Star Trek actor Simon Pegg, who plays chief engineer Scotty in the movie series says that superhero movies are sadly "dumbing down" people because it takes their focus away from real world issues.
The actor lamented that the quality of movies have gone down nowadays, and it's mainly due to the fact that people are more concerned about special visual effects rather than the story content.
"Films used to be about challenging, emotional journeys or moral questions that might make you walk away and re-evaluate how you felt about ... whatever," he said, according to The Guardian.
"Now we're walking out of the cinema really not thinking about anything, other than the fact that the Hulk just had a fight with a robot," he added, obviously referring to the recent blockbuster hit 'Avengers: Age of Ultron.'
Pegg added that people are so eager to consume "very childish things" such as comic books and superheroes, and he cannot believe that adults actually watch these things and take it seriously.
He recalled times when "griggly, amoral art movies" such as "The Godfather" and "The French Connection" were drawing in huge crowds, and he hopes that more movies like that will be created in the future.
As part of the Star Trek cast, Pegg said that he loves fantasy worlds but he also thinks that people can make more poignant movies.
"Obviously I'm very much a self-confessed fan of science fiction and genre cinema, but part of me looks at society as it is now and just thinks we've been infantilized by our own taste," he said.
Since providing those statements, Pegg has received tons of backlash and criticism on the internet and sought to defend his opinions, admitting that he was a bit of a troll when he said that. The actor also apologized for using the words "dumbing down" and added that he is "an A-grade asshorn."
"I can be a bit of a Contrary Mary in interviews sometimes. When you do lots of them, you get sick of your own opinions and start espousing other people's," he wrote in the post, titled "Big Mouth Strikes Again."
"Having said that, the idea of our prolonged youth is something I've been interested in for a very long time."
He did not say that say that science fiction or fantasy are dumb. "How could I say that?" he stressed. "In the words of Han Solo, 'Hey, it's me!'"
