Call of Duty, from Taylor Sheridan and Friday Nights Light Creator, Faces Backlash From Fans
Call of Duty’s big theatrical release is already stirring up controversy. Gamers are mad at the Taylor Sheridan project before they’ve filmed a single scene.
Sheridan is producing the movie. But, Peter Berg is directing it. And, the filmmaker is in hot water because of some comments he made over a decade ago. Berg spoke to Esquire about “American masculinity” in 2013.
Notably, the director had some incisive commentary on the state of the young American male. He took Special umbrage with how much youth of the day enjoy video games. That means Call of Duty too. Which, he mentioned by name in a disparaging manner. But, those insults aren’t sitting well with certain members of the gaming fandom.
Over on ResetEra, a user named Neat shared the Interview and basically the discourse flowed from there. Berg’s comments are a window into what conservative spaces used to think about gamers before they picked them up as a useful tool in the propagation of culture war topics. Now, that same base finds themselves unearthing unflattering commentary about their own hobbies. Check out what the director had to say right here.
“Pathetic. Pathetic. Keyboard courage. Can’t stand it,” Berg told the outlet. “The only people that I give a Call of Duty get-out-of-jail-free card to is the military. They’re out there serving and they’re bored and they want to entertain themselves? Okay, maybe. Kids? Uh-uh.”
Call of Duty director disses gamers
Over in the gaming forum, I would have to agree with Red who said, “I’m sure his opinions have been lubricated by enough cash to sound a little nicer.” A member of the board named Burly asks, “I mean, has he done anything to show that he thinks differently now? Or do we just assume because some arbitrary amount of time has passed?”
One thing about gamers that’s really interesting is that trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. But, so many other projects don’t get that olive branch extended to them. Must be nice to be the director of the first massive Call of Duty movie.
Those are pretty strong takes back in 2013. So, I wouldn’t hold my breath on them changing completely. Berg previously directed Battleship and seems to really revere the military. So, look for a more down the line adaptation of the military aspects of Call of Duty rather than the gameplay. We all know from zombies and other gameplay modes that things can get a little bit out there in this game series.
“Some of them do. But I tell them I think it’s pathetic,” Berg said of video game enthusiasts. “I think anyone that sits around playing video games for four hours… It’s weak. Get out, do something.”
At any rate, the director has given folks plenty to talk about while we wait a year and change for the actual projects to materialize. Video game adaptations are not what they used to be. We’ve had multiple different efforts do great at the box office recently. But, Call of Duty is in rarefied air and will have to please a lot of fans out there to reach the expectations foisted it upon it by the Internet.
(featured image: Paramount+)
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