{"id":583138,"date":"2026-04-05T04:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T04:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583138\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T04:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T04:57:11","slug":"march-for-our-lives-calls-out-the-dramas-misaligned-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583138\/","title":{"rendered":"March For Our Lives Calls Out ‘The Drama’s ‘Misaligned’ Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEditor\u2019s note: The following article contains some spoilers for The Drama<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of last night\u2019s premiere of Kristoffer Borgli<\/a>\u2018s The Drama, gun violence prevention organization March for Our Lives released a statement calling out the A24<\/a> dark romantic comedy\u2019s \u201cdeeply misaligned\u201d marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Thursday, the student-led advocacy group posted a disclaimer to Instagram, noting that while the org didn\u2019t want to spoil the film\u2019s premise, it had the obligation to discuss the themes presented in the Zendaya<\/a> and Robert Pattinson<\/a> two-hander. While much of the press tour has side-stepped conversation regarding its subject matter, what has been billed as the film\u2019s \u201ctwist\u201d reveals itself early on in the runtime, as Zendaya\u2019s bride-to-be Emma reveals the worst thing she\u2019s ever done is orchestrate a mass shooting at her school \u2014 though she did not go through with it. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe film may be attempting to engage real questions about accountability and change, but A24\u2019s marketing does not meet it there,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cWith a subject this serious, especially in the U.S., that conversation cannot begin and end on screen. It has to carry through in how the film is presented. We understand that art can provoke discomfort and use humor to approach difficult subjects. But when something like a school shooting is treated lightly or played for irony, it raises a deeper question: what kind of conversation is this meant to start?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the nonprofit hopes the film does, indeed, \u201cspark conversation,\u201d as indicated by Borgli and the actors, it maintained \u201cthere is a responsibility to help shape that conversation in a productive direction, not just provoke it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe statement concludes: \u201cThat expectation only grows when the artists involved have this level of cultural influence. The way this film has been marketed is deeply misaligned with the reality it engages. We expect better from A24 and the artists behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an additional interview with IndieWire<\/a>, March for Our Lives executive director Jaclyn Corin added that \u201cleaving [the marketing] up in the air and not taking responsibility and discussing how heavy and real world that topic is is a missed opportunity at best, but harmful at worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA24 had no comment on the matter when asked by the publication.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, TMZ also published an account<\/a> from Tom Mauser, the parent of a child who was killed during the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, in which he called the film\u2019s premise \u201cawful\u201d and noted he was bothered by what he perceived to be a frivolous dismissal of the movie\u2019s contents. <\/p>\n

\n\tCorin concluded to IndieWire: \u201cI\u2019d acknowledge the concern directly, not defensively, but just a clear recognition that people are having this reaction, because it\u2019s real. When families and survivors are expressing discomfort, that should be met with respect. Offering more clarity on tone and intent, giving audiences a better sense of what the film is actually trying to do. The claim that they hope this film sparks conversation, they can maybe host a conversation themselves with the director, filmmaker, or the actors and actresses involved, actually exemplifying what a productive and serious conversation about gun violence looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCritical reviews<\/a> for the film have been somewhat mixed<\/a>, even as they have praised its lead stars and supporting cast. In his take, Deadline\u2019s Pete Hammond<\/a>\u00a0called\u00a0The Drama \u201ca darkly funny, yet explosively honest movie\u201d that \u201cmay not be what you expect at all going in, but one that is\u00a0bound\u00a0to spark spirited conversation when you are walking out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: The following article contains some spoilers for The Drama. Ahead of last night\u2019s premiere of Kristoffer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[24826,49,48,361,75,106256,50503,106254,39778],"class_list":{"0":"post-583138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-a24","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-kristoffer-borgli","14":"tag-robert-pattinson","15":"tag-the-drama","16":"tag-zendaya"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}