Spoilers The Flash - Season 6

[ialfan]

Disappointed at this news. Doesn't seem right to judge tweets from 5+ years ago that harshly if they chose to hire him after the fact.

That said this might tip me into giving up on the show once the current story arc is resolved. Ralph has been one of the best parts of the show the last few seasons and was already extremely underutilized in season 6.

 

[Ovation]

What's worse is that his cast members are not standing up for him. Anyone can be your friend when things are good, but it means something when people have your back in times like this.

The available facts, beyond the tweets, are scarce. But the biggest difference I see, this early, is Gunn had people stand up for him immediately while Sawyer does not appear to have such support. Meaning? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps a sign there is more than just the tweets.

 

[Samurai8472]

Oh, good grief, they're dropping like flies. First Ruby Rose, now this.

I hope they do recast, since they were just getting started with the Ralph/Sue romance and it'd be a shame to see that scuttled. And Ralph is a shapeshifter, so it'd be easy to explain a change in appearance. Just say he got targeted (as Ralph) by a bad guy and changed his face to protect himself, or something.

It'd be awkward for one CW show to avoid the "soap opera" tactic of changing one's face (Batwoman) only for this to get away with it. There would be backlash to that for sure from the Kate fans

 

[Romulan_spy]

They are if taken literally. But context is so hard to read online. He could have been making a shock tweet for laughs, not a serious statement. Are we no longer allowed that kind of humor? Are we going to regulate the speech and the freedoms that come with it? If so, what's next to go?

IMO, some humor should be off limits if they are hurtful or offensive. For example, saying something racist is not bad if it is serious but totally ok if it is a joke. Racism should always be wrong. And I would hope that people would use common sense before making jokes. Yes, joking and humor can be good things but we should still think before we make a joke and ask ourselves if the joke is in good taste or not. For example, I would never make a joke about Hitler being a great guy, not even for shock value, because I understand how such a joke would be in very poor taste and very offensive.

It can get carried away. If this man has behaved appropriately through his tenure, then he clearly is NOT the man in real life as he wrote in those tweets, and this is a massive overreaction.

What's worse is that his cast members are not standing up for him. Anyone can be your friend when things are good, but it means something when people have your back in times like this.

As far as I can tell, the actor posted the tweets before getting hired as Elongated Man and had actually deleted the tweets. So TPTB probably did not know about the tweets when they hired him. But folks had screenshots of the tweets and that is how TPTB found out. Sawyer claims the tweets were just jokes. If Sawyer really is a nice guy who is not misogynist, then yeah, it sucks that he got fired and yeah, his co-workers should probably defend him. But I think TPTB don't want to risk the bad PR now that the tweets are public. Unfortunately, very poor decisions when you are younger, like tweeting offensive jokes or putting on black face, can have serious consequences even many years later.

 

[Christopher]

It'd be awkward for one CW show to avoid the "soap opera" tactic of changing one's face (Batwoman) only for this to get away with it. There would be backlash to that for sure from the Kate fans

They're different shows with different storylines and different creative teams. They're also different categories of character, lead and supporting. It would be illogical to expect the same outcome from two such different situations. Each show's team should make the best decision for its show. Someone else's show is someone else's responsibility, not theirs.

IMO, some humor should be off limits if they are hurtful or offensive. For example, saying something racist is not bad if it is serious but totally ok if it is a joke. Racism should always be wrong. And I would hope that people would use common sense before making jokes. Yes, joking and humor can be good things but we should still think before we make a joke and ask ourselves if the joke is in good taste or not. For example, I would never make a joke about Hitler being a great guy, not even for shock value, because I understand how such a joke would be in very poor taste and very offensive.

You're quite right. It's illegitimate to say that hurtful comments are somehow not hurtful if the person who says them thinks they're funny. If someone thinks it's funny to cause someone else hurt or to demean them for their identity, that is exactly what they are doing wrong, so it's bizarre to claim that somehow makes it okay.

When I was a kid in school, the bullies thought it was hilarious to torment me, to demean me, to make me feel hated and worthless and afraid. They thought it was a terrific joke. But I was traumatized for life. Thinking it's funny to be hurtful does not make it harmless.

Now, Sawyer has shown signs of understanding. He hasn't used "it was just a joke" as an excuse to say he didn't do anything wrong. He's accepted that it was wrong and harmful, he's apologized, and he literally said "Thank you for holding me accountable." So he understands why they let him go and he agrees with the decision. Still, the fact that he ever thought such jokes were okay to voice in public, where their targets could see them and be hurt by them, is not an easy thing to excuse. It's something he appears willing to work to redeem himself for, but part of redemption is accepting consequences and making amends. Lots of people before Sawyer have resigned from their jobs once inappropriate comments they made in the past have come to light. It's a way of doing penance, and the fact that he accepts it rather than resisting it is a good start.

 

[USS Firefly]

This is bad news, he was one of the main reasons I was watching the show.

 

[JD]

That's fine if he was making these kinds of tweets today, but it's ridiculous to punish someone for something they did 8 years ago. Hell even a lot of crimes have a statute of limitations.

