Jim Carrey denounces the violence in Kick-Ass 2 on Twitter and creator Mark Millar responds

While I understand that everyone has a cause or belief that is important to him or her, it is incredibly frustrating when someone is preachy about whatever they are trying to push. It's even worse when a celebrity is involved since they have the power to really amplify their message. I'm not saying celebrities shouldn't try to use their status to help promote a cause but if they do they should make sure they aren't being annoying as hell about it.

Jim Carrey has made it very clear that he is for stricter gun laws. He's posted on his Twitter account multiple times about the issue and did a video for FunnyOrDie.com that lampooned Charlton Heston and gun nuts. A lot of people responded to the video by pointing out that it was kind of hypocritical of the actor to take such a strong stance on the issue since he stars in KICK-ASS 2, a film with more than just a little violence.

Well yesterday Jim Carrey was on Twitter again and this time publicly denounced the violence in KICK-ASS 2. He apologizes to the cast and crew but says he can no longer support the film.

I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to e

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013

I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013

Later that day KICK-ASS creator Mark Millar responded to Jim Carrey's tweet with a blog. You can read the full blog here but this excerpt pretty much covers how Millar feels about Carrey's comments:

As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I'm baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us HIT-GIRL was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much. My books are very hardcore, but the movies are adapted for a more mainstream audience and if you loved the tone of the first picture you're going to eat this up with a big, giant spoon. Like Jim, I'm horrified by real-life violence (even though I'm Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn't a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorcese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-Wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it's the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim's character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place.

I don't know if I'd lump KICK-ASS with films by Tarantino, Scorcese, etc. but I get Millar's point. The violence can get over the top and brutal in KICK-ASS but there has been consequences to most of those actions. Jim Carrey also knew fully well what KICK-ASS 2 was going to be about and as Millar says his character doesn't even fire a gun.

It's too bad Jim Carrey has taken this route with his strong beliefs and I'm sure it's not going to win him any new fans. Just because he has a change of heart doesn't mean he needs to shit on the film and I bet he's not going to be giving back any of his paycheck from KICK-ASS 2 so all of this just comes off as very hypocritical and very classless.

KICK-ASS 2 will be in theaters August 16th, 2013.