X-Men: Apocalypse Ad Showing Jennifer Lawrence Being Strangled Draws Criticism From Rose McGowan

X-Men: Apocalypse hasn't amassed as much at the box office as its X-Men: Days of Future Past [...]

By Matthew Aguilar

Apocalypse-Trailer

X-Men: Apocalypse hasn't amassed as much at the box office as its X-Men: Days of Future Past predecessor and the marketing department doesn't seem to be doing it any favors.

A billboard advertising the film shows Apocalypse (Oscar Issac) choking the mutant Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), with a caption that says "Only The Strong Will Survive." The visual has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, including actress Rose McGowan, who expressed her point of view on Facebook (via THR).

"There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film. There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid. The geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society. Imagine if it were a black man being strangled by a white man, or a gay male being strangled by a hetero? The outcry would be enormous. So let's right this wrong. 20th Century Fox, since you can't manage to put any women directors on your slate for the next two years, how about you at least replace your ad?"

She summed up her message with an actual text from a friend's daughter.

"I'll close with a text my friend sent, a conversation with his daughter. It follows: 'My daughter and I were just having a deep discussion on the brutality of that hideous X-Men poster yesterday. Her words: 'Dad, why is that monster man committing violence against a woman?' This from a 9-year-old. If she can see it, why can't Fox?"

The billboard has certainly drawn a major reaction, and while Fox hasn't commented on the issue as of yet, it would seem pertinent to get that image replaced as soon as possible, an image that really shouldn't have made the cut in the first place.

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