Someone in the PR department got their hands on Jesse Eisenberg. A day after he described his experience at San Diego Comic-Con as some kind of "genocide," the actor who will play Lex Luthor in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is backpedaling and explaining his sentiment.
Eisenberg, who comes off as a relatively introverted guy (despite the fact that he works as an actor), was speaking with the AP when he compared the bombastic Comic-Con experience to "genocide," or the mass killing of assorted people. Terrible choice of words. Now, Jesse Eisenberg has clarified, according to THR, saying:
Maybe on some cellular memory level, that's the only thing that seems like an equivalent social experience. Even if [fans are] saying nice things, just being shouted at by thousands of people, it's horrifying."
Not good enough, though. Because later on in the day, Jesse Eisenberg continued to refine his statement, this time telling the AP (who quoted him the first time):
I of course was using hyperbole to describe the sensory overload I experienced. I sometimes do employ that. I'm a normal person who has normal sensory experiences, so Comic-Con was very overwhelming for me. That said, it was really an honor to be on that end of such jubilation."
With nary a mention of the mass slaughter of innocents. Much better. Listen, hyperbole is one thing. And there are a few people who defended Jesse Eisenberg in our comments section, saying that the act of calling him out on his poor choice of words was an over-reaction. So I do want to reiterate that I believe Eisenberg is allowed to use any word that he wants when talking about an experience. I’m not offended by his statements in the least. I do find it ridiculous and completely misguided that he would attempt to associate the brutal act of murdering citizens with having to talk about a superhero movie – and one that he willingly signed up for. It’s an insensitive analogy, and either Jesse Eisenberg realized that, or someone told him he needs to make it look like he realized it.
And that’s probably that. Jesse Eisenberg said something unfortunate, and he quickly recanted. What it probably means is that, in the future, he’ll be a lot more careful about the words that he uses with the press… or he’ll avoid the press altogether. Candid interviews between celebrities and journalists are becoming increasingly rare, and it’s usually because an unfiltered comment from a movie star gets blown out of proportion. I still want to believe that Eisenberg was just channeling Lex Luthor. Batman v Superman will be in theaters on March 25, 2016.
