Zack Snyder has made quite a few controversial remarks in the past, and his leagues of followers were always game and ready to defend his side. Still, that is not the case with this statement the director once revealed in an interview, involving his own son.
In 2009, Snyder helmed Watchmen starring Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, and Carla Gugino among others. In one of the scenes in the film, he originally wanted his son to witness a topless woman.
Zack Snyder Wanted His Son To See A Topless Woman On Movie Set
Justice League director Zack Snyder spoke on The Joe Rogan Experience and revealed one of the original plans he had for the DC Comics-based movie Watchmen. His son, Eli Snyder, was part of the movie’s cast as young Rorschach.
“There’s that scene where Rorschach’s mom in the flashbacks, like, ‘I should have had that abortion’, and she slaps him in the face, because he hears, ‘Mom, is he hurting you?’ because she’s having s*x with some john in there. And then she opens the door, and he’s like, ‘Is he hurting you?’ ‘I should have had that abortion.’ Slapped him. And I had wanted the mother to be topless in that scene.”
Snyder defended his argument by claiming it was for the good of “cinema”. He wanted to portray the scene as realistically as possible, which would have meant few clothes for the character of the sex worker. The studio, however, was against the idea. At the same time, there was a given condition:
“It’s cool because his mother was visiting set that day, and she was like, ‘Oh, you’re putting our son in a movie.’ We weren’t together at the time, his mom and I, but we’re really close friends. But she was an actress. And they went, ‘The only way that the woman could be topless is if it was actually his mom.’ And I was like, ‘I got Denise.’ And she was like, ‘No chance.’ ”
Denise Weber was Snyder’s ex-wife whom he shares four children: two biological and two adopted. She was clearly not up for the director’s suggestion, and it also seemed odd that Snyder would allow his son to get exposed to this kind of sensitive scenes in films.
Zack Snyder’s Controversial Statement About Children And Spartans
In the same interview with Joe Rogan, Zack Snyder talked about what it takes to be a true Spartan. His statement became scandalous again after he involved underage kids. A fan from Twitter wrote: “The time Zack Snyder and Joe Rogan worked out the key to having the world’s best military is child grooming.”
The time Zack Snyder and Joe Rogan worked out the key to having the world's best military is child grooming.
— drew grant (@videodrew) March 7, 2024
In the conversation, Snyder mentioned a ritual where there’s a stone table with cheese, and the 13-year-olds will have to get a piece from it. The Spartan warriors will have to guard the cheese even if it means doing anything to the kids.
“Finally, if you got it, then you were given to a Spartan soldier who raised you. And basically the idea was that he was your lover, he was your teacher, he was everything to you.”
Snyder may not realize how the magnitude of his words has already been affecting his reputation as a prolific filmmaker. While he has been controversial in the past as well, the comments above surely crossed a line.
