This kind of idiocy turns the film into a must-see release.

The good news is this pandemic lockdown nonsense may be coming to an end. I say this because we are possibly seeing a return to normalcy on social media, namely people moving from yelling and accusing others of wanting grandma to die to yelling and accusing that racism exists in movies.

Mel Gibson is at the center of this ‘’controversy’’ and frankly I am happy to see the howler monkeys on Twitter getting incensed over new subjects. This week the trailer was released for ‘’Force Of Nature’’, Gibson’s new thriller coming out in just over a month.

Force of Nature: Trailer pic.twitter.com/gq81p0d3e7

— Mel Gibson (@MelGibsonFilms) May 18, 2020

Rather quickly social media welled up with outrage. It seems that there is a full complement of problematics with this film, with the presence of Gibson being just the start. Many on the left reflexively have to vocalize their outrage over his past actions, because avoiding the works of a performer is never enough. But there is so much more at issue, as just a sampling of the tempest will show. There are charges made, absent common sense.

The thing I most enjoy about the emotional maelstrom from the left is the mental torpor that always is attached. In the course of their outrage these concerned activists are oblivious to so much, only beginning with their anger over supposed racism being in play, all while they are comfortable with denigrating a race with the use of ‘’gringos’’. But in the supposed protection of their culture they have to overlook so much reality.

To start, if this is such a blatant offense how did this sneak by those involved with making the film? Those bad guys who are supposedly offensive are played by Puerto Rican actors; how did they not see the inherent racism? Additionally I am curious how this obvious hate crime was missed by Puerto Rican producer Luillo Ruiz, who helped orchestrate the shoot. And what of the government leaders, who permitted this production to take place within its borders?

Which takes us to the next reality. Yes, the film was produced on the island, an island still fighting through the storm recovery. This was a healthy infusion of commerce for a society in need of that very relief. Most of the crew was made up of island residents, with an estimated 300 jobs created, as well as a fair amount of the cast. Luillo Ruiz detailed that about $15 million was spent by the production on location.

This also helps in a longterm fashion, as it bolsters what might be a growing film industry in Puerto Rico. A number of productions have been ramped up in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation, a method that Louisiana and New Orleans used in the years as recovery after massive storm damage. (These might be the retrograde quality of movies I deeply enjoy, but they do go far in bolstering a local economy.) Earlier this year, Bruce Willis was seen in ‘’Trauma Center’’, with little charges of racism leveled against it, and Nicolas Cage was seen in ‘’Primal’’. The biopic on the Cigarette Boat creator ‘’Speed Kills’’ starred John Travolta, and Al Pacino was down island making ‘’Axis Sally’’.

Then there is the racial component. Beyond the fact that a large number of Anglo gringos reside on Puerto Rico there also is a problem for another reason, concerning the hurricane itself. Recall after the devastation of Maria on the island, we were inundated with media reports that lectured how Puerto Ricans were American citizens and were entitled to all the aid possible? What happened to that melting pot plea? How is it that Americans would be offended when an American film production arrives to film an American movie on an American location?

This could be the bellwether we all are looking for these days. This reemergence of the hectoring social scolds is focused on a Mel Gibson movie. In a sign of the imbalanced virtue-signaling making a healthy return, we see what has everyone upset is a movie they have not yet seen. This is a good sign. Maybe the anxiety over the COVID crisis has begun to ebb and we are seeing a return to the normal hysterical nonsensical outrage merchants.