Not long ago we learned that Disney had shut down production on the upcoming Searchlight Productions film Being Mortal, which is being directed by Aziz Ansari. It was explained that the project was suspended due to a complaint that was made against Bill Murray for inappropriate behavior.
Murray was recently asked about this during a recent interview on CNBC and he revealed some details about what occurred. He also says they are in the process of trying to fix the issue and make peace:
“We had a difference of opinion, I had a difference of opinion with a woman I’m working with. I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way. The company, the movie studio wanted to do the right thing so they wanted to check it all out investigate it and so they stopped the production, but as of now we’re talking and we’re trying to make peace with each other. I think that’s where the real issues is between our peace. We’re both professionals, we like each other’s work we like each other I think, and if we can’t really get along and trust each other there’s no point in going further working together or making a movie as well.
“It’s been quite an education for me I’ve been doing not much else but thinking about it for the last week or two and I feel like if i don’t see– You know the world’s different than it was when i was a little kid, you know what i always thought was funny is a little kid isn’t necessarily the same as what’s funny now. Things changed and the times change so it’s important for me to figure it out and I think the most important thing is that it’s best for the other person (as well).
“I thought about it and they figured it’s not best for the other person, it doesn’t matter what happens for me and that gave me a great deal of comfort and relaxation because your brain doesn’t operate well when you’re in the unknown when you’re thinking like ‘Well, how could I be so….How could I misperceive? How could I be so inaccurate and so insensitive,’ when you think you’re being sensitive to some sensibility that you’ve had for a long time. So we’re talking about it. I think we’re going to make peace with it. I’m very optimistic about that.”
At least they are trying to work things out. The film is based on Atul Gawande’s nonfiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.
The book addresses end-of-life care, hospice care, and also contains Gawande’s reflections and personal stories. He suggests that medical care should focus on well-being rather than survival. Being Mortal is a meditation on how people can better live with age-related frailty, serious illness, and approaching death. Gawande calls for a change in the way that medical professionals treat patients approaching their ends. He recommends that instead of focusing on survival, practitioners should work to improve quality of life and enable well-being. Gawande shares personal stories of his patients’ and his own relatives’ experiences, the realities of old age which involve broken hips and dementia, overwhelmed families and expensive geriatric care, and loneliness and loss of independence.