Judd Apatow Won’t Cut ‘This Is 40’ Child Murder Jokes Despite Sandy Hook Tragedy
Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 is set to get caught up in controversy following the devastating Sandy Hook tragedy.
Apatow’s film features several child murder jokes that the writer and director has vowed to keep in the picture, explaining that they were written two years ago and were not meant to be offensive.
The Knocked Up director stated, “In light of recent events, I understand if some people might make an unfortunate association or put it in a context in which it was not intended.”
This Is 40, which is released on Friday, won’t be cut after the death of 20 children and six adults on Friday in Connecticut.
The scene in question involves Albert Brooks’ character Larry, who is about to spray triplets with a hose, saying, “Line up! Line up for murder! Come on! Who wants to be killed?” One of the youngsters declares, “I do!” to which Larry replies, “Okay, we’re eliminating one, we’re cheaper already.”
Another child then shouts, “Murder me!” to which Larry responds, “Boom, dead. You’re dead. All right, the kids are murdered. That will save us some money.”
Various other television shows and films have been affected by the deaths in Sandy Hook, with the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s movie Django Unchained being cancelled, whilst Syfy’s Haven was pulled, and episodes of Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show were cancelled too.
This Is 40 stars Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Chris O’Dowd, and Lena Dunham and has been well received by critics. Are you excited to see it? Do you think these lines should have been cut?
