An old comment from Shang-Chi star, Simu Liu, about Pedophilia has him in some hot waters.
Shang-Chi star Simu Liu can't seem to get a break as he is the subject of controversy once more. Reddit posts from 2015 have resurfaced revealing Simu Liu's controversial opinions on pedophilia. In the posts, he said that he was sympathetic towards pedophiles and compared it to being gay.
In the Reddit post in 2015, Simu Liu responded to a program in Germany that encouraged pedophiles to sign up for confidential treatment.
Liu responded to the post saying:
Hey, I'm a Canadian actor and I thought I'd chime in. I recently did a show in which I played a pedophile, and did a significant amount of research (clinical not the 'method' stuff) on the disorder and how it's perceived in the media. In the end the role completely changed the way I look at pedophilia and has made me much more sympathetic to anyone who is born with those urges.
He dug himself even deeper into a hole when he compared pedophilia to being gay.
From a biological standpoint it's no different than being gay - a small mutation in the genome that defines our sexual preferences. Depending on what area of the world you were born and what time, it also may have been a perfectly acceptable thing to act on those urges. Now, we all know that taking advantage of minors is wrong. Disgusting and vile, even.
But with the exception of Germany we are going about it completely COMPLETELY the wrong way. It's like we [haven't] learned anything by studying homosexuality - we're talking about exploring the same 'cures' to pedophilia as we were about homosexuality 20 years ago, a la conversion therapy and what not.
Liu went on again defending pedophilia and saying that it is "not so different from being gay."
TL;DR: Actor played a pedophile for a TV show, did research, discovered a pedophile not so different from being gay. Everyone deserves sympathy. Not black-and-white.
Obviously, the LGBTQ community had to step in to defend themselves as Liu isn't the only person who seems to compare being gay to pedophilia. Back in 2020, Rich Ferraro, the chief communications officer at GLAAD, wrote an email to USA Today to set the record straight. The email stated:
There is a long-standing, homophobic and transphobic tactic of inaccurately comparing LGBTQ people to pedophiles and being LGBTQ to pedophilia. It’s debased and vile... It pains me to have to clarify that no, the LGBTQ community does not embrace pedophilia.
Nick Morrow, the interim communications director for the Human Rights Campaign, also spoke up in defense of the LGBTQ community. He told USA Today:
The LGBTQ movement absolutely rejects any suggestion that our community is linked to nonconsensual interpersonal behaviors, including the horrific actions of pedophiles.
Disney has yet to comment on the Shang-Chi star's controversial comments.
Liu responded to the resurfacing of his 2015 comments in a cryptic tweet:
Twitter is a slanderous place sometimes, and it feels good to shut down trolls and bad faith actors who want to drag your name through the mud.
This isn't the first time that comments made by Simu Liu put him in hot water. It is suspected that the reason that Shang-Chi and The Eternals won't be released in China is because of comments made by Liu about China. In a 2017 interview with CBC, Liu, who was born in Canada, spoke ill of China's Communist rule. He referred to China as a “third world” country where people were “dying of starvation.”
His comments about China definitely didn't get him any favors with the Chinese government.
Since China is the second biggest box office in the world, it's no surprise that Shang-Chi is now one of the worst-performing Marvel films with $264.5 million worldwide.
Share on Facebook
