 2
Another argument I hear from people who want to stone Chris Pratt to death for supposedly going to the wrong church, but are totally cool with financially supporting someone who is accused of grooming Tokota Iron Eyes as far back as 2016 — when she was 12 years old — is that hey… it’s okay! Ezra Miller is in The Flash, and then after that we’ll never see them again. There’s no way DC Studios would hire them again, right?
This is an argument so stupid I think it might run for Governor of Florida.
The only reason Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios has to keep Ezra Miller away from their properties is if they think allowing Miller in more movies and/or TV projects will lose them money. Right?
So if everyone and their alternate universe counterpart spends their hard-earned money to see The Flash, exactly what reason does Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios have to think Ezra Miller will lose them money in other projects? When we make The Flash a massive box office hit, why the hell would they look at that windfall and come to the conclusion, “Well ,we can’t hire the star of that movie again?”
Look at Mel Gibson. He shouted antisemitic insults at police officers, was recorded saying the most blatantly vile racist things imaginable, pled No Contest to beating up his girlfriend, and the unrepentant bully is headlining a John Wick spinoff.
Why? Because people will watch it. It takes more than just controversy to make a studio run for cover. You need to impact their bottom line. By paying to see The Flash, you are telling the studios “More of this, please!” You are not telling them, “I support the director and several of the key grips!”
By the way, if you don’t believe me, believe The Flash‘s director Andy Muschietti. He has already gone on record that he wants to make The Flash 2, that he wants Ezra Miller to be in it, and that the only thing standing in the way of that happening is the box office returns for The Flash.
3. We Already Know Exactly How This Stupid Movie Ends
The Flash is Flashpoint. It reboots the DC Cinematic Universe. That’s not a fan theory. Not speculation.
That The Flash will reboot the DC movies has been confirmed. In James Gunn’s official “Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters” announcement, the co-CEO of DC Studios says that The Flash “resets the entire DC Universe.”
There. The dude said it. It’s official. Didn’t even bother with a spoiler warning.
You can read the 2011 DC Comics Flashpoint event comics. Or watch 2013’s Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This will be one of the 52 thousand reboots conducted by DC across every media.
Besides a cameo or two, there is no surprise waiting for anyone in The Flash.
4. It’s Going To Be Streaming On Max Soon
If you subscribe to Max, you will be able to stream The Flash without paying for a ticket probably before Blue Beetle hits theaters. Definitely, before The Marvels, Kraven the Hunter, The Expendables 4, Dune: Part Two, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, or The Equalizer 3 are released. If you absolutely, positively cannot breathe without hearing Michael Keaton repeat lines from 1989, just wait somewhere in the neighborhood of a month and a half, and you can do it without helping the career of someone who allegedly keeps firearms next to piles of kids’ toys.
Ezra Miller, like anyone else, is entitled to redemption. But there is a difference between having the opportunity to make things right, and being enabled to keep hurting people without consequences. If you get drunk and hit someone with your car, you should be able to do everything you can to get sober and if possible, do right by your victim — but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be punished for your crime, and it certainly doesn’t mean the rest of us should pay for your new car.
Michael Shannon and the rest of the cast of The Flash can feel as sorry for Ezra Miller as they like. I’m sure they will get some hefty spiritual pats on the back for their sentiment as I am that if someone who was not a famous, wealthy actor were accused of the same or similar crimes, Shannon and the rest would rather set their own hair on fire then spare any sympathy for that hypothetical penniless nobody.
Skip The Flash. Let Ezra Miller find redemption doing dinner theater in the Berkshires.
