The trailer for Mel Gibson’s latest movie faced a huge backlash on Twitter due to its casting and themes.
Force of Nature is about the Puerto Rican hurricane crisis but it features two white actors fighting a Latino gang. The reaction was mainly outrage at the inherently racist characterizations.
The straight-to-streaming film is loosely based around 2017’s Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. It has presented the white cast members as heroes, and the Puerto Rican islanders as the villains.
Not surprisingly, Mel Gibson, along with Emile Hirsch, stars in the film.
Force of Nature follows Ray (Gibson) refusing to leave his home amid a Category 5 hurricane. Frustrated by her father’s stubbornness, his daughter calls an officer (Hirsch) to reason with Ray and get him to safety. Hirsch and Gibson later team up to fight a Latino gang who tries to break into his apartment complex.
Undoubtedly, after this and past incidents, the Gibson brand has suffered irreparable damage.
Remember the Gibson rants? The Lethal Weapon star was a viral pariah after a series of rants and scandals. The film industry virtually shut out the actor and his cache hasn’t been the same.
Also, in 2006, the actor was arrested for drunk driving where he made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer.
In later years, Gibson was still surrounded by controversy such as the interview where he slammed a reporter. The reporter asked him about the 2006 incident and a recorded profane rant against his ex Oksana Grigorieva.