The available facts, beyond the tweets, are scarce. But the biggest difference I see, this early, is Gunn had people stand up for him immediately while Sawyer does not appear to have such support. Meaning? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps a sign there is more than just the tweets.

Yeah, the fact that none of his castmates or anyone else from the show

 

[Christopher]

That's fine if he was making these kinds of tweets today, but it's ridiculous to punish someone for something they did 8 years ago. Hell even a lot of crimes have a statute of limitations.

Like I said, Sawyer himself accepts it as justified and has already apologized, which pretty much settles the debate. No point arguing it's excessive when he has literally thanked them for it.

Lots of other people have resigned from their jobs when past statements like this have come to light. It's not ridiculous, it's a way of taking responsibility and making amends. Too many people in today's society reject the idea of responsibility and just try to dodge and deny and make excuses. That's how we got into the current mess.

There's also the question of the people he'd have to work with if he stayed on the show. Eric Wallace and Grant Gustin have both said in their statements that they were very angry when they learned of Sawyer's tweets. How can you ask Wallace and Jesse L. Martin and Candice Patton and Danielle Nicolet to just quietly accept working with someone who thought it was funny to demean their race? It's unfair to expect that of them, especially with all that's going on in the country right now.

 

[Xerxes82]

This is an interesting case. Because it was years ago, and we generally try to give people leeway to change. But the things he said were absolutely vile. And in the current climate you maybe have to be a little bit more ruthless about such things, if you're in charge.

Interesting to see the way that this news has reinvigorated the more under the radar Twitter calls for Danielle Panabaker's head as well. I'm not sure if there's fire to that smoke, every time I see the argument presented it kind of feels like tin-foil hat time, but it has definitely reappeared in force today.

 

[Snaploud]

Maybe they can give his salary to Brandon Routh. Routh has already played Superman and the Atom. Let's put Elongated Man on his resume.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Half the cast doesn’t seem to want to be there full time anymore anyway. Maybe it’s time to tell Barry to stop running and let this show go.

 

[Christopher]

Interesting to see the way that this news has reinvigorated the more under the radar Twitter calls for Danielle Panabaker's head as well. I'm not sure if there's fire to that smoke, every time I see the argument presented it kind of feels like tin-foil hat time, but it has definitely reappeared in force today.

I haven't heard anything about that. What's the deal there?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Maybe they can give his salary to Brandon Routh. Routh has already played Superman and Antman The Atom. Let's put Elongated Man on his resume.

FTFY

 

[thribs]

So are they going to recast him or kill him off... again?

 

[Xerxes82]

I haven't heard anything about that. What's the deal there?

Meh. It feels like the kind of thing that Twitter readers make up to fill their time. The gist of it is that Panabaker's critics accuse her, ostensibly because of racial bias, of not getting along with Candice Patton and not giving her credit said critics think she is due. Honestly, I wonder if the biggest component of it is the fact that Panabaker has repeatedly thrown bones to the crowd that ships Barry with Caitlin, to the point that she is accused of advocating for it behind the scenes. Which is apparently a bridge too far for some fans.

Like I said, there may be more to it that I'm not aware of. I generally don't pay that much attention to the Arrowverse or it's more extreme fans these days, as I haven't watched in years. But it feels very manufactured to me. I only commented because a thread popped up on a different board I visit with people showing off new tweets from Panabaker's critics in light of the Hartley Sawyer stuff this morning.

 

[tomalak301]

Meh. It feels like the kind of thing that Twitter readers make up to fill their time. The gist of it is that Panabaker's critics accuse her, ostensibly because of racial bias, of not getting along with Candice Patton and not giving her credit said critics think she is due. Honestly, I wonder if the biggest component of it is the fact that Panabaker has repeatedly thrown bones to the crowd that ships Barry with Caitlin, to the point that she is accused of advocating for it behind the scenes. Which is apparently a bridge too far for some fans.

Like I said, there may be more to it that I'm not aware of. I generally don't pay that much attention to the Arrowverse or it's more extreme fans these days, as I haven't watched in years. But it feels very manufactured to me. I only commented because a thread popped up on a different board I visit with people showing off new tweets from Panabaker's critics in light of the Hartley Sawyer stuff this morning.

That sounds like the whole Oliver with Falicity while Laurel looks on the sidelines thing all over again. I like Panabaker on the show so if any of this is true and comes to light I would be incredibly sad.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Final nail in the show's coffin. This last season was so dire, Ralph's storyline was the only breath of fresh air throughout the entire season.

 

[Captain Crow]

So are they going to recast him or kill him off... again?

You can write off a character without killing them off.

All you need is a line or two about them having left or simply don't acknowledge their absence at all.

 

[Jayson1]

I mean, I'd hope by the time your 25 you would know what is good or isn't to tweet.

People didn't know free speech would be ending back then so people posted whatever crossed their mind from dirty jokes to opinions that would become unpopular for political reasons in the future. It's why so many people keep being cancelled. They didn't see the future coming.

Jason

 

[kirk55555]

Well, fake Elongated Man was always the worst thing on the show after he joined, so I won't miss him. I hope they don't recast him, because the character is just shit and I'd be happy with never seeing him again, regardless of who plays him.