There are numerous reasons, and numerous ways, for people to take issue with the movies. Lena Dunham's major issue recently is about the advertising. Somebody has decided that they simply can't deal with the depiction of guns used in the ads for Jason Bourne and has gone to removing them from the posters in New York City subways. Girls creator Lena Dunham has picked up the movement, and is now advocating that her followers do the same.
*Update: *The Instagram post has since been removed. In the post, Instagram user @tulipbone wrote, "Hey New Yorkers, what if we do some peeling & get rid of the guns in the Jason Bourne subway ads. So tired of guns." Dunham reposted the image of a Bourne poster with the gun torn away, and wrote, "Good idea @tulipbone! Let's go!" No clue why you would remove that image, or that message, if you truly stood behind it, but that's what has happened.
*From Earlier: *As a reaction to the recent rash of gun-related violence, it's completely understandable why people could feel this way. They're frustrated, scared, and simply tired of hearing about gun violence every single day, only to turn around and then see a gun as part of an advertisement on a subway wall. The politics of gun control don't even necessarily enter into it; it's just a mental connection to a bunch of terrible news that we all wish we could stop hearing about, and a chain reaction of events that we wish would just stop happening.
Having said that, defacing a movie poster may not be the best outlet for such things. We're not sure what the laws are, but that is probably considering defacing somebody else's property, and while punishments may not too severe, they probably exist. Also, whatever your opinion regarding the role of guns in recent violence, the argument is harder to make when extended to the fake gun in the fictional movie. We're also forced to point out that simply removing the part of the poster which has the gun in it still leaves a distinctly gun shaped hole, it's pretty clear what used to be there.
While Jason Bourne is certainly not the only summer blockbuster that involves people using guns, it does have the unfortunate timing to be the one that features them in its advertising and one that is going to be released soon.While the Bourne series certainly uses their share of guns, quite often the best action sequences in the series don't rely on the guns, even if they happen to be in the scene.
It will be interesting to see if there are a rash of poster defacings all over New York City. While this will likely be a small movement, it's possible that, with passions as high as they are, it could pick up. While this will result in a lot of funny looking posters, it will likely not have a massive impact on the film.
Jason Bourne will hit theaters July 29.
