If anything, using the sexual assault angle to propel an awards run is even more brazen and cynical. To be clear, it isn't you, but the publicists pushing it.
I mean, unless there's stories I've missed (I haven't followed his career that closely over the years), I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be throwing beer bottles around regardless of any Oscars momentum. Which, is part of the appeal! I said "someone who carries himself publicly in a way that makes him easy to root for" because... I don't know him personally. I know enough to know that for any public figure I respect, I need to leave room for being deeply disappointed in them. But, he certainly seems, from what I've seen, like someone who's super chill and passionate and friendly and just all around a cool dude. And, between that and (again) the shit he's gone through... idk. Seems weird to make a big deal out of people being happy for him, imo!
"using the sexual assault angle" He literally was assaulted, and talked about it long before this campaign got going! This is weird.
Of course he was. That's why publicists are using it to get you to see their movie. I really doubt anyone would try to make up a story like that.
Sometimes I do worry he's being put on such a pedestal. I always get nervous because so many times when that happens people start looking for reasons to tear them down and he is just human after all. But that tends to be more common with women I think (the building them up to tear them down thing)
I really doubt you all are in favor of people exploiting sexual assault to make money and win awards. Either I've been unclear, you have misread what I've said, or you are arguing in bad faith.
What is so egregious to you? Of all the controversial entertainment opinions in this thread, dismay over people using sexual assault to make money for movie studios would seem entirely benign.
Maybe some of the disconnect is that I didn't even bother watching The Whale, and I'm also not into closely following Oscar campaign stuff. I've watched a couple Brendan Fraser spotlight videos, and they both mostly leaned into him talking about his history in Hollywood without directly referencing that traumatic event. So, if his publicist or whoever is talking a lot about that trauma in pursuit of more award momentum, I personally missed it. And I doubt Fraser would be into that if it is happening, and I would be disgusted at that as well. I just clearly remember him talking about that assault in 2018, and the way people came around him then. And, the way that Mummy nostalgia has peaked in recent years, and the way people also seem to like him in that Doom Patrol show. So, it's kinda baked into people's minds already if they know about it. (Maybe it's entertainment writers who are choosing to focus on it in places you're following? Idk.)
Honestly even if someone does take a traumatic event they experienced and is able to use it for something good or something that benefits them that doesn't rly bother me.
Listen, there are always going to be magazines, shitty news outlets and content creators who are going to try to take advantage of situations like this, but to soley focus on that and be meanspirited toward the whole situation seems weird. So people are genuinely happy Fraser is working again and seems happy doing so. Is that so bad? There are thousands of terrible people and terrible things to focus on in the industry and THAT'S the one thing you're focusing on?
It isn't necessarily about individual people feeling a fondness for an actor, especially since he was a big part of those movies they liked when they were children. It is those exact feelings they are trying to exploit. These narratives happen every year. Last year they exploited the death of Chadwick Boseman to try an win the award, even going so far as to move the award to last so they can have their big moment. Unfortunately for them, the Oscar voters didn't get the message.
Not to mention, while publicists may have run with it, the adoration from the general public was certainly organic. He gave a lot of people my age a lot of joy for a lot of years, was cast aside by the industry, and people were genuinely really excited to see one of their favorites back and doing great work well before The Whale buzz. No one is coddling him or treating him like a baby, they just enjoy him sincerely.
The timeline is backwards. The industry started pushing the narrative and then people started responding to it. The Soderbergh movie in 2021 wasn't an awards contender so significantly less people treated it like a comeback.
He's returned to acting before The Whale. We get it. You want everything to fit into your tight little narrative, but come on.
Myself and many others were stoked to see him back in Trust and Doom Patrol. His comeback started in 2018. I remember loving this interview that marked his comeback. Brendan Fraser on His Comeback, Disappearance, and the Experience that Nearly Ended His Career It's okay to not be so cynical about everything.