The actors have returned to promoting with determination, as demonstrated by Adam Driver.

T

Currently, there is much discussion surrounding the film industry’s existential dilemma. The pandemic has dealt a blow, the internet poses a threat, and the WGA and Sag-Aftra strikes have caused delays. There have been times when it seemed like Hollywood would never return to its usual operations.

Good news, everything is back to normal! The strikes have ended, the actors are back on set, and Adam Driver had a sassy moment with a fan. Looks like Hollywood is up and running again.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, you may want to prepare yourself. At the EnergaCamerimage film festival in Poland, there was a Q&A session about his new Ferrari film. During this session, a member of the audience confronts Driver about the crash scenes in the movie, describing them as “harsh, drastic, and cheesy.” While other audience members express their discomfort with the lack of manners, Driver responds with no hesitation. “I have no idea,” he grumbles, causing the crowd to gasp and laugh simultaneously. “Next question.”

The uproar resulted in the festival’s director releasing a statement addressing the matter, deeming the question “completely insignificant” and stating that “it lacked thorough reasoning, which goes against the festival’s principles.” Was Adam Driver justified? Let’s examine closer.

The brief response is “somewhat.” Those who have participated in Q&A events before are aware that there is usually at least one individual in the audience who is rude and only wants to make statements instead of asking questions. They become excited at the opportunity to have the entire room listen to them and may abuse their power. Lately, I have noticed that the majority of these individuals have been saying things like, “You can’t say anything without offending someone these days, can you?” I have witnessed other Q&As where the person being interviewed was brought to tears by the insensitive remarks of these audience members.

The question posed to the driver was unfair, as it criticized a part of Ferrari that the driver had no authority over. A crash scene involves the efforts of many individuals, such as the director, stunt coordinator, editors, FX teams, and numerous others. However, the actor is not responsible for any of these tasks. Unless the Ferrari crash scenes solely consist of Adam Driver emoting in front of broken glass for an extended period, it is unjust to single him out for them.

Considering this, a part of me was completely amazed while watching Adam Driver. Despite a potentially tense situation during promotion, he maintained his composure and found the most authentic version of himself to confidently say, “Fuck you.” He truly is remarkable. The world would be a better place if we could all respond to incompetence and rudeness with a nonchalant “fuck you.”

However, it should be noted that when he did this, the result was quite unexpected. The video became extremely popular. It not only stole the spotlight from the event, but also from the entire festival. It is highly likely that when Ferrari is released, this controversial moment will receive the most attention from the media. Michael Mann has expressed his desire to create a film about Ferrari for many years, but now all of the hype has been overshadowed by the lead actor’s disrespectful behavior towards someone in Poland.

These outbursts can have a major impact on projects. It took Christian Bale a long time to show people that he is more than just the actor who had a meltdown on the set of his Terminator movie, and Jesse Eisenberg has been unable to change his image as arrogant and disrespectful ever since he made derogatory remarks towards a female interviewer ten years ago.

Adam Driver has unintentionally found himself on a certain path. He has now become known as the “Fuck You Guy” whether he wants to be or not. For the next few months, whenever his name is mentioned, there will be discussions about the likelihood of him saying “fuck you” at any given time. Fortunately for Driver, his brand aligns well with the “Fuck You” persona – he is an intense and mature actor rather than a sweet Disney star – but that doesn’t mean he should fully embrace it. If he follows this path too closely, he may end up like Sean Penn, which is not desirable for anyone.

Source: theguardian.com