There are some names that I hear as someone who has been chronically online for decades at this point and I instantly think “That guy??” That’s what is happening on social media right now with people on TikTok talking about Max Landis.
Landis, who was accused of sexual assault by at least 8 women, has had a video going around on social media where he’s talking about a movie he wants to make. It is in an interview and it doesn’t say who is talking because it is TikTok, after all. So in theory, those who have listened to his “pitch” not knowing who it is, I don’t blame them.
But the reality is that whatever “good” idea Landis might have, he’s still a man who was accused by multiple women of emotional and sexual abuse. He also wrote Bright and if you watch that movie, you know that he’s not even a good screenwriter. He’s literally the problem with nepotism as the son of John Landis.
The entire situation is part of a bigger problem. People who are “canceled” have found new fame on other platforms. Mainly because people don’t know who they are/if their name isn’t being spread along with the message, you might not realize that’s who it is. In this case, Max Landis’ name IS attached to it so I think people simply forgot who he was and now he’s trying to rebrand and make a comeback.
We cannot let that “rebrand” happen. I do think the idea that a “canceled” person has to lose everything depends on who that person is and what, exactly, they were “canceled” for. Someone like Aziz Ansari had allegations of misconduct and the report in question was more about Ansari not listening/understanding what a woman was telling him and he retreated, reflected, and when he came back, many of us were not upset because he took a break to understand what he did wrong.
Men like Landis are….not that way. So let’s not forget who he is, okay?
(featured image: C Flanigan/FilmMagic)
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