Chris Pratt, an actor who has never used his platform to utter a resentful word about anyone, has somehow become a pin cushion for secularists and others who seem viscerally offended by his Christian faith.
Bizarrely, Pratt, who continues to entertain millions in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World” franchises, among other projects, is routinely and repeatedly lambasted without any discernible rationale.
Most recently, critics called for Pratt to be canceled and replaced in his “Guardians” role as Star-Lord, presumably based on opposition to his faith. Twitter rebukes of Pratt led James Gunn, director the first two “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, to defend Pratt and his Christian ideals.
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Gunn’s defense of Pratt then apparently inspired a Salon article: “Disgraced Director James Gunn Defends Disgraced Actor Chris Pratt.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
Apparently, Pratt is “disgraced,” which is news to anyone who has spent even a second paying attention to his life and career. Pratt, a guy who regularly posts on social media about life, comedy, God, love for his family — and who is routinely cast in some of the biggest movie projects in Hollywood — has, out-of-sight and deep in the bowels of the Upside Down, apparently behaved so badly we should consider him humiliated and discredited.
Why, exactly? No one knows.
But here’s what we do know: the narrative critics have crafted about Pratt is so malevolently opposed to the reality that it’s tough to put the insanity into words. Yet the author of the Salon piece seemed to embrace the unfortunate portrayal. Her article, at moments, read more like a strange mystery novel than it did anything with convincingly true.
“Pratt … has come under fire for his alleged involvement in a Los Angeles megachurch that may not be welcoming to queer members,” she wrote. “Zoe Church, founded by former Hillsong preacher Chad Veach, who once executive produced a film that described same-sex attraction as ‘sexual brokenness,’ is cagey about its views.”
Then, she went on to accuse Pratt of being “elusive” about his relationship with Zoe Church and his views on “gay rights.” That elusiveness (code for: he never gives his political and cultural views on anything) is apparently grounds for some sort of cancellation or, at the very least, an enigmatic reason for everyone to randomly dislike the actor.
It’s quite strange to call someone “disgraced” based on a belief you think you might have about someone’s purported perspective you actually know nothing about. If that seems like a confusing summary, know this: the confounding breakdown is essentially the basis of most of what underpins raging anti-Pratt sentiment.
If you’re tracking: Pratt is apparently disgraced because he attended churches with biblically-based views on sexuality — views some, after cultural evolutions, now disagree with, despite those stances being embraced for millennia. As a result of said attendance, he deserves to be considered “disgraced” — allegedly.
But that’s not all Pratt’s seemingly guilty of, as the writer went on to mention one of the most bizarre narratives used to try to dismiss Pratt yet: that he insulted his ex-wife and son because he dared to thank his current wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, for giving him a beautiful, healthy baby daughter.
For context: In November 2021, Pratt shared an Instagram photo of Schwarzenegger lovingly gazing at him, and showered praise upon her in the text. Here’s what he wrote:
Guys. For real. Look how she’s looking at me! I mean. Find you somebody that looks at you like that!! You know!? We met in church. She’s given me an amazing life, a gorgeous healthy daughter, she chews so loudly that sometimes i put in my ear buds to drown it out, but that’s love! She helps me with everything. In return, periodically, I open a jar of pickles. That’s the trade. Her heart is pure and it belongs to me. My greatest treasure right next to my Ken Griffey Jr Upper Deck Rookie card. Which if you know, you know is saying a lot. It’s her birthday in about 6 weeks. So if I don’t get her anything, I’ll tell her to look back on this post. Love you honey.
What most reasonable people would view as a comical, loving ode to his wife was dubbed by the writer as a “bizarre early birthday post.” She went on to write how “many viewed this as an ableist slight toward his first wife, actor Anna Faris, and the son they share, who was born premature and is disabled.”
This take was quite the jump when it was pedaled in November. But the fact that, months later, people are still parroting it seems to give credence to podcast host Joe Rogan’s belief that detractors hold disdain for Pratt simply because “he’s a Christian” and “a good person.”
“He’s kind of outside the lines in terms of his ideology,” Rogan said on his podcast last December. “He’s a Christian and he’s pretty open about it and, because of that, they attack him.”
He continued, “It’s something so simple, like, he just believes in Jesus,” he continued. “And … he likes to be a good person and they’re like, ‘[Expletive] him!’”
Rogan is spot-on. These critics cannot point out any statements or comments from Pratt, so they engage in a failed attempt at connecting the dots — a fruitless exercise that leaves everyone not blinded by a strange, dawdling, anti-Pratt rage scratching our heads.
Imagine having so little corroboratory evidence you’d read into a loving Instagram post and walk away believing the absolute worst of someone — convincing yourself that person, from whom you have no negative quotes on record, suddenly unleashed a veiled demonic diss at his own child?
This is the culture we’ve created. It’s dark, twisted, and frankly: sad.
At the end of the day, Pratt is guilty of one thing: openly stating he’s a Christian. While the critics appear bent on refusing to let him live that down, we pray he’ll continue standing up for his beliefs in the midst of a hopeless culture.
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