The trailer for a Mel Gibson movie released on demand faced a huge backlash on Twitter because of its casting and themes.
Puerto Rico hurricane movie “Force of Nature” features two white actors fighting a Latino gang.
“MEL GIBSON IS STARRING IN A MOVIE WHERE HE REFUSES TO EVACUATE HIS HOME IN PUERTO RICO THATS ABOUT TO BE HIT BY A CAT 5 HURRICANE?! WHAT IN THE CAUSACITY? WHOS IDEA WAS THIS?!?!?!!” tweeted one hater along with the trailer. “Youre telling me, Gringos wanna make a hollywood film about the most traumatizing event in Puerto Rico history and center it around a snobby white old man who refuses to leave his home? Are you f--ing kidding me???”
A lot of the reaction was quite similar.
“What the ever living f--k is this? They did a movie about Hurricane Maria and is a blond American chick gunning down Puerto Rican drug dealers in… Condado?” another user tweeted, adding, “I am still laughing that the location for the scary drone shots and drug cartel shootouts is Condado, a ritzy, beach y San Juan neighborhood. This is like setting your gritty noir in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill.”
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After a long career, Gibson and his brand have suffered irreparable damage.
Gibson was a pariah and fodder for late-night comedians after a series of rants and scandals prompted some of the industry's top players to say they wouldn't work with him.
In 2006, the actor was arrested for drunk driving and made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer which were all caught on tape. He apologized, but Hollywood quickly began to shun him and his film “Apocalypto” during the subsequent award season. In the years that followed, Gibson was surrounded by controversy that included a headline-making interview during which he slammed a reporter who asked him about the 2006 incident and a recorded profane rant against his ex Oksana Grigorieva.
“Straight-to-streaming piece of sh-- stars an anti-Semitic, abusive racist who battered his ex-wife and a dude who went to jail for attacking and choking a woman,” one user wrote.
He still does however have a fanbase.
“Mel Gibson is a legend, a real talent. Very rare in Hollywood. Great actor and a magnificent director. I’m a Puertorican and not offended by Force of Nature. At all. Stop with the nonsense and the victim mentality,” one wrote.