Warning: this article contains major spoilers for The Drama.
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s upcoming movie The Drama is already attracting, well, drama — with backlash mounting over a shock twist that plays out in the buzzy flick.
Early screenings of the movie have revealed what was only teased in the trailer, after the moment where Pattinson’s character, Chris, asks his soon-to-be-wife Emma (Zendaya), about “the worst thing you’ve ever done”.
Emma then confesses to once planning a school shooting in her teens, but backing out at the last moment. The grimness of the twist, particularly given the rom-com-like marketing of The Drama, prompted the parents of a Columbine massacre victim to condemn.
In a statement to TMZ, Tom Mauser — whose son Daniel was among 13 students killed at the high school shooting in 1999 — described the twist as “awful” and said the casting of Zendaya “humanises” school shooters and “normalises” that type of violence.
Mauser — who has become an outspoken gun reform activist since his son’s death — also criticised Zendaya’s response to seriously framed questions about the twist during her interview with Jimmy Kimmel last week.
“There are so many different genres,” Zendaya said on the talk show.
“It is a romantic comedy in many ways but it’s also a drama. Everybody has their own kind of feelings leaving the theatre, especially with the big twist. There’s so many conversations that are had after you watch it,” she added.
Viewers who had seen the movie shared similar concerns about the twist on social media, with one saying the subject matter is “in bad taste” and is “handled so poorly”, and others warning fans to “go in expecting a cute rom-com, as this is NOT that”.
TMZ reported that Mauser said school shooting ideation should be addressed by a therapist and not used for entertainment purposes, regardless of whether Zendaya’s character went through with the shooting or not.
Based on early reviews, The Drama follows the fallout for the characters after Emma’s revelation, which she shared just days before her wedding to Chris.
The Drama hits Aussie cinemas next Thursday (April 2), and if this much discourse has already emerged before its release, I suspect this won’t be the last we hear of this movie.
Lead images: A24 and X
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