Fox apologized in the happiest possible way for posting images everywhere of Jennifer Lawrence‘s character Mystique being choked by the villain Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. Some people became disturbed by the image, believing at the least it necessitated a trigger warning for violence against women. (It’s awfully hard, though, to put a trigger warning on a billboard.) Fox could have its cake and eat it too, with this one — it both apologized and reaped the benefits.
Fox’s apology stated that “in our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse we didn’t immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form.” The violence against Mystique remains part of the film, where it won’t be altered. But taken out of context as a still it sent a hurtful message to some outside the comics world, those who hadn’t paid money to see the action. (Note: it’s a science fiction fantasy film that might be showing violence against blue people as much as violence against women — hard to be sure.) “We quickly took steps to remove the materials,” Fox wrote, “once we realized how insensitive it was.” X-Men: Apocalypse opened on Memorial Day weekend. It topped the US Box office and did nearly $300 million worldwide.
